What Guide do you use to plan your trip

[jssailem]

I am guessing each area has a guide be it Active Captain or Waggoner’s etc.

What Guide do you use to plan your local or extended cruise? Why and what features do you find most helpful?

I’ll start. In order to make full disclosure I became a volunteer writer of my cruise experiences for our regional guide Waggoner’s last year.

I continue to explore all resources, but found Waggoner’s to be the most helpful for me. I’ve read others trips and they are very helpful to expand on local conditions. In our area in found AC to be spotty and often several years old.

Besides the local descriptions and the caution info on hidden rocks or tight passages, I like most the image maps of the marinas. Helps when the marina staff tell me “slip 24 B” to know which way to go upon entering a new port.

 

[Rick486]

I chuckled when I read this. Not at your thoughts but my own thoughts after cruising New York to Grand Manaan so many years, we kinda know everything there is to know and we just head in a direction and see what happens....

 

[dLj]

Used a book on the North coast of Spain called "The Bay of Biscay Pilot". One of the really useful features in the book were photos from the ocean of the coastline with indications of where the port entrances were located and the pertinent landmarks. Extremely useful.

dj

 

[uncledom]

I used to use Active Captain exclusively to chart and plan my routes and then replicate them on my Raymarine chart plotter, course corrected for weather, the night before the trip. As Active Captain no longer supports creating routes on your home computer, I tried iSailor because Maine Sail mention how he used it and liked it. I wasn't a big fan of the à la carte menu system but I figured for one year I would see if it was worth it. Now they have changed hands and of course just like Garmin they want to make money and over control the app, they are recharging for maps so they are off my list. John when you find something that works off boat like AC used to and can be transferred to any chart plotter brand please PM me, because at this point I'm at a loss for a useful app or program.

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

Waterway Guides. And NOAA booklet charts, in 3 ring binders. And my own log books from miles of coastal cruising

 

[David in Sandusky]

Great Lakes Cruising Club! They are the best source for all of the Great Lakes, and Port Captains will answer the phone and help us out on any question. All their reports are available and downloadable online for members. They are particularly amazing on the North Channel. We also use Navionics, especially when we are chartering away from home.

 

[Richard19068]

We used Dreamspeaker and Waggoner's for our BC cruise two years ago. I think they were a good complement to each other.

 

[Tom J]

We made several trips between the Gulf Coast of Florida and Massachusetts, and referred to several guides, including Waterway Guides and the Coast Guard Pilot. Our favorite, though, was Skipper Bob. We anchored out most of the time, and Skipper Bob had very detailed lists of anchorages. It also listed marinas, indicating availability of fuel, water, food, etc. and the price per foot for a slip. Our last trip was in 2010, so I don't know if this guide is still around.

 

[Ken Cross]

We have several printed guides and it depends on the nature of our trip what we use. In South Puget sound if you want to anchor: Gunkholing in South Puget Sound. Exploring the San Juan and Gulf Islands is good but like Gunkholing a bit old. Wagner's is good, but nothing is as current as Active Captain.

Ken

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

We made several trips between the Gulf Coast of Florida and Massachusetts, and referred to several guides, including Waterway Guides and the Coast Guard Pilot. Our favorite, though, was Skipper Bob. We anchored out most of the time, and Skipper Bob had very detailed lists of anchorages. It also listed marinas, indicating availability of fuel, water, food, etc. and the price per foot for a slip. Our last trip was in 2010, so I don't know if this guide is still around.

Skipper Bob is very very good- I think his wife is producing it now

 

[Terry Cox]

Our Garmin 178C Sounder has become my principle chart trip planner, but in waypoint increments. It contains many over-the-years tried and true routes getting from point A to point B. Usually the day before we head towards an agreed upon anchorage I will build the route in the Garmin, then track it for safe passage or make minor adjustments while underway.

During our cruising adventures we try very hard as a group to pick new anchorages. Charlies Charts or Waggoners help with this selection. Then I will build a safe passage route in the Garmin that will get us there. That is what I did when we planned our trip to Princess Royal Island in 2015 and other destinations in previous years and since then.

 

[Will Gilmore]

Here is a very interesting article on using Google Earth as a navigation aid.
https://followtheboat.com/google-earth-gps-for-cruisers-boat-owners/
The Blogger talks about using it in real-time to spot unmarked reefs, AIS, buoy information and overlaying weather maps. He even discusses previewing areas to cache images and maps for use offline. There is some extraordinary potential here.

"THIS SCREEN-GRAB, TAKEN FROM THE ABOVE-MENTIONED BLOGGER, DEMONSTRATES DIGITAL NAUTICAL CHART DATA OVERLAID ON TOP OF GOOGLE EARTH. IT CLEARLY ILLUSTRATES DEPTH AND OBSTRUCTION INFORMATION."

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[sailnoproblem]

Here is a very interesting article on using Google Earth as a navigation aid.
https://followtheboat.com/google-earth-gps-for-cruisers-boat-owners/
The Blogger talks about using it in real-time to spot unmarked reefs, AIS, buoy information and overlaying weather maps. He even discusses previewing areas to cache images and maps for use offline. There is some extraordinary potential here.

"THIS SCREEN-GRAB, TAKEN FROM THE ABOVE-MENTIONED BLOGGER, DEMONSTRATES DIGITAL NAUTICAL CHART DATA OVERLAID ON TOP OF GOOGLE EARTH. IT CLEARLY ILLUSTRATES DEPTH AND OBSTRUCTION INFORMATION."

-Will (Dragonfly)

Hey Will, I see that is a 2007 NASA image! Are there more recent images?

 

[jssailem]

When I was first exploring with S/V Hadley in 2015 I used GE on my laptop, along with charts and google maps. It was rudimentary nav system. Allowed me to identify where I was. I got speed in mph from the Waze app, Compass app and Location app. Traveling a 3 to 6 knots there is plenty of time to chart your progress over a 20 NM trip. The true chart plotter and navigational tools just do all the calculations for you giving your data instantly.

 

[Will Gilmore]

Hey Will, I see that is a 2007 NASA image! Are there more recent images?

I'm sorry, I haven't used this idea. I've been doing a little casual research, but I'm so far away from needing such services that I haven't gotten into the details. When I do eventually get to cruise where I need more than to know where the boat ramp and channel markers are, it will all be different.
I suspect services like Google Earth and free access to satellite data will only get better. I'm encouraged.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[Kings Gambit]

Around here I’ve used Fagan’s 2001 “Cruising Guide to Central and Southern California” as probably most do and have. However, at 17 years post publication, some content is in need of revision. To the extent it recalls his personal anchoring experience in the California Channel Islands, it remains a valuable reference.

For Southern California harbors we now keep an up-to-date collection of “guides” published by or for each harbor. These are great for finding out about harbor services, and they include a harbor map that you can use with your navigation chart to find and access locations. We probably do not have the navigation challenges here that folks of other cruising areas do, so beyond what I’ve mentioned, personal experience is what I use here to for “planning.”

On charter away from home, such as to British Columbia, I, of course, refer to the local guides, such as Waggoners, for planning potential destinations; but not too much for planning the routes. I plan routes directly from inspection of charts of the area. Nearly everything you need to know is there. The charts combined with the latest issue of “Ports and Passages”, and weather information, you’re good to go anywhere in that area.

I doubt I’d ever rely too heavily on “secondary” (i.e., compiled) sources of information entering new harbors, marinas, or anchorages, etc.

 

[jssailem]

One option not yet mentioned is Coastal Explorer. It is a software product developed by RosePoint.com . Their primary charting software is sold to commercial mariners. They developed Coastal Explorer to serve the pleasure boat market.

CE uses NOAA Charts (Vector and Raster). They integrate weather, tides, currents, AC, as well as their own guide information onto their charts piloting data. I find it a robust system that in one place can provide the tools for safe piloting. Draw back is that it is PC based.