This winter, I have had the pleasure of ‘crewing’ on the boats of a number of friends who were making their way North. It has been a privilege to sail with them, to see how others sail, trim and navigate. One insight was the wide range of equipment and approaches to navigation among my friends.

It prompted me to reflect on the rapid evolution of navigation instruments on our boats, from handheld GPS and PC based chart displays to dedicated chart plotters, smart phones and iPads.

When I started doing coastal passages on our first boat, it was a matter of purely visual navigation (I never mastered the skill of using a sextant). That was among the reasons why we didn’t venture far from our home port. The nineties saw the rise of the handheld GPS, which gave us accurate positions to plot on traditional charts and the confidence to do longer passages.

GPS units soon gained plotting and charting capabilities. On our boat, we started using software at the chart table, using a laptop which was connected to our handheld GPS. Last year, before our cruise to the Whitsundays, we installed an 8 inch colour chart plotter near the steering station and thought that was the “ultimate solution”. But is it? [...]

I have had a few questions lately regarding antennas for Mobile Phones / Mobile Broadband. As it happens, the “rules” for getting the most out of your connection are the same for other “line of sight” signals such as VHF radio. That’s because your mobile phone / mobile broadband set is basically exactly that, a radio.
So, as with your VHF set, it really comes down to three factors:

1. Distance from base station
2. Effectiveness of the antenna
3. The connection between the antenna and the set.

Let’s have a look at each of these factors in turn. [...]

Here are the slides from last night’s seminar at the RPAYC:

Prepaid Mobile Broadband

Internet at sea has become an essential part of cruising. Some of us might like to get away from emails, but easily accessed weather information and the ability to keep in touch with friends and family sways most of us. On our boat, Te Moana,  we have a permanent Wireless Broadband installation, with which we’re very happy. However, not everyone is prepared to spend $1000+ or have a permanently installed system.

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[This is the online version of an article in the April 2011 issue of the Mainsheet, the monthly magazine of the Coastal Cruising Club of Australia]

I have recently been giving presentations about the use of the Internet at sea as well as Cruise Communications generally. Here are some of the questions which came up after those talks.

Q: Where should I install my Mobile Broadband Antenna?
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Here are the slides from yesterday’s seminar at the RPAYC on Cruise Communications. It was a follow up from an earlier presentation at the “First Friday” evening held by the club’s cruising group. It is part of a comprehensive series of seminars, held in preparation for the club’s 2011 cruise to the Coral Coast. The seminar notes can be downloaded here and the slide presentation is below.

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Last night I enjoyed doing a presentation to the CCCA. Over the coming week, in preparation for the seminars at RPAYC, I’ll have a chance to explore some aspects in more details. The presentation and links to sites that were mentioned are below.

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Nick Jaffe just cleared customs in Coffs Harbour after a 2 year solo sail from Europe. Apart from being an accomplished sailor, Nick also worked out how to make the Internet work for him along the way.

And not just by getting regular weather reports via a Satellite…

Check out his Website, Blog, his Flickr photostream, his Video and his Tweets. And of course, there is a tracking page.Well done, Nick!

I guess it had to be a 27 year old to show us how it’s done…

A few friends have asked about the Wireless Broadband Internet and phone setup aboard Te Moana. Last year, we fitted an Ericsson W25 on our boat. Previously, we had USB modems (Maxon CDMA and later the Maxon Turbo modem) with Telstra mobile data plans. Today I still use the (orange) Maxon Modem while we’re ashore (handy in the train or at a customer). But while on the boat I take the SIM card out of the modem and plug it into the Ericsson W25 which Andersen Marine installed on Te Moana last year.

[...]

Regulars will know that I’m a fan of the iPhone at sea. Even without specific iPhone apps, the ability to adequately browse standard websites make so much sailing related information available at sea and with the built-in GPS (and now a compass), the iPhone is a great backup to other systems on a boat. And it makes phone calls as well…

Panbo, “the Marine Electronics Weblog” (an excellent source of marine geek news) just published a survey of current iPhone apps which extends the functionality of an iPhone on board even more. But wait….can you get Australian mapping for all these nifty chart plotting apps? Not likely.

You see, there is no copyright on US charts, as the US statutes prevent their Government claiming copyright on works which were created by Government employees. That’s why software makers can include (raster) charts at no charge.

I think you could make a good case for abolishing copyright on Australian Hydrographic charts.  Having free raster charts available  would encourage more boaters to have up to date charts and encourage the use of low end systems such as those in the survey above as standby systems and on small craft. How about it, Kevin?

And Caroline, next time you talk to Mike Prince at the Australian Hydrographic Office, ask them why they don’t freely license Australian charts which we, in effect, have already paid for through our taxes.