Don’t Go Sailing Without These Apps (& Dump the Chart Plotter?) | Video Podcast 049
Do we really need chart plotters now there are so many apps available? We take a look at the apps we use on SY Esper, and discuss if we really need chart plotters these days…
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31 Comments
Wood be great to have a list of the apps you are talking about.
Best chart app, Opencpn, I have it on Win10, but moving to pi5. Use it for planning, link to autopilot, weather-routing etc. and have the usual Raymarine MFD at the helm. Did use ipad, until one day got caught out in narrow channel in bright sunlight and could not see the ipad, very stressful so never again. Upgraded to latest Axiom.
I think I have either got or use most apps out there. (ex IT eng), have settled on Victron/Grafana/Signalk/Opencpn with a VPN from remote access to phone/ipad/home PC. Can monitor almost everything remotely.
Have also installed remote switching (with overrides) so can control basic stuff remotely. Lights/heating/cctv/alarms/.
Yes, over the top but as it takes 3 hours to get to the marina, helps me sleep at night, and at the pub when at anchor, as can monitor and see everything remotely.
Thanks for sharing.
Really enjoyed your talk
Active Captain has been useful for me in the Florida Keys, Bahama's, and BVI's. I don't know how good it is off of the well traveled path. Something to think about if you have chart plotters that are starting to go, if you are using NEMA 2000, I think Garmin makes a hub that you can plug a computer into and display your radar, wind, depth, just like a chart plotter. If your cockpit chart plotter needs to be replaced and you can put one of your other ones up there and then use the computer below decks.
Technology is great when it works lol. but yea, it is great that there are so many to do so much that is useful to you.
LOL Winging Pommy 🙂 . Guess where i come from ? 😂
Great video guys thank you but i couldnt find anchor lite (light)
Noforeignland is a great app. We use it all the time sailing across the Caribbean and the Bahamas
just watched your good apps video very noteworthy – also I think for budget long distance cruisers like me ZOLEO is also a worth mention. It provides a satellite internet connection and rough but reasonable accurate weather forecast and tracking for your friends at a really good price. It allows you to track the location of the boat as well.
Thank you so much for all your suggestions, have updated to a couple of new ones. We are still green sticks with sailing, previously had over 20 years with boating but totally new to sailing. In those first few months we found it vital to have an anchor alarm. The alarm going off still sends me into anxious mode but we are getting better at knowing if we really are dragging, or the chain is simply straightening up. And of course, we are much better at setting our anchor now. Because we have become so use to it, we feel strange not having it on or checking it regularly with increased wind and or change of tide. It brings us peace of mind. In regards to apps and their purpose. New technology reminds me of when cameras went digital. I am a professional photographer but this happened before my time. I remember seasoned photographers saying to us,, oh you guys have it easy, you guys are cheating etc etc. They had some valid points, but anyone who didnt embrace the new systems, soon got left behind and made redundant in their careers. We are in our 50's now and I can see how easy it is to stick to what you know, but I personally will always try and stay up to date and current because it would be a huge mountain to climb if you find yourself in catch up mode. Thank you again for great information.
I am using a Toughbook in a docking station inside my console, software is Time Zero Pro and everything is integrated via N2K.
Great video, thank you. There is an app called lightening, it also has a rain radar, very useful and you get a notification or nearby lightening strikes. Logo is a yellow sq with a black zig zag.
👍
I have used Map Offline App for some time now and it works well. I have downloaded and paid for Alpinequest and reviewed. It appears both Apps cannot download Google Maps as these are restricted and Bing Maps appears to be the only satellite map option. Alpinequest does allow you to include your boat
" track" which Offline Maps does not
I have a new chart plotter however I am fitting a new raspberry pi with open Cpn and a mini pc with open cpn as I think this was my last chart plotter I will buy. Now that NMEA 2000 can WiFi talk to everything it really makes sense going forward
Having just tried and failed to cross from Panama to The Marquesas I have no confidence in PredictWind forecasts and route planning. Maybe the ITCZ is just a challenge too far for these weather models (I was using ECMWF). Subsequent research has suggested I should look for a favourable 3 day forecast and then take the rest as it comes.
And I'm limited to PredictWind offshore as I only have IridiumGo and can't download GRIB data with other apps. StarLink one day …
I use Anchor Alarm Pro. But … I've had all sorts of issues with the GPS position suddenly being wildly out causing the alarm to go nuts. I've seen these GPS anomalies on both my iPhones, on my Raymarine E80 chart plotter (although it gets it's GPS from a Raystar(?) antenna which spits out NMEA0813 messages which positioned me in Plymouth town centre) and on a dedicated BadElf GPS receiver.
In my experience, Active Captain has been declining since about 2019, now to the point I don't bother with it anymore.
I quite like SASPlanet for satellite and chart images, as it puts multiple sourced data in one place.
Thank you for all of the useful information, I was unaware of Alpine Quest. I probably went right past it, thinking it was something for mountaineering. Will have to check it out.
Hi Jamie and Liz, have you ever navigated completely old school, eg: paper charts, compass, sextant, lead line, clock? I watch a couple of channels who do both old and modern and it's impressive how close they get. If I ever get to sail I want to learn how.
Thanks J&L! I dloaded a few of those to try. Also, which stargazing app is your favorite?
This was a fantastic discussion.
Another awesome podcast..
Suggestion: write down the list on the description.. Link not necessary but can be handy for some people..
EDIT: just see the pinned comment now.. Sorry..
Some more comments:
– AlpineQuest = All-in-one Offline Map, apparently..
– EQ: i use: Volcanoes & Earthquakes, specific in Indonesia: Info BMKG
I like paper charts
..l remember back in 1989 sailing across the Indian ocean from Australia when the were having war games & the military were screwing around with the GPS satilites…out by 3° in that area….thank God for plotting you coarse on paper charts every hour & open ocean😊
What a great episode; really enjoyed this one!
As relatively new cruisers, the information was perfectly timed for us.
We are upgrading our electronics and have a couple of questions that we hope you guys can help us with:
Firstly, which model and size of B&G plotter do you have below decks?
We are considering a stand – alone radar setup, purely for redundancy in case the plotter went awol. Would you consider this overkill?
Our 43ft ketch is currently in southern Queensland and we hope to cruise the SW pacific area over the next few years.
Please keep up the good work.
I have two expensive chart plotters rarely used. My water resistant tablet is easier to make and change tracks and vastly more convenient. But it pays to have a couple of spares as they aren't nearly as robust as the plotters
"Lightning" App is very good and shows al the lightning happing near you. Enjoyed the app discussion
Thank you very much for another very informative video
I hadn’t heard of the first three and am looking at them now
My Garmin chartplotter stopped reading the SD cards halfway from Mexico to French Polynesia so Navionics on my phone and iPad replaced it for 6 weeks till I got a new plotter
I have occasionally linked active captain to the chartplotter so I can see the info on the tablet when I’m cooking downstairs
I usually don’t use an anchor alarm but recently found myself on a lee shore off Sumbawa so I used the Safe Anchor app which was easy to set even after I had dropped the anchor
Try Blitzortung app or web based for lightning
I was surprised you didn’t mention Zulu Offshore for some great anchorage info and the satellite imagery is a great resource
TreMate for tracking boat maintenance,
Pleasure to meet you in the mooring field last week
Fair Winds
This a a great episode! I took notes!!
What an excellent idea to list these as apps ..as a relatively new cruiser based in Langkawi I have been slowly garnering these apps from fellow sailors, so to have a whole podcast dedicated to the subject was excellent .. many thanks 🙏
Another reason to use the Victron app to monitor battery state and charge is that the Victron display unit, supplied by Victron fitted to my switch panel is minuscule, particularly difficult for us senior sailors .. and is very difficult to read !!!