Since 30 th 2018 (*), I already had information regarding discontinuation by NAVX Studio LLC of the development of two historical applications created by Richard Ray : GPSNavX and MacENC. The buyers of these applications and iNavX had clearly announced focuse only to the development of iNavX, on iOS and Android. It is likely that applications on Mac were no longer profitable, especially with the loss of Navionics maps for MacENC. Read more …
VMG / VMC – for dummies
Navigation apps are full of acronyms. This coded and abstruse language was originally developed for electronic navigation instruments, GPS mapping and other chartplotters. These acronyms, in the form of three letters most often, are the contraction of terms defining specific navigation data and according functions. This facilitates on-screen display taking few space. If some of these acronyms are relatively well assimilated by the boater, as SOG for Speed Over Ground (speed over the bottom), you can quickly access subtleties that are not always mastered as COG for Course Over Ground, meaning "route runned on the ground", that the word "Course" in English can mean "Route" or "Heading" according to the context. Read more …
Navionics Boating mutating
Since Garmin has acquired Navionics (¹), it will not take more than a year for Navionics also make its small (r)evolution in its flagship iOS and Android application . New logo, renouncing the multiplicity of applications, abandonment of duality iPad/iPhone, pricing standardization, Bring, among other changes, A little more consistency in the offer. Read more …
Apple iBooks becomes “Books” [Update]
With the arrival of iOS 12 and MacOS 10.14 "Mojave" the Apple iBooks app disappears to make way for "Books". The user interface is completely changed, and for authors, a conformity of the works is imposed. The application wins certainly not in ergonomics, we feel a desire to put commercial emphasis on the books in the interface, and Access to updates gets complicated.
The new Iridium NEXT constellation is completed
A few months late, Iridium has just completed its Iridium NEXT satellite launch campaign (¹).With his 75 new satellites successfully deployed by SpaceX over the past two years, Iridium has achieved the feat of completely replacing its first constellation in record time. The last ten satellites, successfully orbited this January, 11 with a Falcon rocket 9 during the eighth and last launch, definitively complete the new constellation.
Man Over Board
Credit: SNSM Bandol
Sailors have always been haunted by falling into the sea. Even with a trained crew, the operation of recovering a crew water fallen is risky, Already with the engine, even more with the sail. During my training years in Glénans Sailing School, Each boarding was an opportunity to systematically practice this maneuver, under sail, striving to come "die" heave to windward of the unfortunate, fortunately materialized by a buoy moored in a bucket as drift anchor. But that was not the real problem. It was above all not to lose sight of the crew, because come back to its fall position "reckoning" was virtually mission impossible. And still today, with our sophisticated electronic means, It's not as easy as you might think… Read more …
Weather4D – User Guides updated
Christmas comes soon, and Apple Books Store will close its doors for the holidays. Publishers are required to send their books according to a set schedule. So I updated the user guides in advance in French and in English for all three versions Lite, Routing and Routing & Navigation.
You will be able to discover in preview the latest news to be published around the Paris Nautic boat show. Read more …
Transas iSailor becomes Wärtsilä iSailor [Update]
It had to happen one day ! iSailor users will be disappointed… in May 2018, Transas was acquired by the Finnish group Wärtsilä Corporation, a global leader in smart technologies and solutions for the marine and energy markets. As part of the integration into the Wärtsilä brand, Transas iSailor undergoes a relooking process that you will notice during the next release. Transas iSailor becomes Wärtsilä iSailor. Read more …
Fugawi charts service is discontinued [Update]
It's official, the 30 November 2018, Johnson Outdoors, recent purchaser of Fugawi (*), decided to put an end to its activities. After discontinuing the distribution of their PC navigation software in August 2017, having closed the online nautical equipment sales store last spring, it is the turn of the download charts server to disappear. Read more …
Reading : "Beaufort, l’amiral du vent" by Raymond Reding
It's a long time since I had made a reading note in this category. Lack of time, or lack of discovery ? I once again found a real literary enthusiasm when I read this excellent book by Raymond Reding : " Beaufort, The Admiral of the Wind ”.
Like any sailor that complies, I know the Beaufort scale since my first legs in sailing school, but, shame on me, I had never tried to find out more about this famous Francis Beaufort ! Raymond Reding, went like me through Les Glénans Sailing school, finally fills this lamentable lacuna with the greatest happiness. Read more …