We used Open CPN for 8 years, but switched to Coastal Explorer 2.5 years and about 12,000 nautical miles ago. Have done 3 trips to FL and back. It is very powerful and I find it simpler than Open CPN. The tides and currents information is extremely helpful on the Atlantic ICW. We run CE on a Windows 7 machine which is only connected to the internet to download new charts. That is about every 2-3 days. We came south immediately after hurricane Matthew. NOAA and the USCG were right on top of the changes and we had charts showing all the new Nav aid positions as we came south. Navionics was equally on top of the USCG updates. CE supports Active Captain, but I prefer to access AC on my iPad, so that I am not fiddling around with the chartplotter while underway.
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