The blog
I snort, install the autopilot, Get into the boat, open the logbook. I have to force myself not to read it again, Once again, your latest annotations. On the virgin page facing them, I write : Friday 5 June 2009. Cast off Port Camargue 5 Morning hours. 15 Anemometer knots. 10 at log. Compass on 114 Degrees. Calm seas. ”
Thus begins a woman's quest to find her love who disappeared at sea somewhere in the Mediterranean, between Italy, Sicily and Tunisia. Read more …
I presented in the first entry about protections for iPad onboard the water-resistant case by Andres Industries (*). This manufacturer reacted very quickly to the comments and criticisms made about its product. He was kind enough to send me to test their new case, modified and improved. A real happiness ! Read more …
iNavX allows you to connect, since version 3.1.7 from February the 11 October 2010, to the data server AIS SiiTech which I talked about in a previous post (¹). The interest of this service remained questionable in France because of the poor coverage of our coasts. That could change.
Indeed, the number of SiiTech ground stations is increasing, the Channel coasts are now well covered, and the Atlantic coast should be gradually equipped (²).
In addition, The version 3.2.4 of iNavX comes with an improvement that makes a revival of interest for this feature : it is now available to select the origin point of AIS data from SiiTech server, or the position of the ship (that of the iPhone/iPad used), or a previously created waypoint. The reception radius being about 30 nautical miles around place of origin, this allows for a significant increase in the coverage of AIS data reception.
All navigation software offer predictions of tides, more or less long range, that cover the coasts of the whole world. Where come these predictions from ? How are they established ? What is their reliability ? These are all questions that any conscientious yachtman is entitled to ask.
SHOM predictions from frbateaux.net website
This is an excellent initiative that we owe to Dominique Gauthier : iTabNav.fr is a new French e-commerce website mainly dedicated to iPad (and the iPhone) accessories useful in’marine usage of these devices.
Rather than looking on Google for e-commerce websites overseas, you can now go to a French specialized website. Dominique Gauthier did not hesitate to get my opinion on the technical aspects of his choice of accessories, being himself user and boater.
iTabNav.fr has been open for a few days, its catalog will gradually grow, I salute his initiative and wish him good luck.
Since the introduction of this new iPad and installing the new OS on my devices (iPhone 3GS and iPad 1), I wondered about the advantages that could be derived from it by boaters, compared to previous model and system. Read more …
It is now possible to connect a N2K system (¹) at iNavX, on iPhone or iPad.
Indeed, Actisense company, well known for its NMEA interfaces (multiplexers and gateways), designed the NGW-1 ISO, an NMEA 2000 gateway converter to NMEA 0183 and vice versa. Connected to a Miniplex-2Wi by ShipModul ou un WLN10 device, the data thus converted will be sent via WiFi to iNavX. Read more …
March, the NOAA has posted a superb animated digital mapping ocean bottom. A few thousand feet below our keel, this fantastic landscape leaves you dreaming. I can not help you to relay it with translation of their related comment. Read more …
I had to embark in a few days for a convoying from Mediterranean to Polynesia. Unfortunately, The postponement of the departure to the end of the month and the professional constraints of returning imperatively at the beginning of May have just forced me to give up this trip. Bitter disappointment…
If you can't go there, It is always possible to experience it on paper. Following the "Voyage of Magellan" that I mentioned last December, I suggest a book that I discovered some ten years ago. A book to make you spend the winter by the fire, make you want to discover these islands scattered in the middle of the largest ocean on our planet, through their history told by the greatest travellers of past centuries. Read more …
During a somewhat sad weekend in January, we joined the port of L'Herbaudière, Isle of Noirmoutier, via the picturesque Gois passage at low tide.
We, that is to say, a boating journalist, my wife and myself.
Welcomed by two “naturals” of the country, Henri and Jean-Etienne. The latter putting his superb Océanis at our disposal 347 for the first on-board test, In France, navigation applications on Mac, iPad and iPhone. A great first, somehow. Read more …