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 …
Navionics charts are no longer available for MacENC [Update]
[Update 30 th 2018] Warning : MacENC application is no longer supported by its developers. It no longer reads raster charts and Navionics charts are no longer available. Application is discontinued to date.
Since the upgrade of Navionics Gold to Navionics Plus (¹), Navionics supply disappeared from Fugawi / Charts folder for MacENC. Thinking of a temporary disappearance, I finally asked the Fugawi support who confirmed (between the lines) permanent deletion : Read more …
TimeZero makes its (mini-r)evolution on iOS
After 3 years without major development (¹), TimeZero (now under Nobeltec brand) comes on iPad with a new name and a new logo. Doesn't it remind you anything ? A feeling of déjà vu ?
TimeZero becomes TZ iBoat. No revolution in the user interface, all functions already present in the update 2015 are in place (AIS support, Furuno DRS4W Radar support, current and tide gauges display, aso). So what's new for this new name ? Let's look carefully… Read more …
AIS transponder, dedicated antenna or antenna splitter ? [Update]
I relay here an article published in 2014 on the blog of Digital Yacht which provides an excellent discussion on choosing which antenna to install for an AIS transceiver. Below you will find a transcription freely adapted by me..
One of the most common questions asked by boaters who want to purchase a Class B AIS transponder is : which VHF antenna to use ? Read more …
New for Weather4D
The latest update of the three Weather4D apps (Lite, Routing, Routing & Navigation) several user-requested improvements in the display of meteograms. But what is less obvious is a big work on the charts display in the Routing & Navigation, to better streamline the tiles overlay at different scales, during handling of zoom and slide, and to remove the "black areas" that sometimes remained on the least efficient devices of the previous generation. Read more …
iNavX 5.2 : AIS by Internet service becomes paying
With the latest version 5.2 of iNavX, AIS reception service by internet becomes charge. Ce service, provided by the company SiiTech for free from the origin of iNavX (¹), becomes a subscription service.
Navigate with mobile Hi-Fi music
If you navigate with an iPad and enjoy mobile navigation, and if you like listening to music for dancing on the waves, you may be interested in mobile Hi-Fi.
The well-known manufacturer Bose has designed small Bluetooth speakers, the SoundLink MicroBT, compact and completely waterproof, perfectly suited to nomadic use, and so to the boat. I tested and adopted.
Weather4D makes its (r)evolution
Hear, hear, hardy boaters, new Weather4D applications come up !
I wrote “the” in the plural. The two historical applications of Sarl APP4NAV, Weather4D (th 2011) and Weather4D Pro (November 2011 ), change to the user interface of the now famous application Weather4D 2.0, which had been the subject of a complete review of its development published in December 2015. In order to make the range more coherent, the names of the three applications are harmonized :
