Due to work I normally sail late in the afternoon and evening - often returning when the moon is shining. Buzzards bay has a number of "hazards" and I have marked all the important channel markers and bouys on my Garmin GPS. Sometimes if fog rolls in or the moon is not full or obscured by the clouds the GPS is a great tool to help with navigation. The lights on shore all help but when you want to know where that wreck or Barts rock is ...... the GPS can really help. As I have become more experienced I have started to use the GPS for route planning etc and have found some nice free software - EasyGPS - to help in this. I hook the GPS up to my computer and upload and download the information so that I have the waypoints stored elsewhere incase I ever lose the information. Has anyone used their Garmin 12 hooked up to a laptop while they sail - so that the tracking can be used with some software package to show where you are like one of the expensive GPS systems - I have the Garmin 12, I have a laptop - is there any software which can help me navigate? Any other suggestions about the use of a GPS would be great. I am not relying on the GPS - it is just another tool in the box to help provide a better solution and a safer way home. Appreciate any insights/comments or suggestions. Many thanks James S/V "Bognor Limey" O'Day 23
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Ozi-explorer
I use Des Newman's Ozi Explorer program for most of my navigation. The prime unit on board is a E-trex but Ozi supports many other units as well as the four major brands. I use Ozi to scan and calibrate charts, upload my track plot, creat waypoints and routes. My boat is so small that I have not brought my laptop aboard to use the moving map feature, but I have used that feature in my truck, with the laptop plugged into the cig lighter, so I know it works well with that feature. Here is the Ozi site: http://www.oziexplorer.com/ The program is downloadable and $85 USD will give you the key code to run it. I use it mostly to track my plot for the day. The attached photo is the track of Sunday where I gave friends a 45 minute sailboat ride. It is plotted on a chart scanned and calibrated from a local depth chart.
I use Des Newman's Ozi Explorer program for most of my navigation. The prime unit on board is a E-trex but Ozi supports many other units as well as the four major brands. I use Ozi to scan and calibrate charts, upload my track plot, creat waypoints and routes. My boat is so small that I have not brought my laptop aboard to use the moving map feature, but I have used that feature in my truck, with the laptop plugged into the cig lighter, so I know it works well with that feature. Here is the Ozi site: http://www.oziexplorer.com/ The program is downloadable and $85 USD will give you the key code to run it. I use it mostly to track my plot for the day. The attached photo is the track of Sunday where I gave friends a 45 minute sailboat ride. It is plotted on a chart scanned and calibrated from a local depth chart.
Garmin's Bluechart
should do just the thing. You buy the CD, unlock the charts for your area and install them on your laptop. Your GPS will show your position on the laptop and you're sailing just like the big boys. Check Garmin's web site and/or call them, they are very helpful and the CD charts are worth their weight in gold.
should do just the thing. You buy the CD, unlock the charts for your area and install them on your laptop. Your GPS will show your position on the laptop and you're sailing just like the big boys. Check Garmin's web site and/or call them, they are very helpful and the CD charts are worth their weight in gold.
Yep, lots of charting software out there
Plug the handheld GPS into the laptop and away you go. I use The Cap'n First Mate ( see link) with the mini region CD for my area, with the large scale charts. It will show my boat in the actual slip at the marina. You see your boat moving on the electronic chart, heading,speed and position is displayed. Put the curson on the chart where you want to go and the program will tell you heading and distance to that point. You can plunk down and lable waypoints, creat and store almost unlimited routes etc. The program opens new charts automatically if the boat moves off the chart you are viewing. I can zoom in and out on the chart I am viewing. I have seen other programs that give you the depth under the boat and same for cursor though this doesn't seem too useful. http://www.thecapn.com/firstmate.htmcation
Plug the handheld GPS into the laptop and away you go. I use The Cap'n First Mate ( see link) with the mini region CD for my area, with the large scale charts. It will show my boat in the actual slip at the marina. You see your boat moving on the electronic chart, heading,speed and position is displayed. Put the curson on the chart where you want to go and the program will tell you heading and distance to that point. You can plunk down and lable waypoints, creat and store almost unlimited routes etc. The program opens new charts automatically if the boat moves off the chart you are viewing. I can zoom in and out on the chart I am viewing. I have seen other programs that give you the depth under the boat and same for cursor though this doesn't seem too useful. http://www.thecapn.com/firstmate.htmcation
Fugawi
On my old 25' Northern I installed the laptop in the hatchway and ran the Fugawi software connected to an Magellan GPS. I'm sure any GPS would work. I found it more accurate than the Furuno radar/chartplotter that I have now on my new boat. A couple of years ago I sailed the old boat to the Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence river. At one point we had to go through a very narrow windy channel. I kept one hand on the tiller while I looked at the laptop and navigated right through with only a few feet on either side. The newest Fugawi supports the free ENC charts. It comes with all the latest ENC charts.
On my old 25' Northern I installed the laptop in the hatchway and ran the Fugawi software connected to an Magellan GPS. I'm sure any GPS would work. I found it more accurate than the Furuno radar/chartplotter that I have now on my new boat. A couple of years ago I sailed the old boat to the Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence river. At one point we had to go through a very narrow windy channel. I kept one hand on the tiller while I looked at the laptop and navigated right through with only a few feet on either side. The newest Fugawi supports the free ENC charts. It comes with all the latest ENC charts.
Thanks all
Thank you all for ther input and suggestions - I've been looking at some of the sites and will make a decison on which solution. Now off to the water - James
Thank you all for ther input and suggestions - I've been looking at some of the sites and will make a decison on which solution. Now off to the water - James
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