{"id":47354,"date":"2021-09-30T16:05:16","date_gmt":"2021-09-30T20:05:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/?p=47354"},"modified":"2023-05-06T18:17:07","modified_gmt":"2023-05-06T22:17:07","slug":"navigation-apps-you-can-take-for-a-sail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/story\/gear\/navigation-apps-you-can-take-for-a-sail\/","title":{"rendered":"Navigation Apps You Can Take for a Sail"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Sailboat <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n By using auto-routing, passagemaking and weather-routing apps, websites and services, the connected captain can make the most of offshore adventures.<\/span>\n muratart<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

Among the big challenges when planning a long-distance \u00adpassage can be knowing when to leave, how to take advantage of the best weather windows along the way, and what waypoints to set to get you there the quickest or with the least \u00adexposure to unpleasant points of sail or conditions. Thankfully, the cruising navigator has a bevy of tools from which to choose, including weather-\u00adrouting and passagemaking apps, and software and services that have been developed and refined to take advantage of the computing power found in laptops, smart devices and chart plotters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

While these digital tools<\/a> typically aren\u2019t free to use\u2014and usually require some form of connectivity and product familiarity to deliver the best results\u2014once \u00addownloaded (and mastered), sailors can \u00adenjoy better weather, more-comfortable \u00adconditions, faster transit times and greater situational awareness of what might lie ahead. Generally \u00adspeaking, these navigation aids are \u00addesigned to be intuitive and user-friendly, and \u00addepending on which you choose, will work with communication \u00addevices \u00adranging from \u00adsatellite phones to skinny-bandwidth transponders such as Iridium\u2019s Go or Garmin\u2019s inReach and, of course, \u00adfull-on FleetBroadband or very small \u00adaperture terminal satellite systems. Some of the tools are even available to boats equipped with old-school \u00adsingle-sideband radios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

But how one gets their weather data is often less important than the quality and timeliness of that information, which usually comes in the form of gridded \u00adbinary, or GRIB, files. While third-\u00adparty weather-routing \u00adcompanies commonly leverage GRIB files with their proprietary \u00adalgorithms to create weather \u00adforecasts and routing \u00adadvice, the raw data contained in GRIB files usually comes from official government meteorological offices. Two common sources include the \u00adNational Oceanic and \u00adAtmospheric \u00adAdministration, which \u00adreleases its Global Forecast \u00adSystem four times a day, and the \u00adEuropean Union, which produces European Centre for Medium-Range \u00adWeather \u00adForecasts\u2014considered the global gold standard\u2014twice daily. As with all pieces of time-sensitive information, cruisers who can access the internet to either download fresh GRIB files or to run their routing on a service provider\u2019s cloud or website will usually experience better, faster and smoother passages than those relying on old data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

These weather-routing and passagemaking tools \u00adtypically use one of two \u00adstrategies for computing the best \u00addeparture times and routing \u00adoptions. \u00adTraditional PC-based \u00adsoftware, such as TimeZero or Expedition<\/a>, require outside information (GRIB files or some other weather forecast), which the software then \u00adcrunches \u00adlocally on a navigator\u2019s \u00adlaptop or chart plotter to create the best itinerary. Another \u00adoption involves app-, cloud- or website-\u00adbased products that oftentimes give cruisers access to a server, which performs this computing remotely and then sends the results to the crew aboard the boat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"FastSeas <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Once an account has been created and vessel \u00adparticulars have been added, the FastSeas website uses multiple weather forecasts to lay out the quickest passage.<\/span>\n Courtesy FastSeas<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

While the net result is \u00adoften similar, each has its \u00adupsides. Onboard passagemaking and routing software means that the information and the means to process it are close at hand should outside communications go down, or if users want to run any offline route planning to weigh alternatives. Cloud and website services, on the other hand, usually have access to a range of weather forecasts and GRIBs, so the crew needs to download only the resulting routing information, which can be as simple as a series of waypoints, rather than the significantly bigger weather files. This means less airtime or consumed \u00addata for anyone using satellite \u00adcommunications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe software uses weather-\u00adforecast-model data to find the optimal route for a given passage by evaluating all available routes for that passage,\u201d says Jeremy Waters, who built and actively uses \u00adFastSeas<\/a>, a website-\u00adbased passage-\u00adplanning tool that resides on an Amazon Web Services-\u00adsupported cloud and relies on GFS GRIB files.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Users create an online \u00adaccount that includes their vessel\u2019s specifics, including its polars, and they tell the website where they want to go, along with other trip parameters and preferences. The \u00adwebsite generates and then sends the boat GPX files, which they can download using some form of long-range communications system such as a satphone, Iridium Go or Sailmail in the case of SSB operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

While FastSeas doesn\u2019t offer an app with a built-in GRIB viewer, anyone with \u00adinternet access can look at \u00adanimated weather maps, \u00adcourtesy of windy.com, on the \u00adFastSeas webpage. \u00adAlternatively, \u00adFastSeas can \u00adalso send \u00adsimple \u00adrouting \u00adupdates via text \u00admessage containing waypoints and \u00adsimple forecasts at different waypoints to a Garmin \u00adinReach satellite \u00adcommunicator. \u201cThe \u00adIridium Go and Garmin inReach \u00adprovide \u00adeconomical satellite-\u00adcommunications \u00adoptions to offshore sailors, and FastSeas is designed to provide \u00adupdated route data while working \u00adwithin the device\u2019s technical limitations,\u201d Waters says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Other app- and \u00adweb-based tools deliver even more \u00adin-depth weather and weather-\u00adrouting information. \u201c\u00adPredictWind\u2019s weather router uses a complex algorithm to give sailors the fastest\u2014or safest\u2014passage from A to B based on their boat\u2019s expected performance in the \u00adforecast weather and ocean \u00adconditions for the specified period,\u201d Nick Olson says. He is one of \u00adPredictWind\u2019s two principal developers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

PredictWind<\/a> offers two apps: PredictWind and \u00adPredictWind Offshore. The offshore app also gives \u00adusers access to Global \u00adMaritime Distress and Safety System forecasts, observations and satellite imagery, and, if the boat carries a compatible and properly networked GPS tracker, allows the skipper to view detailed forecasts from six different global weather models. These include GFS, ECMWF, SPIRE and \u00adUKMO, as well as PredictWind\u2019s \u00adproprietary PWE and PWG forecasts, the latter of which are created using ECMWF and GFS data (respectively) and PredictWind\u2019s proprietary algorithms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

A boat owner uploads their vessel\u2019s polar information to PredictWind (either via the app or website) so that the \u00adservice can create a bespoke routing solution. \u201cAvoiding bad weather is a key element to safety and enjoyment in any passagemaking,\u201d Olson says. \u201cWe also have a departure-\u00adplanning tool that can aid in choosing the best time to leave for a passage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

In addition to parameters such as vessel polars, destinations and passage dates, some weather-routing services also allow the navigator to stipulate the maximum acceptable windspeed and wave height, as well as maximum time on a particular point of sail that they wish to encounter on their passage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

While weather routing is an invaluable tool for passagemaking, so too is the \u00adability to plan a passage at home and then seamlessly share this routing information\u2014\u00adcomplete with weather \u00adupdates\u2014with onboard chart plotters. Numerous options exist for this, in the form of apps and  software.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cSailors can plan every \u00adaspect of their passage in the Navionics Boating app, then seamlessly sync their routes and waypoints to a compatible chart plotter over Wi-Fi via the Plotter Sync feature,\u201d says Dave Dunn, Garmin\u2019s \u00adsenior director of marine sales. Garmin acquired Navionics in October 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy simply running the Navionics Boating app and connecting their mobile \u00addevice to a compatible chart plotter, sailors can transfer routes and markers, update chart layers, and activate or renew their chart subscription.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Navionics<\/a> also offers \u00addaily and hourly weather \u00adforecasts, including wind and tide \u00adinformation, which can be used to monitor conditions; \u00adhowever, it\u2019s important to understand that these forecasts cannot currently be used for weather-\u00adrouting \u00adpurposes. \u201cWith an active internet \u00adconnection, the Navionics Boating app provides sailors with real-time weather data and GRIB files for wind forecasts via NOAA updates, but sailors who aren\u2019t connected to the internet won\u2019t be able to see this information,\u201d Dunn points out. \u201cHowever, sailors can still view tide and current predictions without connectivity because those are part of downloadable, \u00adoffline Navionics charts.\u201d Sailors can also download weather forecasts (out to 72 hours) for offline use, but this of course comes with the \u00adcaveat that the weather can\u2014and often does\u2014change over that extended period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou should expect the \u00adforecast for this afternoon to be pretty reliable, but the forecast for three days from now to be less reliable, and five days from now even more \u00adunreliable,\u201d Waters says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Others agree. \u201cPassage \u00adplanning is really about \u00adhaving the best data on hand in a \u00addigestible format so you can compare the data to aid in \u00addecision-making for a safe \u00adpassage,\u201d Olson says. \u201cOne important and key feature is the PredictWind weather \u00adrouter, which calculates your \u00adoptimal route on the PredictWind \u00adservers. This is a game-\u00adchanger for low-bandwidth \u00adconnections because the PredictWind Weather routing can calculate your route using all the data available over multiple atmospheric and ocean models\u2014potentially 50 to 100 megabits of data and a billion calculations\u2014and deliver this data into the Offshore app in a small 10-kilobit file. This also means that GRIBs are needed on board only as a visual aid to accompany the weather routes.\u201d As anyone who has \u00adattempted to download GRIB files on a slow offshore connection knows, this can save a lot of airtime and onboard frustrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

The bottom line for all this: Given the relatively low cost of the software-, cloud- and website-based \u00adapplications \u00addiscussed in this article, there\u2019s little downside or reason not to have these capabilities on board. But, as with any new piece of technology that\u2019s \u00adbeing integrated with a nav station, sailors are advised to spend time using it alongside their long-range communications equipment before \u00adcasting off. Then, odds are more in their favor to enjoy a smoother, \u00adsafer offshore passage, while \u00adalso having access to better forecasting information while \u00adunderway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

David Schmidt is <\/i>CW\u2019s \u00adelectronics editor.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n\n

The Virtual Navigator<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Navionics\" <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Navionics Dock to Dock Autorouting<\/span>\n Courtesy Navionics<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

Given that this is 2021 and one\u2019s Tesla can chauffeur them to the marina or yacht club in autopilot mode, it should come as little surprise that some of today\u2019s navigation software can formulate a route between a home mooring and a far-flung anchorage, even in another country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Navionics, now owned by Garmin, pioneered this technology, dubbed Dock-to-Dock Autorouting, in late 2015. As with several of the weather-routing products discussed, to take advantage of Dock-to-Dock, a boat owner will need to enter their vessel\u2019s parameters into their Navionics Boating app ahead of time, and they are highly encouraged to manually \u00adreview the auto-calculated route before committing to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen planning longer bluewater passages, auto-routing might not offer much more than ETA over a given distance,\u201d Garmin\u2019s Dave Dunn says. \u201cHowever, for near-coastal and \u00adIntracoastal Waterway passages, auto-routing offers significant advantages when paired with up-to-date charts.\u201d This \u00adlatter bit matters greatly, given the shifting nature of some seafloors; Dunn explains that Navionics releases in the \u00adballpark of 5,000 cartography updates daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

While Navionics is no longer the only player offering \u00adauto-routing capabilities, the addition of ActiveCaptain\u2019s community chart layers (also now a Garmin-owned entity), which users can switch on and off, gives Navionics users other integrated advantages. Dunn advises: \u201cCrowdsourced features such as \u00adCommunity Edits and ActiveCaptain Community layers are not only useful, they\u2019re necessary. Both offer useful insight not found in any other resource or chart by way of community feedback, ratings, additional data, missing chart objects and hazards, or more-timely navigation changes that chart sources have not yet reflected.\u201d Garmin now also allows ActiveCaptain users to upload photos. This, Dunn says, lets \u201cother users see what dock slips, hazards, important points of interest, and other relevant local knowledge actually looks like in the wild.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Vendor List<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n

Expedition: expeditionmarine.com<\/a>; from $1,300<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

FastSeas: fastseas.com<\/a>; free for basic service, $60 per year for premium service<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Navionics: navionics.com<\/a>; free trial, then from $15 per year<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

PredictWind: predictwind.com<\/a>; from $250 per year for weather-routing \u00adservice<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

TimeZero: mytimezero.com<\/a>; from $500<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are numerous smart-device apps, software and web services available to make your navigation decisions more reliable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47243,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"BS_author_type":"BS_author_is_guest","BS_guest_author_name":"David Schmidt","BS_guest_author_url":"","hydra_display_date":"20210930","hydra_display_updated":false,"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"163","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"By using auto-routing, passagemaking and weather-routing apps, websites and services, the connected captain can make the most of offshore adventures.","_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","arc_story_id":"M6YO6HDUDRFTTN5RVVJEOGH4AQ","arc_website_url":"story\/gear\/navigation-apps-you-can-take-for-a-sail\/","custom_permalink":"story\/gear\/navigation-apps-you-can-take-for-a-sail\/","arc_subtype":"right-sidebar","arc_exclude_from_feeds":false,"sponsored":false,"sponsored_label":"Sponsored Content","sponsored_display_label":false,"sponsored_image":0,"post_right_rail":true,"post_right_rail_ad_1":true,"post_right_rail_ad_2":true,"post_right_rail_ad_3":false,"post_right_rail_ad_4":false,"post_right_rail_recirc":true,"fixed_anchor_ad":true,"post_top_ad":true,"post_off_ramp":true,"post_taboola":true,"labels":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[163],"tags":[157,515,1270,181],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47354"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47354\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}