Had to send my Garmin Geko 301 GPS and my Humminbird 300TX fishfinder in because both were getting moisture in them.

On the Geko water appeared to be getting between two layers of lenses when fishing in the rain, which made it hard to see. It would dry out and didn’t appear to be getting inside but my one-year warranty was about to expire so called Garmin and they said to send it in for them to check it out.

I sent it by priority mail a week ago Monday and I had a brand new one this Monday. I had all my waypoints saved on my computer so it was real easy to load them all onto the new unit and it’s working great. I’ve been using my backup unit – a Garmin Etrex Legend – and I much prefer the Geko for locating and positioning the boat around brush piles.

It updates much faster and seems to be more accurate. The Geko doesn’t have any mapping capability but I’d just as soon not have anything on the screen but my waypoints anyway. I have the Etrex mounted on my console so I can use it to navigate to my brushpiles and could also use it in the dark or fog for navigating since it has a basic map on it.

The lens was cracked on the Humminbird from being out in the sun nearly every day for about three years. Since it was out of warranty I sent in the repair fee of 68.95 and they sent me a brand new one, which I had back just eight days later. This is the second time they have sent me a new unit for just the repair fee even though they were out of warranty.

That’s pretty good service in my book!