Advice on instruments
- Thread starter Cederholm
- Start date
True, but raster charts are no longer being updated by any mapping agency, and if you have Navionics + your charts can be easily updated anytime you can get Wi-Fi, and you can switch to the satellite or terrain overlay at will. Much better. Raster charts are always stale.
edit: And, if you get the Aqua Map app you can also overlay the latest USACE (USA Corpse of Engineers) surveys onto the charts In color. Especially helpful if navigating changing inlets and rivers, such as on most of the US East and Gulf Coasts and AICW. (Not especially relevant for the OP who sails LIS which doesn’t change much, but the buoys and ATONS do change occasionally, so chart updates are needed).
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Hey,
One thing I forgot to mention is that you should also have a modern VHF. At a minimum I would suggest a VHF with AIS receive. If you have the budget for it, and plan on making some longer cruises, then I would suggest an AIS transceiver. Pick one with a NMEA2000 interface and the connection will be pretty simple.
Barry
One thing I forgot to mention is that you should also have a modern VHF. At a minimum I would suggest a VHF with AIS receive. If you have the budget for it, and plan on making some longer cruises, then I would suggest an AIS transceiver. Pick one with a NMEA2000 interface and the connection will be pretty simple.
Barry
Yes AIS will be useful and entertaining in LIS. There is considerable commercial traffic up and down the Sound. It's such an advantage to be able to hail traffic by name instead of getting on the VHF and saying "...the barge off Stratford Shoals..." If you are near the Gut or Sluiceway tugs appear quickly and it's good to get in communication as soon as possible.
AIS can give you a closest approach and time if neither changes course or speed. That can remove a lot of anxiety. I would configure my AIS to receive A class transmissions only because it can be too cluttered with the B Class.
When we saw a tug the AIS would give us a name and we could look the vessel up on the net and learn about it.
AIS can give you a closest approach and time if neither changes course or speed. That can remove a lot of anxiety. I would configure my AIS to receive A class transmissions only because it can be too cluttered with the B Class.
When we saw a tug the AIS would give us a name and we could look the vessel up on the net and learn about it.
It’s the Navionics chart set. Expired subscription, of course. Navionics is a Garmin company; I did not know. So, I also do not know where we are with this now.I’ll have to recheck on whether Navionics was actually loaded when the guys made the installation. (I guess got focused on it when our companion boat hailed to inquire.) Does not look like it from your comment.Axiom can ship with an alternate version, Lighthouse North American Charts, so it might be a “gotcha” there for me! I certainly intended Navionics but do not presently have it on other devices.Thanks.
KG
There’s a big difference between what I see on the Navionics chart versus what I see on my iNavX chart on the iPad. iNavX matches the paper chart by including topography of the adjacent land whereas Navionics details only the subtidal areas. (Comparing in Isthmus Cove, Catalina Island, where I sit now.) Navionics chart is giving soundings in feet here, whereas iNavX is in fathoms like the paper chart. But if I change the depth units to fathoms (under Navionics settings), the CHART depth then reports in fathoms as well. I suspect these are “two different animals”, maybe like apples and oranges. Both are healthful but you get a different flavor from each!!
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jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 23,139
"In Reality":
Looking out to the SW at anchor is like looking up a valley draw.
Out to the SW it open onto the Juan DFuca Strait. From here if I drew a straight line, next stop Japan.
A breeze out of the SW will funnel through the draw and strain you on anchor. No fetch just a wind tunnel. You want to set your anchor well if expecting the SW storm or you'll find yourself out into Rosario Strait. No place to be on a cold dark stormy night.
With winds out of the North, West or SE it is a beautiful sheltered anchorage.
Good picture. The satellite shots from overhead and the topographical maps don't make it look that channeled.
Thanks for the response.
Sorry to the OP for the thread drift.
With South Jersey lacking in the challenges of sailing in the PacNW, I enjoy sailing those waters vicariously through threads like this.
I wanted to see how Navionics charts would show @jssailem s example of Watmough Bay so with a little tweaking of the settings here is the Navionics version of the raster chart for comparison. This screen shot came off of my laptop. I would be greatly disappointed if I couldn't reproduce the same detail on my Axiom with Navionics. I won't be back to the boat for a while to test it.
@Kings Gambit Being curious I looked at Isthmus Cove. Here is a screen shot of the Navionics chart for that area.
Under Menu/Chart Options I turned on Terrain to see the land contours. I'm not sure how to turn on Terrain on my Axiom.
Thanks for this, Ward. This is more what I expected to see in the Navionics package. Very nice!
I down-loaded the operation manual for the Axiom; the web version is more thorough than the booklet that came in the box and much easier to read with weakening vision! First, I do not find a Chart Options tab in the Menu on the chart display of the Axiom 7. Next, that tab also is not mentioned or displayed in the operation manual, and I find nowhere that a Terrain tab is offered on the unit itself (although there are many options offered under Advanced of Settings in the Menu on the chart display you mention). I’ve looked in all the right places! The Axiom 7 might lack some capability of perhaps the Axiom 9 or 12 units loaded with Navionics. No choice for me, however, for installing on the steering console; the 9 and 12 are too big.
I don’t know too much about how these programs and apps work, but your laptop might be able to access options for Navionics chart display that the Axiom 7 unit cannot. It’s a mystery! Looking forward to hearing what you discover with your A7 unit on the boat!
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jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 23,139
I thought the Axiom came with the Raymarine Ligthhouse3 software and charts. Are they not adequate?
LIGHTHOUSE CHARTS. Marine Charts | Marine Electronics by Raymarine
LIGHTHOUSE CHARTS. Marine Charts | Marine Electronics by Raymarine
The customer can option the chart package but Lighthouse is the controlling software. I don’t know about LH chart adequacy b/c it is not installed. Navionics has “the reputation” so I went with that one. But from Ward’s post above it does not appear a “problem” in the chart package unless it’s been altered for certain types of “packaged sales.” I’m wondering now about the capabilities of the Axiom unit itself, perhaps its controlling LH software.
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No not adequate. Nor are the base charts tht come with B&G or any other Navico brand (Lowrance or Simrad). Just my less than humble opinion!
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 23,139