The blog
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 …
Iridium GO! cruising
Since it was introduced to the market in September 2014 (Eh, yes, 5 years already !) this device, with its indisputable ergonomics and excellent quality/price ratio, has become a must-have for offshore sailors. Easy to implement, without the need for an external antenna (except metal build) it can be used inside the boat.
A test run of several weeks, carried out in October and November 2016 during a transatlantic delivery, had already demonstrated its ability to download GRIB weather files and weather maps despite the low rate (environ 10 KB / mn). With the new Iridium NEXT constellation (¹) we notice since 2019 a real improvement in the global coverage without satellite disconnection.
For several years it is possible to integrate iPads and other mobile devices using Wi-Fi to onboard instruments. This allows navigation apps to, not only to receive all the data from the sensors : speedometer, anemometer, sounder, AIS, aso, but also to send their own navigation data to the instruments, as, in example, to control an autopilot.
This integration takes place through devices called "gateways" or "routers" that connect to the instruments' networks, receive the data circulating through these networks, and transceive in Wi-Fi to tablets and smartphones. Some navigation applications are being developed to process this data and transform mobile devices into real navigation centers. Read more …
Launched at the same time as the iPhone 3GS and iNavX app, and a few months before the first iPad, This blog follows since 10 n the continued growth of mobile devices used in marine navigation.
Through more than 350 Articles, I tried to guide users through the evolution of Apple mobile navigation hardware and applications. Read more …
Weather4D had been ported to Android from fall 2013. One year later, in December 2014, Weather4D integrated charting navigation, NMEA data support via TCP-IP protocol, Autopilot control. Routing was only missing, already developed on iOS for Apple devices.
Alas, the following years, the time-consuming increase in iOS development had not allowed the developer to keep up with the Android version at the same level of features. Finally, two years ago, Google has announced that apps using native code should include a version 64 Bits (in addition to the 32 Bits). Read more …
My friends Christiane and Jochen Lührs are the proud owners of a superb classic ketch German building, Socorro, with which they regularly cross the west European coasts. Fully built of solid woodin 1951, they maintain her with meticulous care, after many navigations from Norway to Scotland, and from Europe to the Antilles.
In stopover a few days ago in Vannes, I had the great pleasure to visit them. I knew Jochen when he was the German translator of iNavX, now a fan of Weather4D. I was finally able to visit their magnificent boat, which attracted more than one glance along the quay, with its perfect varnishes, its gleaming stainless steel, its masts Spruce, and impressive wheelhouse. I also discovered an amazing invention there… Read more …
Geogarage, the mapping platform of raster charts derived from official services, today introduced two ENC-S57 rasterized charts layers for Weather4D Routing & Navigation, covering ’Spain and Croatia. The recent update June, 12 th of the application allows the activation of these two new chart sets. Read more …
I relayed in December 2018 an excellent issue published on the blog of our friends at Geogarage, who make a permanent duty of a press review of the best foreign articles concerning cartography, meteorology, and more generally all subjects related to maritime navigation. Here is a translation freely adapted and commented on in French. Read more …
Numerous AIS tracking networks broadcast over the internet are available. Among the best known : Marine Traffic, Vessel Finder, SiiTech, LocateEverything, and many others. One of these networks particularly stands out, AISHub network, an AIS NMEA data sharing center, which offers developers an API allowing the integration of its network into applications, and therefore display of AIS targets received over the Internet directly into the application. Featured from the beginning in Weather4D Routing & Navigation, this system has made it possible to envisage new and particularly innovative services. Read more …
This question comes up to me from time to time, and as no one is supposed to ignore the law, I feel obliged to make my contribution to the edification of the crowds (of boaters) by providing a collective response.
Manual or electronic navigation, which one to choose ?