Hey James,
I spent a lot of $ on my Garmin GPSmap76 CSX, but I have a very powerful and useful tool that I can do complete chart plotting, store 1000+ Tracks, check local tide buoys' reports, check lunar and sun phases, mark good fishing areas and even put all of the data together to make a "route" to take for my hottest areas and tracks. The Map information is accurate and very complete down to even the Preserve buoys' locations (or lack of them) in La Jolla. I can also use the NMEA interface with my Ray Marine DX 400 to use it as one complete unit. And if all else fails I can use it after a long day on the water to tell me the way home!
It is a little overkill, but toys are supposed to be fun!
There are many other brands and models on the market. So before you buy one, be sure to go down to West Marine in Point Loma and try them all out first, that way you are happy with what you want from
your GPS!