The blog
March, the 7 June 2012, Imray has released its navigation app for iPhone and iPad.
It is now a free app and includes online charts purchase directly from the application.
Two charts of the Channel are always provided as standard for test, and a world map shows the areas of charts region available.
The Atlas of Oceans by Jimmy and Ivan Cornell is a gold mine in color A3 size of over one kilogram. This one won't fit in an iPad !
60 Pilot Charts Updates to the latest data, 69 transoceanic route charts, Tactical remarks and suggestions for the choice of the best crossing times provided by routers and meteorologists specializing in each area.
It had the passion and experience of the author of famous " World Cruising Routes ” (*) and those of his son to carry out such a work. Read more …
I just read, in the latest issue of Voiles et Voiliers dated May 2012, A comparison Inmarsat-Iridium that leaves me unsatisfied. Quite interesting in form, it presents a lot of approximations in substance, and does not allow the reader to form an opinion on precise and quantified elements of comparison. On the other hand, with all due respect to François-Xavier Ricardou, Mac software solutions have been around for a long time and are perfectly proven : just to see the number of participants provided with Mac or iPad at ARC 2011. I will try to contribute complementary, I hope so, enlighten potential buyers. Read more …
The acronym " VAtoN " means in English Virtual Aid to Navigation. In French : Virtual assistance to navigation (¹).
This concept is an extension of the AIS system. It allows, by means of a spacific AIS transponder located onshore, managed by an administration software, reporting virtually unreported hazard. The position of these hazards is plotted by an AIS target as an appropriate icon. For example, a buoy indicating a flush rock may have been temporarily destroyed by a storm. The VAtoN compensates for the absence of this mark while the maritime services put it back in place. Another example, creating an exclusion area of prohibited anchorage has not yet been an update on ENC charts. Read more …
The company Digital Yacht continues to offer new products for yachting (¹). One of them, iNAVConnect, allows to connect by WiFi iPad or iPhone, featured iNavX, Navionics Marine, or any other compatible application, to Raymarine MFDs C and E series. This allows waypoints and routes to be transferred from Raymarine systems to apps on iPad or iPhone, and vice versa.
It's a start, Digital Yacht hopes other manufacturers implement these transfer functions in the future. Read more …
After Jean Debèze, avid supporter of Navigation Mac, made me the pleasure of a detailed tutorial about installing a multiplexer aboard his sailboat, here's a ticket by Jacques Vermeulen, who testifies in a very didactic way to his experience during the recent Transquadra, on board "Bluestairs", with the owner and friend Marc Bolla.
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Placed at the Transquadra 2011/2012, We met, during the first stage of the Mediterranean Barcelona-Porto Santo (Madeira), problems receiving and sending GRIB and data files via the Iridium network. Email was impossible to use with the Iridium Airtime cards we used. All we were left with was the possibility of calling with the Iridium.
Back after this first stage, I decided to deepen the subject and educate myself with Francis Fustier whom I had knowledge, Until now, than through his blog, really comprehensive. Read more …
MailaSail informs us : you can now update your Tweets directly from your Iridium satellite phone (*). Start by sending an SMS from your Iridium with words START or SIGNUP to short code 40404… Read more …
There is a long time that I suggested you had more title under "Reading". Technical news are not so much for a few weeks, I take this opportunity to introduce you a great novel discovered thanks to the wise advice of an old friend living in Concarneau. I thank him here warmly. Read more …
Serge Rousseau, A Canadian navigator, sent me some pictures of the installation of his iPad on his sailboat. He wrote me :
"I'm sending you some photos of the support. I fixed an industrial Velcro on the stainless steel tube and I maintain waterproof case (+or- 50 €) with reusable fasteners (Tie Wrap). You can also use a waterproof envelope used to protect the maps in kayaks and secure it with velcro and reustable ties. ”
For a particularly economical solution, I find it simple, clever and aesthetic enough for my own opinion. It's up to you to judge…
NMEA 2000® (¹) is a standard for electronic communication network specifically designed for pleasure boats, according to an industry standard published by the National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA). It aims to meet many needs, arising from the considerable increase of electronic devices onboard, the widespread use of computers and MFDs (²) with control and navigation application more sophisticated. It also aims to interconnect equipment provided by various manufacturers and brands, allowing boat builders and users great freedom in the choice of their navigation instruments. Read more …