Mr John on I-Pad Navigation
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Transcript of Mr John on I-Pad Navigation
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8/12/2019 Mr John on I-Pad Navigation
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Mr John
On
I-Pad
Navigation
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8/12/2019 Mr John on I-Pad Navigation
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Chart Plotters are great and many people go zipping all over
the place with them. I was brought up old school and
never really trusted the stuff BUT. That never stopped me
from using one when available.Navigation is a skill, not necessarily an art and certainly not
an exact science. So, we never trust to just one source and
we check the different sources against each other. In most
cases this works but when all the chart data is way out,
when the guy who did the last survey in 1855 had problems
with his Sextant or, more likely, his Chronometer; what do
you do?
I didnt want a Chart
Plotter, so we bought an
I-Pad and downloaded
the Navionics Program
and charts on it.
Its a cheap way to get
Navionics!
We already had Open
CPN with the CM93
charts and we had the
Garmin Blue Charts, so
this rounded off the
collection and gave us
some Back-Up security.
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When I learnt to Navigate, we were into Marc St Hilaire,
except for a few die-hards doing Long By Chron. There
was Omega for the guys that had it all; in Europe we were
doing Decca and in the US they had Loran....But all this
fancy electronic stuff played second fiddle to a good set of
stars!
SO. When I tell you that the I-Pad is the greatest thing
since Sliced Bread, well, you know where Im coming
from.
First time around I was doing the Tuamotus with a Sextant,
there was a great feeling of achievement when it all worked
out.but looking back, I may have just been lucky. Certainly
it was harrowing and nerve wracking and one was always
glad to be well out at sea.
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In many areas this sort
of presentation will
not tell you very much
about the intended
destination. I like the
idea of knowing in
advance what we are
getting into
ENTER THE SATELITE VIEW
This, in my opinion, tells
me what I really need to
know.
It would of course help
if I knew the depths but
with experience it is
possible to have a good
indication.
Im using the App Google Mapson satellite view and thepre-installed App I-Mapson satellite view.
I have to say; I have not yet found myself any noticeable
distance from where my Blue Dot tells me I am. So,
navigation made easy; all you have to do is drive the blue
dot to where you want to be..
NOT QUITENOT THAT EASY
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No matter what system you use, you have to maintain a
continual watch where you are going and in areas where
there are coral heads you should not be doing anything
without good light, polaroids and the sun behind you.
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The best thing about the
Satellite view is that can
expand your cruising area
and present anchorages
that you would not
otherwise have thought
of using. I spend hours
looking at Google Earth
and by the time I get to
the location Ive been
looking at, I feel I know it;
it makes me feel more
comfortable.
With the information
presented on a Chart
Plotter, I would never
have visited this beautiful
anchorage As it was, I
truly believe we were the
first sailing yacht to have
ever entered this lagoon.
In this age of overcrowded
anchorages, the satellite
view can give you an edge.
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8/12/2019 Mr John on I-Pad Navigation
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My system for navigation
by Google is as follows:
I look at the overview withLat / Long grid and pick off
the waypoints I want to
use
Interpolation may be
necessaryonce I have my
Google route planned, I
transfer that to Mapsource
Mapsource is the Garmin
program and here I can
view it on the Garmin
Blue Charts. I can also
save it as GPX and
transfer it to Open CPN to
view / check on CM93
At this stage, you may notice that I have checked this route
on three independent systems and if all three agree that we
are not going over or close to a reef.. Then we are in
with a chance!
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8/12/2019 Mr John on I-Pad Navigation
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So, having done those three
things and having put the
route in my Garmin GPS, I
now make a new route,
going on the same courses
and put it into Navionics on
the I-Pad.
This latter route is only a guide but should not disagree with
what is in my GPS. NOW we are ready, we follow the course
line on the GPS whilst in the cockpit we monitor the
position on Navionics whilst occasionally flipping over to
Google to make sure our blue dot isnt getting close to
anything. We are not glued to any system at this point and
most of our attention is on reading the water ahead and
keeping a good lookout.You should in general
route from Anchor to
Anchor or from Berth to
BerthI have to admit thatI dont do this in reef
navigation
When Im looking for that
little gap in the reef or weaving between bommies I like to
have my full attention on where we are going and a
continual eye on the depth.
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8/12/2019 Mr John on I-Pad Navigation
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All this electronic stuff is a guide but it can really help.
Once you get started you can go into it in more depth, you
can play with the cacheand have the Satellite view even
when off line. Not connected to the internet. Rememberthat you getting more accurate data when on line
Then there are KapCharts where many satellite shots
have been spliced together to make a seamless chart.. This
is the future, where you will be able to switch between the
satellite view and your chart at your plotter without being
connected to the internet. Its here already but as yet it is
limited.
Right now Im happy driving my Blue Dot around on my I-
Pad, which, in my opinion, has paid for itself many times
over.
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There are lots of other features you can use the I-Pad for..
I have a great tide program at the press of a button
The World Tides App
With the right bit of kit you can even have your AIS sent by
Blue Tooth to your I-Pad. There is very little it wont do..
Considering the cost of an I-Pad against the cost of a Chart
Plotter, Id go for the Pad every time. It encourages you to
do careful navigation No one should be fooled into
thinking they can buy a chart plotter and just drive down
the line, thats one line on one bit of kit. If you do that youllcome to grief someday for sure..
Enjoy your navigation and have a safe arrival.
John Wolstenholme
www.yachtmrjohn.blogspot.com