In the absence of the simplicity nirvana quoted above from the Gear Anarchy forum, I have made do with the tired old technology that I already have, which is:
Garmin 557xs GPS/fishfinder (2013)
Tacktick T112 wireless wind system (1997?)
I have now added a cheap reconditioned Tacktick T122 NMEA 0183 transmitter, so that wind data is sent to the Garmin and can be displayed there as an overlay on the chart or as separate wind gauges. I bought the T122 from Steve Moore, who was recommended on the forum for all things Tacktick by Peter C
https://www.swallowyachtsassociation.org/smf/index.php/topic,971.msg6237.html#msg6237. I also highly recommend him.
As Garmin and Tacktick (Raymarine) stay in their respective technology silos and make interconnection needlessly difficult, Steve helped me understand which wires went where. It’s not at all obvious but at least nearly all the NMEA wires already exist in the Garmin’s power cable so it involved minimal additional wiring. I also had to work out how to configure the Garmin to accept the Tacktick NMEA data. It now all works and if anyone wants to go down the same route, I know what to do and can make it relatively painless. Even quite old Garmin models (eg the 556s) can be connected up this way.
One step towards simplicity nirvana is that Garmin screens can be viewed and controlled on the water by an iPad or iPhone through a free app called Garmin Helm, which has been superseded by Garmin ActiveCaptain. Screenshots from my iPad below. It’s actually easier to control the Garmin on the iPad (for example when inputting waypoints) than on the Garmin itself.
One other benefit from linking the two systems is that they can both now display their version of true wind speed and direction, derived from the Garmin’s SOG and heading (when underway) and the Tacktick’s apparent wind speed and direction.