Robert / elgreengo,

No - the venture is not a new product - it is very similar to the Legend but just has less memory and not quite the same mapping capability. see the following link for details: Garmin Etrex Comparison

I put my first Etrex through hell on water - hopefully you can learn from my mistakes! . I've mounted it with the lanyard to the boom, tramp lacing, in my life vest pocket, and even used the handlebar mount to place it on the tiller (that worked out well except for the water punching through the surf). The Etrex will withstand typical water exposure sailing on a catamaran - but not for long. I highly recommend a dry bag to store the GPS in. I've been trying to find a link to the dry bag I use to no avail but I bought it from an end cap at a BoatUS store. It works very well. It's bright yellow with a flexible clear face, has a plastic clamp with knobs for the opening at the top, and a yellow lanyard. I tie the lanyard to my life vest shoulder and let it swing within arms reach. The dry bag will keep it from sinking.

Don't get me wrong, these are tough little units and it took several dousing and even a troll behind my Hobie 18 to kill it (I highly don't recommend tying it to the tramp lacing ) - and then Garmin replaced it for free. Kinda makes you feel guilty but really thought that it was 'waterproof' and could handle it.

The CDs are great - I've got Road's and Recreation but it doesn't have a route planning feature like some of the other CDs (which would be nice). Before you buy a CD though, check with Garmin because I'm pretty sure that the only detail you can get with the Venture is point of interest - I don't think that you can actually load street and waterway maps or not.