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In coastal navigation, so often within range of a cellular network, you can download GRIB files, weather maps, or simply communicate with friends. But what if your smartphone or tablet is already connected to a multiplexer via Wi-Fi, or an NMEA gateway, without cutting off the data that powers our favorite navigation app ?
This is the tip of the summer…
[Update 25/09/2020] The trick in question depends on the iOS version used. Details in the article.
Garmin was the victim of a cyber attack that began on 23 last July and lasted several days. The resulting outage disrupted many of its online services.
Navionics customers could no longer access the Navionics server via their login credentials. L’application Navionics Boating, the Navionics chart installer and chart viewer have all been impacted. products could no longer be purchased directly from the Navionics website. Chartplotters could still be used as standalone devices during this Garmin outage, but the maps could no longer be downloaded or updated. Read more …
(Article original 27 June 2018)
Since the publication of the division D240 replaced, applicable from 6 May 2019 (see my previous article), it is now official that mandatory nautical documents can be taken on board in digital form.
[Update 24/08/2020]
I'm always being asked - and have been for ages - how much confidence we can put in the GPS on our tablets and smartphones. Probably at the risk of repeating myself, I persist in asserting that our mobile devices are provided with the most accurate GPS receivers that can be found in civilian use, especially for recreational boating. Read more …
With the delivery yesterday of the version 2.0.54, Weather4D add Imray (¹) to the Routing & Navigation, recently available in Geogarage. Five layers cover the Atlantic facade (²) , from the North Sea and Shetlands to the Canary Islands and the Azores, and one layer covers the Greater and Lesser Antilles.
But the most important are the three layers covering the western, central and eastern Mediterranean, which now provide detailed coverage from the Ionian Sea to the Aegean Sea. An excellent complement to the international SHOM layer. Read more …
I relay here, in French, an article published in the British magazine Yachting Monthly (¹) the 30 th. The subject deals with the debate between paper charts and electronic navigation, by stating many truths, but also sometimes one or two untruths. The remarks have the merit of presenting contrasting arguments, and to obtain the opinion of recognized UK's professional boaters. Since the confinement imposes time constraints on us, let's take this opportunity to enjoy this instructive reading.… Read more …
An SSB receiver for leasure boating
HF Weather Fax to Black Cat Systems is an application allowing you to decode facsimile weather maps on an iPad, an iPhone or Android device. The analysis and forecast maps are provided by radio stations around the World. Broadcast on shortwave, they can easily be received by BLU receivers as found in boating catalogs.
Read more …
Weather analysis and forecasting maps developed by the NOAA (USA) and the Met Office (UK) cover vast areas over the Wold. They can be obtained sending a request by email to the weather server of british company MailaSail. With the latter, many maps are available in a listing (¹) in which it suffices to click on the links to load the request in a message ready to send.
[Update September 13 th 2025]
The app Iridium GO!®, used on our smartphones (iOS/Android) to connect to the Iridium network via the device of the same name, just undergone an happy facelift. Nothing really fundamental, if not the user interface, but a stylish graphics help for first-time users. Read more …
A growing number of boaters now uses an iPad at sea. But offshore, when no network connection is available, and therefore no more internet access, how to access the various help or technical instructions concerning the tools used ?
The answer lies in building a library of files in PDF format that can be easily stored in the application Apple Books, for free, very fortunately. Read more …