Reading : "Du Bon Usage des Étoiles" by Dominique Fortier

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Published by Alto, Quebec, in 2008, it has been re-published by La Table Ronde, Paris, in 2011. He has just won the Seafarers' Prize at the Etonnants Voyageurs Festival this summer 2011.

I read this book in June, when I learned of its presentation in Saint-Malo, and I kept the evocation of it under my belt for this section Reading, so delighted was I by the interest of the subject, the quality of the narration and the freshness of the writing.

Alas, I was preceded by Arielle Cassim who has just reported on it on his blog Seableue. I bow and invite you to go there ! Read more …

iNavX and the “Man Overboard” function

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For a while Rich Ray was asked to add a feature button "Man overboard" in its applications. Recently, following a new topic on the website macsailing.net forum, He gave the following reasons for his refusal :

  1. Such a button would take up limited/valuable screen real-estate on every screen..
  2. Such a button , with expected behavior, would be in violation of the " Developer Program License Agreement " :
  • 3.3.8 For Applications that use location-based APIs, such Applications may not be designed or marketed for automatic or autonmous control of vehicles, aircraft, or other mechanical devices; dispatch or fleet management; or emergency or life saving purposes. Translation : Concernant les applications utilisant les API basées sur la localisation, ces applications ne doivent pas être conçues ou commercialisées pour le contrôle automatique ou autonome des véhicules, avions, ou tout autre appareil mécanique; la gestion d’envoi ou de flotte; ou dans un but d’urgence ou de sauvegarde de la vie humaine.

An emails exchange between us allowed him to find a compromise respecting the rules imposed by Apple. Read more …

ADS-B, aviator's AIS

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As I already wrote, in the word “aeronautics” there is “nautical”. This is no coincidence. So much so that for several years the world of aviation has been developing a concept similar to maritime AIS : ADS-B. I also would not be able to say which of the two is the first , it doesn't matter !

As the news that concerns us is a little flat these days – normal in July – I became interested in air navigation when I discovered an iPad application, which I will talk about a little further down.

 

ADS-B, Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, which can be translated as “Diffusion Dependent Automatic Surveillance” is generally based on the same principle as AIS. Only the technical means differ. Read more …

Free ENC river charts for use with MacENC

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VNFAs part of its policy aimed at offering users an ever more efficient and safe waterway, public institution Waterways of France (VNF) embarked on the production of electronic navigational charts on various inland waterways. The first two : the “Dunkerque-Escaut” and “La Garonne” connection are published.

The big surprise, unique case in the history of French administration, is that these charts are available free and free download on VNF website. It was worth saluting ! Read more …

iPhone built-in GPS : a formidable accuracy !

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You have certainly heard the song by Helmut Fritz “It annoys me” ? She will make a good number of holidaymakers dance this summer in campsites and on the beaches. Well me, what annoys me, it is the disbelief of a certain number, still today, about iPhone GPS accuracy. Isn't it stupid, isn't it ?

I have performed a few days ago a small experiment, during a call in the charming little harbour of Saint-Vaast-La-Hougue. Read more …

Météo Consult is available on iPhone and iPad

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Created in 1988, company Weather Consult was the first private weather company in France. She mainly developed paid forecasting services for professionals, leaving the public service Météo France to take care of the free forecasts for the general public. Meteo Consult is best known in the field of ocean racing, where it gained an almost exclusive dominance.

Become a subsidiary of Prosodie in 2000, it buys La Chaine Météo in 2006, then it was itself bought by the Le Figaro group at the end of 2008 (¹).

La Chaine MétéoThe "La Chaine Météo" application for iPhone appears as soon as 2009 (²). Of impeccable quality and ergonomics, This free app brings forecasts to 10 days, covers towns and beaches, provides video forecasts technical, regional and alerts. Despite its orientation towards the general public, it has been very useful information for coastal boaters.

This year, we are witnessing a complete change of strategy for Météo Consult.

Read more …

Curious price changes at Navionics

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Bad news : changes in the price of Navionics charts for iNavX on iPad have appeared on the site x-traverse.com, and unfortunately for the regions that directly concern us : Region 46XG Europe and 43XG Mediterranean (replacing the previous 23XG 2011) for iPad increase by +13% to $54 down to $61 (either daily exchange 38 € up to 43 € environ).

At the same time, however, Region 28XG British Isles lose -18% to $84 down to $69 (59 € up to 48 € environ). Good news for English browsers, and our fellow citizens who travel the beautiful coastline of the "Perfide Albion".

It remains nonetheless that, after a significant increase in early May with the arrival of editions 2011, it is surprising to see such rapid changes just at the start of the summer season, you'd think the stock rates !

AIS, the second maritime revolution after the GPS

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AIS takes a growing place, for two or three years, in the concerns of leisure boaters. Several articles refer to it in this blog, as for equipment as for applications available for our Mac, iPad or iPhone.
Note to neophytes in this subject, or to confirm the knowledge of the most informed of you, it seemed useful to clarify what the AIS means, while just held in Hamburg, the 15 and 16 of June, the international conference AIS Summit. Read more …

Crossing the Pacific with an iPad

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After my first post Crossing the Atlantic with an iPad here are some screenshots provided by Christophe Mahé between Panama and the Marquesas Islands, during his crossing last month. Just to dream a little, and to convince the last recalcitrant about the ability of an iPad to provide a position and trace a route anywhere on the globe. Read more …

iSailor, charts are available for France

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isailorSex updated list of new charts available for iSailor, include coasts of France :

∙ Germany ∙ Australia ∙ Bermuda ∙ Canada ∙ Denmark ∙ Egypt ∙ Spain ∙ Estonia ∙ Finland ∙ France ∙ Greece ∙ Italy ∙ Ireland ∙ Latvia ∙ New Zealand ∙ Norway ∙ Papua New Guinea ∙ The Netherlands ∙ Portugal ∙ United Kingdom ∙ Suede ∙ USA : Atlantic Coast, Gulf Coast, Pacific Coast, Hawaiian Islands, Alaska, Great Lakes (U.S. Waters). Read more …