Considering the depth and breadth of knowledge available here, there almost has to be at least one mariner/sailor.

So, here's the problem (may be TL;DR material).

A close friend of mine has a sailing school (if you look at the site, don't blame him, that's my fault), and he's pretty damned good at teaching folk to sail.  He's been sailing for 'bout twenty (20) years, teaching for seven (7) to ten (10) years (I'm not certain, but at least seven (7)), and started his own school two (2) years ago. He wants a tablet/laptop chart viewer/plotter.  It could be Android, iOS, Linux (other than Android but installable on a tablet) or Windows.  We can test everything but the Apple stuff right now, but he's not averse to getting an iPad if that will support the required software.

NOAA provides coastal US charts in both RNC (raster format) and ENC (vector format).  RNC is OK for viewing, but it does not scale well.  ENC, with the proper software, can be edited, e.g., plot courses, track GPS coordinates, and the like.  Capt. Chris wants to be able to enter, or ideally, let his students enter, courses they've plotted for a class (the plotting is pen/paper/ruler/divider stuff) on a tablet or laptop, then let them be able to see their progress, via GPS or compass and clock, during the sail.  This would serve multiple purposes, e.g., a sense of time/distance relationships, ability to hold a course (not as simple as it might appear when you're not on the boat in open ocean or a good-sized bay (which ours is)), and the like.  If it's something that can be done on a tablet, he'll mount the tablet on a bulkhead, so his kids can see real-time reinforcement (or need for correction) of what they've plotted.

I've found some [marginal] stuff, but a lot of it is CLI, and most of Chris' students will be much more comfortable with something GUI.  It has become evident that my search skills are inadequate to the task, so I'm turning to the uber searchers.

Any takers?

Evolution of Windows is a quick pictorial history.  Hell of it is, I remember every damned one of 'em, although I was using OS-9 (Tandy DOS), then Borland (MS-DOD) up until Win3.0.  Once again - or first time? - MS got it right on the third try  :-\ :P.

Been trying to find a reasonable calendar program that

• runs on (Windows) desktop
• runs on tablet (Android, for now)
• runs on smartphone (Android, for now)

but not having much luck.  I'd like to be able to show appointments, tasks, schedules, and the like.  Most of 'em would be entered on the desktop/laptop, but there'd be times when the only entry point available would be a tablet or the phone, so multiple synchronization would be a must.

I'm averse to cloud-based solutions  :mad:, so Google Calendar or the like is out  :P.  Ideally, input would be allowed from any platform and shared with all other platforms.  Right now, that would include a B&N Color Nook, a Toshiba Thrive, a Nexus 7, a Samsung Galaxy SIII, and various Windows 7machines.  That hardware might change - I'm considering a Win8 tablet if I can stomach Win8 and if the price can be justified.  Ditto, Win8 phone.  Prolly won't use a *nix-based system, as those are mostly play/experiment systems for me, not long-term work systems.  (Not trying to start anything - *nix distros just don't fit into my professional* usages  :P.)

[sidebar]
Why not cloud?  Just today there was a piece of mail from the Republican National Committee (on the back flap) with a (front) return address of Mitt Romney.  It was addresses to Databarn Databarn.  (databarn is an alias I've used off and on when subscribing to various online elements.)  That name, along with my correct address, was hijacked from some Web site - it's never been used for shipping.  And I've never, knowingly at least, subscribed to any political entity.  (At one (1) point I did have a Web site published under that name - a decade ago!)  That's just one (1) reason I don't use cloud services, no matter how convenient.  There simply is no security that cannot be broken (as I learned when I spent a few years in cryptography).
[/sidebar]

*Professional, at bottom, means you get paid for it.