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Old 07-29-2015, 02:36 PM   #21
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Quote:
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Most of my planning is on an iPad with Navionics. Sometimes I even follow the route.

Ditto. I just use my iPhone as a plotter.
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Old 07-29-2015, 02:43 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Northern Spy View Post
I have a chart of Desolation Sound on my wall by my desk at work and a set of dividers.

More dreaming than actual planning, I guess.

Most of my planning is on an iPad with Navionics. Sometimes I even follow the route.

To paraphrase Eisenhower, "Plans are useless, but planning is indispensable."
Who the heck is Eisenhower?

Just kidding...you are on the money!
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Old 07-29-2015, 03:28 PM   #23
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Ditto. I just use my iPhone as a plotter.
Ditto^2. I use Navionics on my iPhone all the time. The first version of my trip back from Ketchikan was (and still is) on my iPhone. It was also a really good quick reference underway when I was not at the helm - easy for me to check up on how we were doing from the saloon or my cabin.

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Old 07-29-2015, 03:57 PM   #24
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...easy for me to check up on how we were doing from the saloon or my cabin.
...or seeing where you are in relation to the anchor (mark that spot) without raising your head off of the pillow
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Old 07-29-2015, 04:41 PM   #25
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There is an interesting article in the August 2015 SAIL magazine on getting AIS on an i Pad using iNavX, a VHF radio with AIS and a NMEA 2000 network. Sadly, iNavX doesn't seem to support Active Captain.
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Old 07-29-2015, 04:49 PM   #26
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I have done around 30 trips from Florida to the Northeast from the days of loran numbers to more modern equipment. I have not used the latest apps and want to know if any of them allow you to put notes on the digital charts.
I have old ChartKits of the ICW, on these the paper charts I could put in hand written notes. I would write in the height of bridges and opening schedules, places where the ICW markers would switch from red to green when going on rivers, shoaling spots, notes on marinas, no wake zones and more.
Do any of the new apps allow you add notes on a digital display?

Hello Tucker,

Chart software that integrates Active Captain basically does that. You and others can add "notes" to the AC data base that once vetted all can see and will show up on your chart.
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Old 07-29-2015, 05:11 PM   #27
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I use a Dell laptop with Coastal Explorer for navigation. I line out the coarse from start to finish at home, then plug the laptop in at the boat. Works well with the auto pilot.
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Old 07-29-2015, 05:32 PM   #28
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The craziest route planning I ever saw was in the early days of chartplotters. We had hooked up in Maine with a bunch of sailors from Corinthian Yacht Club in Marblehead. They were doing their annual cruise and the cruise commodore was a good friend of mine.


One morning I watched a captain of a new Island Packet 380 laboriously input about 50 waypoints for the days sail into his brand new chartplotter. Each segment couldn't have been more than 1 mile long as the destination that day was only 30-40 mike away. It took him the better part of an hour as chartplotters in those days only let you enter Lat and Lon coordinates for waypoints and he was transcribing them from a paper chart.


After an hour he was ready to go. Each turn was a bouy or well defined island or point of land. He followed the route slavishly. But he didn't go aground like some others I know.


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Old 07-29-2015, 05:52 PM   #29
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FWIW my preparation for short or long distance cruising is always based around weather.

Apart from checking that I have the appropriate charts, pilot books etc on board covering primary and alternative destinations, I use weather routing sofware to monitor changes and options.

I never offer a fixed schedule to others, and rarely enter waypoints. All is driven by present and predicted weather/seastate.
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Old 07-29-2015, 05:58 PM   #30
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Quote:
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...or seeing where you are in relation to the anchor (mark that spot) without raising your head off of the pillow
Yeah - I have an older Garmin handheld gps/plotter that I use for that. Zoomed in I can look at the pretty track pattern being made as my boat moves around at anchor. It has an anchor alarm, and as you say I can take a look at it without my head leaving the pillow!

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Old 07-29-2015, 07:47 PM   #31
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Our trips normally start on paper charts for an overall plan. I then insert a general fuel plan. While on the water the electronics are used on the actual day trip. I do not recall a trip that stayed with the original plan. This is where the adventure takes over.
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Old 07-29-2015, 10:01 PM   #32
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I've learned so much from the collective experience on this forum, so I'd like to ask another question. When you are heading out for a specific destination, how do you all do your route planning?
1. Do you use an app like Garmin Blue Chart or Navionics on a tablet or computer the day or night before?
2. If you use a tablet do you actually build a route and then transfer it to your chart plotter?
4. Do you do the planning right on your chart plotter?
5. Do you use cruising guides or Coast Pilots for information along the route?
6. Does anyone still route on paper charts?

Lastly, how strong do you think the connection is between the thoroughness of your planning and the safety of your trip?

Thank you for any thoughts you're willing to share.
1. I use OpenCPN. It's free and uses both raster and vector charts. I have it on my home laptop and my boat laptop.

2. Yes

4. No, just on the laptop.

5. I would if I was going out the Golden Gate, but I'm having too much fun in the Bay and Delta for now. I gave my copy of Charlie's Charts to fellow TFer Dswizzler for his trip out the Gate to points south. He's has found it useful. He gave me his old Garmin 176 plotter that operates like my 276C. It makes a good dinghy GPS. (Thanks, Delta Swizzler!)

6. I carry and refer to the paper charts, but don't plot on them.

I plot for general info, distance and ETA. If I wasn't familiar with the area, it would improve safety by allowing me to study the area and hazards. Knowing the area as I do, it's just helpful with time/distance planning in our serpentine CA Delta rivers and sloughs.

I didn't see anyone say they look up the USCG Notice to Mariners. I'm guilty of failing to check them sometimes in prep for a trip. I try to check in with the USCG Vessel Traffic Service to see if there are restrictions or notices in effect for my route early on in the trip. One area we often traverse is a munitions loading dock at Port Chicago (CA) that often has restrictions.
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Old 07-30-2015, 02:39 AM   #33
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My first year I did everything, planning, chart plotter using Polar View with GPS puck ($28) on Samsung laptop.

It was inexpensive and easier to use than Coastal Explorer or my stupid MFD.

I like planning the day before, so I have sense of what is coming up.
Also, in US look at Active Captain which also integrates very well into Polar View
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