Navigation – Page 2 – Navigation Mac

COLREGS: Still Fit for Purpose ? [Update]

Posted on14 October 202127 October 20214 comments

We can only observe, for three decades, the phenomenal increase in global maritime commercial traffic, The recent proliferation of maritime drones, for scientific and miscellaneous research purposes, automated and remotely submarines civilian, Military, and even for traffickers usage, and soon the inevitable coming into service of fully unmanneded merchant ships. This evolution is directly linked to the multiplication of satellites communication and positioning means allowing remote control of mobiles at sea.

Même avec le confinement pendant la pandémie Covid-19 le trafic maritime ne cesse jamais. Vue Marine Traffic

Even with the lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic, maritime traffic never stops. Marine Traffic View

The Logbook in Weather4D Routing & Navigation

Posted on7 July 20218 July 2021One comment

With update 2.0.57 Entering a logbook is now available in Weather4D Routing & Navigation. Data transfer to web interface Navygatio (¹) allows logbook entries to be recorded in near-real or delayed time depending on whether or not there is an internet connection during navigation. Read more …

Cyberattacks and boating

Posted on1 th 202018 th 2024One comment

Garmin was the victim of a cyber attack that began on 23 last July and lasted several days. The resulting outage disrupted many of its online services.

Navionics customers could no longer access the Navionics server via their login credentials. L’application Navionics Boating, the Navionics chart installer and chart viewer have all been impacted. products could no longer be purchased directly from the Navionics website. Chartplotters could still be used as standalone devices during this Garmin outage, but the maps could no longer be downloaded or updated. Read more …

Nautical documents on electronic media [Update]

Posted on25 August 20206 th 202414 comments

(Article original 27 June 2018)

Since the publication of the division D240 replaced, applicable from 6 May 2019 (see my previous article), it is now official that mandatory nautical documents can be taken on board in digital form.

[Update 24/08/2020]

GPS accuracy [summer brief]

Posted on8 August 20206 June 20224 comments

I'm always being asked - and have been for ages - how much confidence we can put in the GPS on our tablets and smartphones. Probably at the risk of repeating myself, I persist in asserting that our mobile devices are provided with the most accurate GPS receivers that can be found in civilian use, especially for recreational boating. Read more …

Are electronic charts prescribed in France ? [Update]

Posted on10 May 201918 th 20217 comments

This question comes up to me from time to time, and as no one is supposed to ignore the law, I feel obliged to make my contribution to the edification of the crowds (of boaters) by providing a collective response.

Manual or electronic navigation, which one to choose ?

VMG / VMC – for dummies

Posted on18 February 20196 th 20245 comments

Navigation apps are full of acronyms. This coded and abstruse language was originally developed for electronic navigation instruments, GPS mapping and other chartplotters. These acronyms, in the form of three letters most often, are the contraction of terms defining specific navigation data and according functions. This facilitates on-screen display taking few space. If some of these acronyms are relatively well assimilated by the boater, as SOG for Speed Over Ground (speed over the bottom), you can quickly access subtleties that are not always mastered as COG for Course Over Ground, meaning "route runned on the ground", that the word "Course" in English can mean "Route" or "Heading" according to the context. Read more …

Man Over Board

Posted on20 December 201828 th 20256 comments

Credit: SNSM Bandol

Sailors have always been haunted by falling into the sea. Even with a trained crew, the operation of recovering a crew water fallen is risky, Already with the engine, even more with the sail. During my training years in Glénans Sailing School, Each boarding was an opportunity to systematically practice this maneuver, under sail, striving to come "die" heave to windward of the unfortunate, fortunately materialized by a buoy moored in a bucket as drift anchor. But that was not the real problem. It was above all not to lose sight of the crew, because come back to its fall position "reckoning" was virtually mission impossible. And still today, with our sophisticated electronic means, It's not as easy as you might think… Read more …

Guide Escales 2018 – Red card ! [Update-2]

Posted on20 December 201715 August 20243 comments

It saddens me to end the year with a critical article, but the subject deserves it. I wrote in December 2016 (*) a sincerely positive appreciation of the evolution of the application Guides Escales 2017 - Bloc Marine digital version by Figaro Nautisme editions - compared to 2016. But for edition 2018, is unfortunately go back, supply regress and severe rate increase.

Unlike the print edition you can keep several years in your boat library, the annual update of the application Guides Escales clears all purchased regions the previous year. It is therefore not a purchase but an annual subscription, nuance!. And that's not all…

[Updated 2022] The Escales Guide has been withdrawn from sale.

BeiDou-3 China rushes its Global GPS

Posted on11 th 20176 th 2024

To date, the constellation of Chinese GPS satellites BeiDou-2 covers only part of East Asia and the Western Pacific. With the commissioning of GALILEO European GPS late 2016, the replacement scheduled of U.S. 2nd generation GPSII by the 3rd generation GPSIII, the launch into orbit of the 3rd generation of Russian GLONASS-M satellites, China intends to catch up with global coverage forced march. Read more …