Article on Waterway Guide https://www.waterwayguide.com/lates...utm_campaign=News&utm_content=News+03-14-2018
14 iPad navigation apps evaluated
- Thread starter Captain Larry-DH
- Start date
Isailor seems very full featured, I just reviewed the web site and vids. Does anyone know if your isailor paid subscriptions cover all your iOS devices (iPad and iPhone) or do you need to buy for each device?
Edit - deleted section that was not correct, as I found out later.
Edit - deleted section that was not correct, as I found out later.
Last edited:
Transas, the parent company of iSailor, is not a Russian company they are headquartered in the UK. Transas is one of the world leaders in large shipping navigation and they are much larger than most any of the recreational players. In terms of large shipping navigational charting they own more than 1/3 of the entire market. In other words they are not some 22 year old Russian hackers in a dark room putting out a $3.00 app they are a real company with a strong hold in world wide shipping navigation and vessel traffic management systems guiding real ships all over the globe.Isailor seems very full featured, I just reviewed the web site and vids. Does anyone know if your isailor paid subscriptions cover all your iOS devices (iPad and iPhone) or do you need to buy for each device?
(PS- one negative is that it’s a Russian company. Not a lot of money, but I’m not keen on contributing to the Russian economy considering current events. My last vodka purchase I skipped the Stoli and bought Tito’s.)
Last time I was in the Carib iSailor charting blew away Navionics, C-Map, Garmin and any of the others I pulled up. Even here in Maine it is one of the most accurate. I can't even count how many charting apps I have loaded, I have them for customers to play with, and 8 X out of 10 they decide to go with iSailor..
This is why I am shocked that iSailor was over-looked.
One subscription covers all your iOS devices that use the same AppleID. So if you have a family share plan they all can use as well .Isailor seems very full featured, I just reviewed the web site and vids. Does anyone know if your isailor paid subscriptions cover all your iOS devices (iPad and iPhone) or do you need to buy for each device?
(PS- one negative is that it’s a Russian company. Not a lot of money, but I’m not keen on contributing to the Russian economy considering current events. My last vodka purchase I skipped the Stoli and bought Tito’s.)
I also disagree with the author’s comments about weather. Isailor uses a GRIB model that can be downloaded as a 3-7 day forecast, so you have access to current weather even went off-line. A huge advantage when Sailing offshore.
Strange the article doesn't talk about chart accuracy other than commenting on the Navionics SonarCharts for more detail. Some do appear to be more clear than others to read but, as nice as the added features are (as many as 34 for some), I'm more interested in charting accuracy than bells an whistles. I've learned more from this discussion than from the article. I've been using Navionics for several years, now I'm interested in iSailor.
Thanks for correcting me. I obviously didn't research my info well enough and regret that I (unintentionally) spread misinformation, especially since it would be viewed as a negative by many.
These apps need to offer some compelling new features to be useful. For me this is route planning and weather routing. It does not need to be major passage planning, it could just be what time to leave for the islands, etc. The only app that comes close is qtVlm.
The Navionics autoroute is amazing- I’ve used it quite a lot over the last few years and it just works. It does not tell you the best time to go, but it plots a point to point route quite quickly and accurately without running aground, provided you’ve entered your boat’s information accurately in setup. (Yes I always check it before trusting).
True, and I bet we're getting a lot of value from this article, compared to what he is getting paid to write it.
iSailor will add one soon. In the mean time, have a look at Weather4D Pro. Not cheap and like any weather router you need good polars for your boat for it to work well, but if you do it's the BOMB for planning your way over multi-day routes.
A fun vid I made of the weather router in action. Nantes to Antwerp. Watch the boat react to projected wind vs a rhumb-line course.
I agree. When planning a weeklong trip, a long weekend or just an overnight, it is so easy to use the Navionics Autoroute feature to estimate times and distances between multiple potential destinations. It definitely "plays it safe" with the routes but gives an excellent starting point.
Yes, “what if” is one of my big uses of it, just for planning before we even know the weather. I think it’s a huge timesaver especially in places dotted with islands or channels that meander (think ICW, though I haven’t tried it there yet).
Plus it's fun in the dead of winter to use the autoroute to plan trips and think about taking them once the weather warms.
For my near shore cruising grounds, having good tidal currents info is an imperative. For my favorite cruising grounds, currents have a huge significance for route planning. tidal currents can equal or even exceed boat speed through the water. I have a trailerable trimaran, capable over over 10 kts of speed, so we visiting different cruising grounds while on vacation.
I'm still learning how to plan routes in cruising grounds with rapidly changing tidal currents. I have paper current almanacs, and know how to use them. But software that incorporates my boat speed, Polars, and weather, currents, and also allows me to plan routes would be awesome. But I rather doubt I will ever have enough reliable data to accomplish that.
I've been using Navionics which incorporates current predictions and dock to dock Autorouting, which is cool. I use the data much the same way I would using the paper current tables. But in some ways, the paper charts are easier to use. I can rapidly flip between them if my estimated time of arrival changes.
Maybe I just need to get better at using electronic charts compared to paper. For my learning style and memory, static pages are easier to remember.
In my local cruising grounds, San Francisco Bay, my local knowledge and a tides and current chart book suffice.
But in unfamiliar places, it's quite challenging to Plan a route. For example, up in the Pacific Northwest (Peget Sound, San Juan Islands, gulf islands) predicting when I'm going to reach a particular location in an adverse or advantageous current is an ongoing task. Depending on the time of day, the current is either adverse or favorable. Some places the currents are simultaneously favorably on one Side of the island and adverse on the other side of the island. Throw wind into the mix and the possible permutations are almost infinite in number.
My trimaran came with enough instrumentation to provide true and apparent wind speed and angles. I've just recently bought a Raymarine chart plotter that interfaces with all my instruments and mobile devices via wifi and blue tooth. Among other things it can interface with navionic's auto routing to a large degree.
in My limited experience with autorouting when threading my way between islands, I love having a chart plotter to show me where I am and my route, but still need to have a paper chart handy to see the "big" picture of where I am. I also still rely heavily on cruising guides for local knowledge to keep us safer.
This post has rambled a bit. Sorry. I am not advocating anything, just musing aloud.
Judy B
Ps. I apologize for the numerous typos. Damned auto correct on my iPad. I'll fix typos later when I'm at a real keyboard.
I'm still learning how to plan routes in cruising grounds with rapidly changing tidal currents. I have paper current almanacs, and know how to use them. But software that incorporates my boat speed, Polars, and weather, currents, and also allows me to plan routes would be awesome. But I rather doubt I will ever have enough reliable data to accomplish that.
I've been using Navionics which incorporates current predictions and dock to dock Autorouting, which is cool. I use the data much the same way I would using the paper current tables. But in some ways, the paper charts are easier to use. I can rapidly flip between them if my estimated time of arrival changes.
Maybe I just need to get better at using electronic charts compared to paper. For my learning style and memory, static pages are easier to remember.
In my local cruising grounds, San Francisco Bay, my local knowledge and a tides and current chart book suffice.
But in unfamiliar places, it's quite challenging to Plan a route. For example, up in the Pacific Northwest (Peget Sound, San Juan Islands, gulf islands) predicting when I'm going to reach a particular location in an adverse or advantageous current is an ongoing task. Depending on the time of day, the current is either adverse or favorable. Some places the currents are simultaneously favorably on one Side of the island and adverse on the other side of the island. Throw wind into the mix and the possible permutations are almost infinite in number.
My trimaran came with enough instrumentation to provide true and apparent wind speed and angles. I've just recently bought a Raymarine chart plotter that interfaces with all my instruments and mobile devices via wifi and blue tooth. Among other things it can interface with navionic's auto routing to a large degree.
in My limited experience with autorouting when threading my way between islands, I love having a chart plotter to show me where I am and my route, but still need to have a paper chart handy to see the "big" picture of where I am. I also still rely heavily on cruising guides for local knowledge to keep us safer.
This post has rambled a bit. Sorry. I am not advocating anything, just musing aloud.
Judy B
Ps. I apologize for the numerous typos. Damned auto correct on my iPad. I'll fix typos later when I'm at a real keyboard.