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General Software Discussion / In search of ... charting, course plotting software
« on: December 24, 2012, 02:02 PM »
Folk,
A close friend of mine is a sailor, been sailing for ~twenty (20) years. ~Seven (7) years ago, he became an ASA (American Sailing Association) certified instructor. (He is a licensed Coast Guard Master for fifty-ton, working on a license (read hours) for 100-ton.) He has several times moved boats under contract, the last time being from Galveston, TX to somewhere on the East coast of Florida. Two (2) years ago, he opened his own school, which is doing very well as he starts into his third year. He was ~eight (8 ) hours shy of a pilot license when he decided to devote his attention to sailing instruction. OK, that's the background.
What we would like to find is charting software - preferably low dollar or free - that he can use to instruct his students in the art of plotting courses, then sailing those plotted courses. He will, of course, continue to teach how to use paper charts, but most of his students are much more comfortable with a screen than with paper ;).
NOAA provides both raster and SVG charts. We'd prefer something that uses SVG, since the raster charts do not scale very well. A software that works on WinXP/Win7 would be acceptable, but something for Android or (shudder) iOS would be preferable. Personally, I'd like Android, since I have hardware that can use it. We can test it on a B&N Nook Color, a Toshiba Thrive, or a Nexus 7. (A chart station would be ideal, but they're very expensive, and not portable - this unit will be moved among at least three (3) different boats currently used for instruction.)
The problem here is twofold: he gets, at best, three (3) to five (5) days off a month, seldom consecutively, and I just am not knowledgeable enough to know the appropriate search terms :(.
So, any boaters here? Doesn't matter whether power or sail, since charting will be the same in either case. And it's quite possible that the avionics folk here might have software that would work, as well.
A close friend of mine is a sailor, been sailing for ~twenty (20) years. ~Seven (7) years ago, he became an ASA (American Sailing Association) certified instructor. (He is a licensed Coast Guard Master for fifty-ton, working on a license (read hours) for 100-ton.) He has several times moved boats under contract, the last time being from Galveston, TX to somewhere on the East coast of Florida. Two (2) years ago, he opened his own school, which is doing very well as he starts into his third year. He was ~eight (8 ) hours shy of a pilot license when he decided to devote his attention to sailing instruction. OK, that's the background.
What we would like to find is charting software - preferably low dollar or free - that he can use to instruct his students in the art of plotting courses, then sailing those plotted courses. He will, of course, continue to teach how to use paper charts, but most of his students are much more comfortable with a screen than with paper ;).
NOAA provides both raster and SVG charts. We'd prefer something that uses SVG, since the raster charts do not scale very well. A software that works on WinXP/Win7 would be acceptable, but something for Android or (shudder) iOS would be preferable. Personally, I'd like Android, since I have hardware that can use it. We can test it on a B&N Nook Color, a Toshiba Thrive, or a Nexus 7. (A chart station would be ideal, but they're very expensive, and not portable - this unit will be moved among at least three (3) different boats currently used for instruction.)
The problem here is twofold: he gets, at best, three (3) to five (5) days off a month, seldom consecutively, and I just am not knowledgeable enough to know the appropriate search terms :(.
So, any boaters here? Doesn't matter whether power or sail, since charting will be the same in either case. And it's quite possible that the avionics folk here might have software that would work, as well.
