Navionics app and sail report

[kuriti]

Hey all,

Went for my 5th sail on my "new" boat this weekend in excellent conditions. 70 degrees and 7-9 knots extremely steady wind on Jordan Lake, NC. Still loving the boat and plan to replace all standing and running rigging this winter. I meant to bring the "fishing map" i bought as the only means for depthfinding I could find. Well, i forgot to bring it, but since the water level was high, I wasn't concerned. The sail was awesome, but upon my return towards the ramp, i cut it closer than I knew was prudent on a point, gambling the higher water level would save me. well, i ran aground. luckily i did not have the keel pinned since the air was light and it didn't do any damage (mud/clay bottom). This along with dreams/plans to sail in albemarle/pamlico sound next summer put me on the search for a better charting system.

Enter Navionics app for adroid. it's cool. for $10 you get all charts in the USA. you download the area of interest and store on the SD card so no connection is required. it has a depth alarm and course tracking and pre-plotting. the chart for Jordan Lake was 100x better than the fishing map. i haven't used it in action yet, but it seems amazing. i was using the google tracks app this weekend, which is cool, but this seems substantially better, especially when it comes to the coastal areas. Anybody else using this app?

here is my track from this weekend on a google maps track. I started on a down wind run with genoa and main going wing to wing, a first for me. i began my first set of upwind legs because of a narrow channel i was unsure of and worries that i wouldn't get back to the ramp in time. once i tacked a few times, i had more confidence in my "crew" (brother in law and our two boys 8 & 9), so we ran all the way towards the end of the lake, tacking back through the narrow channel. You can see we improved substantially on the second set of tacks.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=204 ... e373&msa=0

Just thought i would share. hope everyone else is logging some miles.

cheers,

Kuriti

[cklamp]

yes, Jeff Dere from Fleet 1 is using it on his Iphone. Check out our forums, the cruising reports section, as he's done quite a few writeups using this app to show his tracks.

later
C

[TomD]

I use the Navionics app on my smart phone too. Its very convenient and has almost made a regular GPS and charts obsolete. The GPS only comes out for longer expiditions and places where I need to have detailed routes pre-programed in the device. The price is the really great part. $10 - $15 compared to a decent GPS at $150 - $300 minimum. Plus Navionics gold charts for your GPS will run you another $100 - $200.