Laptops used as chart plotters

[petersea]

I have used both with good results but you open a can of worms when you posed your question. there are good plotters and good computer systems. So much of the answer depends on what you are willing to spend and how much you want to do with it, as well as where you will use it. Bigger boats with a console where you can mount a laptop without worring about it getting wet or in some other way damaged are what I would perfer. If the laptop were in a smaller boat outside you need consider weather and installing so the wire and cables are not a trip hazard, maybe a small hand held plotter or mounted plotter might be better. It must be at the helm or very easy to see from the helm having a unit that would work below is a convience for making plans. For a lot of reason the computer based systems are what I would perfer to use. The big concern would be where and how you are going to use yours. Caution.............. make sure you you are able to see what every you buy as a lot of laptops and some plotters will "wash out" in strong sunlight. Maybe think about what and why the commercial operators are using (majority use computer based) may help you decide.

 

[Bill Roosa]

OK I get the in the dark and fog but is that not what WPTs are for? I'm thinking that here in the East we have more and lit markers to show the way while in the wild wild West there seems to be a dearth of the same. I would think radar would be more useful in the situations mentioned.

Edward
I just ran the "AC adapter" plug that fits into the back of the computer to the 12 volt ships mains. confirm the polarity with a volt meter and the AC adapter before wiring the new plug you get from radio shack. Do check the label on the battery. When I connect to ships mains the battery will discharge to around 75% and then stay there indefinitely.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Hey, Bill, I resemble that remark! I'm out west where we have few markers. I hear they have NONE in Hawaii.

WPTs? Some people do it by the seat of their pants, watch the color screen and/or don't plan ahead.

What can I tell ya...

 

[RTB]

I use the laptop with Maptech Offshore Navigator. That is all we used on my friends cat, sailing from Green Cove Springs, Fl. to Cartagena, Colombia. On his cat, we could see the laptop from the helm, but I can't on the Hunter. A plotter at the helm would be nice, but not sure I want to spend the boatbucks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D56k...text=C2cc3dUDOEgsToPDskJlQEFIOuhlkIvm2OHJ_vGv

 

[Mark Maulden]

"So my question is this, why would you want a chart plotter at the helm."

Because I sail the boat from the helm which is not enclosed except for a canvas dodger. I don't have an AP and when I do, I don't think my position would change. Everybody says spending $5K is a lot. You can get a plotter/radar/sounder with WiFi for ~$3K(maybe that still is alot but compare it to a laptop and spare without radar). And, yes, I can get off my butt with a glass of the red stuff and do some route planning if I have to. However, the ipad will do it and sync to the plotter via WiFi. And in the PNW, radar is sometimes essential or maybe I should say very desirable and needed "at the helm". I wouldn't have to put up with Microsoft. I wouldn't have to depend on hard drives. I won't have to have spare "computers" on board. I don't want to have to deal with PCs when I'm out. From what I can discern, NOAA does not have free charts in PNW Canadian waters which is a great cruising area and a majority of my cruising area. Maybe a Canadian outfit does. The plotter is designed for the environment without plastic bags. My spare is a Garmin 78SC handheld. My other spare is good common sense, separate sounder and paper. WiFi is not going to damage GPS receivers.
Just my current thoughts IMHO....I"m still open to advice...

 

[Rick]

"So my question is this, why would you want a chart plotter at the helm."

Because I sail the boat from the helm which is not enclosed except for a canvas dodger. I don't have an AP and when I do, I don't think my position would change. Everybody says spending $5K is a lot. You can get a plotter/radar/sounder with WiFi for ~$3K(maybe that still is alot but compare it to a laptop and spare without radar). And, yes, I can get off my butt with a glass of the red stuff and do some route planning if I have to. However, the ipad will do it and sync to the plotter via WiFi. And in the PNW, radar is sometimes essential or maybe I should say very desirable and needed "at the helm". I wouldn't have to put up with Microsoft. I wouldn't have to depend on hard drives. I won't have to have spare "computers" on board. I don't want to have to deal with PCs when I'm out. From what I can discern, NOAA does not have free charts in PNW Canadian waters which is a great cruising area and a majority of my cruising area. Maybe a Canadian outfit does. The plotter is designed for the environment without plastic bags. My spare is a Garmin 78SC handheld. My other spare is good common sense, separate sounder and paper. WiFi is not going to damage GPS receivers.
Just my current thoughts IMHO....I"m still open to advice...

Indeed that is the question. If you are a fair weather sailor who has no mission to be somewhere and you know your waters, you probably dont need one. Perhaps a handheld or smart phone just in case you have an emergency and need your position and cant leave the helm. If you sail in weather conditions, then perhaps it is a good idea.
On the west coast, I have launched out of Mission Bay, very tight quarters, enroute to Catalina in about 50 feet of vis. Without my chartplotter and radar overlay, only luck would keep me from having to make a mayday call. Why do I launch in those conditions? Two Harbors makes you want to go for it! Right Rick D?

Good luck

 

[Rick D]

On the west coast, I have launched out of Mission Bay, very tight quarters, enroute to Catalina in about 50 feet of vis. Without my chartplotter and radar overlay, only luck would keep me from having to make a mayday call. Why do I launch in those conditions? Two Harbors makes you want to go for it! Right Rick D? Good luck

Oh yea! If only we had kelp warners (other than our rudders)!
Doing the Border run this year or Ensenada, Rick?
I remember once delivering a friend's boat up from Mexico to Marina del Rey in February. At night, about Sunset Beach, everything disappeared in front of us. Had about 25 yards visibility. No radar or chart plotter but I had brought my handheld GPS and chart book. Took a fix and updated it every 10 minutes past two harbor entrances and shipping lanes. I remembered my charting real fast! Popped out about Pt. Vincente. Had to trust yourself & other vessels radar a whole bunch.

 

[Rick]

Oh yea! If only we had kelp warners (other than our rudders)!
Doing the Border run this year or Ensenada, Rick?

Right now we are planning to do Ensenada. Always in motion is the future though.

And kelp warners.. yah my shoal draft fin keel just loves kelp! NOT

Did have a first this year. Made it to Catalina four different times. A blast. Every time I see your mooring, I think about ya.

Cheers

 

[Chiriqui]

I use both now. I started with a 10" Acer. Recently I added a Lowrance 5" HD. because on my H26 there's just no convenient place to view the computer and it's susceptible to the elements up in the cockpit area. The Fugwai software is super compared to the Lowrance. Gees I wish I'd popped for a touch screen on the Lowrance. Both have their place in the sailing of my boat off the Pacific side of the Rep. of Panama.

 

[Sailorhampton]

great analysis

Thanks for a great analysis. What software are you using and what would you recommend?

 

[Rich Wallace]

We have been using a mini-desktop running off the inverter for years. RGB and USB cables are run to the cockpit. We use an 8" monitor with a sun shade for daylight and use the sunshade at night to block the light from the monitor as needed. A clear one gallon ziplock bag slips over it and provides a waterproof cover. We use a waterproof mouse to control the computer. We run Fugawi with the free NOAA charts and have purchased the needed Canadian charts. With this setup we have traveled all five Great Lakes.
We interface the computer via a serial cable to the Magellan GPS and carry two additioal Garmin GPS units with serial cables as backup.
So far the only failure has been when our inverter died this past summer. Fortunately I had a spare 750 watt unit which was quickly put into service to run the computer and monitor and we were again on our way. (Bought a new Xantrax SW 2000 for a spring installation a couple of weeks ago.)
At some point we will replace the radar unit and will give consideration to going to an integrated system but for now this system has served us well.

 

[Bill Roosa]

I use the forward looking sonar (depth meter) for avoiding the kelp. Well there is not really that much kelp here in the Bay but if there was, I'm told by the manual, that it will show it.

I use a Dell Altitude 600 running Linux Debian with OpenCPN software plumbed into both the ships gps NMEA circuit as a talker and listener. I can close the lid and turn on the "remote monitor" mounted over the nav station for a 16" view of the maps. Sitting on the port side of the cockpit you can see the TV/DVD/monitor get a general idea of where you are on the map but I don't do that much as it is an extra 3 amps draw. The software can control the AP but you have to run down to the nav station to advance to next waypoint. I find it easier to plan the route on the computer, upload the route to the GPS then use the GPS to control the AP like the manufacturer designed the system. There is also AIS input but I don't have an AIS receiver and the big ships stay pretty much in the shipping channels.
Quite frankly the Bay is so easy to navigate and when you do "have an oopse" it is into soft mud 90% of the time. I almost never turn it on. The only time it actually is of use is determining the proper time to tack in close situations. Coming out of the Eastern Bay (south and east of Annapolis) with the wind coming from the SW requires lots of tacking and at the west end of the bay you can get hung up if you don't know where you are pretty precisely. Course I'd just hoist the iron spinnaker and "motor through" if there was a big safety issue but I like to think I could do it by sail alone if I had to and try to practice every time I can. It is amazing how close the first mate and I can estimate our position from the landmarks and sighting over the compass. Course if you are out of sight of land this technique is not nearly as useful. I’m thinking DR plot, more frequent log book entries with boat speed, time of reading and compass bearing would be in order just in case the satellites fall from the sky or LightSquared wins their case with the FCC. The latter being much more likely.

 

[jack boats]

Where do I find free charts beyond the NOAA's, specifically San Diego to Puerto Escondido?

Thanks,
J

But if the guys above didnt sell ya on a chartplotter, here is some very reliable freeware for your laptop. SeaclearII. You get the maps from NOAA. I have used it for years on laptop which I use as a backup chartplotter. You will need a gps antenna. If memory serves, I have the garmin 18 gps antenna. Plugs via USB. You will need to download the spanner software from garmin to make it talk.
http://www.sping.com/seaclear/

Juts follow the instructions

 

[jack boats]

I've got an old RC520 that I see no reason to replace since I have a more than capable laptop to fool around with better free nav software. My plan is to pick up a STANDARD HORIZON HX851 Floating Handheld VHF/GPS Radio which has a NEMA out, and use that to deliver GPS coords to my laptop for apps like OpenCPN. I figure I get a dedicated handheld GPS receiver for my laptop with the added capabilities of a DSC. It's a cost effective, two devices in one solution. It'd be nice to get some more free maps besides the NOAA stuff though.