Antipodean Boats Connection

[RFNK]

You blokes might be interested in a blog by a friend of mine about a seven year voyage, so far, around the world. John Vallentine is his name and he loves high latitude sailing...Southern Ocean, Cape Horn, Arctic Circle, North Atlantic etc. At the moment he's travelling through Russia via a system of canals and rivers. Anna and I had a few weeks with him in the Caribbean recently, which was pretty good fun. John is an absolutely superb seaman, and of course very eccentric. Wooden boat enthusiasts should skip over this next sentence. The boat is made of...barely audible mumble... GRP. A Petersen 44. Still if you're interested in ocean voyaging in exotic parts of the world the blog is worth a look.

http://tainui.org/

Thanks John, I'll have a look!

Rick

[PeterSibley]

You blokes might be interested in a blog by a friend of mine about a seven year voyage, so far, around the world. John Vallentine is his name and he loves high latitude sailing...Southern Ocean, Cape Horn, Arctic Circle, North Atlantic etc. At the moment he's travelling through Russia via a system of canals and rivers. Anna and I had a few weeks with him in the Caribbean recently, which was pretty good fun. John is an absolutely superb seaman, and of course very eccentric. Wooden boat enthusiasts should skip over this next sentence. The boat is made of...barely audible mumble... GRP. A Petersen 44. Still if you're interested in ocean voyaging in exotic parts of the world the blog is worth a look.

http://tainui.org/

I'm reading it now John , thanks .

[brucemoffatt]

I found the 'download maps' function in Navionics. Map sets can be downloaded to the phone by drawing a rectangle on the screen to define an area. Quite slow to download but it is there.

Rick I agree the app on the phone isn't going to do the job of a bigger screen GPS chart plotter. I'll use it to check out Navionics with a view to buying a license for the Android tablet at a later stage. I'll also take it along as a back-up if I get a boat ride.

Mr Not-as-Grumpy

[asrainox]

Put my first coat of lipstick on the Hartley topsides today. Looking good, but I wish it'd get a bit warmer here and stay dry for a while. Stupid Melbourne

[Larks]

Put my first coat of lipstick on the Hartley topsides today. Looking good, but I wish it'd get a bit warmer here and stay dry for a while. Stupid Melbourne

Wow......I know she's only half dressed but it's great seeing her come together like this. I love that blue!!!

[PeterSibley]

Hartley Blue, Gary's Redwing has a pretty similar shade.

[skuthorp]

Rugby anyone, a good match so far, 13 - 12. Two Aussies stretchered off, one an 'own goal'.

Outside after a cold sunny day it's cold still, but clear and still with a full moon I think. If it was warmer I'd go for a walk on the beach. After the rugby.

[PeterSibley]

I've been having fun modifying the Cherub 3 drawings, I'm spreading the waterlines by 16.6 % , from 6" to 7'' . It looks OK so far and it gives me 5'10" headroom and about 5' draft, a tiny bit less than Ed Burnett's memories of his C3 ( Redwing) but satisfactory for me .

It's good to have a light duties job as I still can't do much physically.... I drove a dozen screws today but stopped before I finished the last few. It's "interesting" what hurts !

[PeterSibley]

Rugby anyone, a good match so far, 13 - 12. Two Aussies stretchered off, one an 'own goal'.

Outside after a cold sunny day it's cold still, but clear and still with a full moon I think. If it was warmer I'd go for a walk on the beach. After the rugby.

A beautiful clear crisp night here Jeff, a full moon and the sky full of stars .

[brucemoffatt]

... the phone isn't going to do the job of a bigger screen GPS chart plotter. I'll use it to check out Navionics with a view to buying a license for the Android tablet at a later stage. I'll also take it along as a back-up if I get a boat ride.

So here's my take on Navionics for iPhone 4:

The good:
It works (given how some other apps crash, this is not a trivial point)
Download navmaps for your area means offline (i.e. no internet required) navigation
Routes with many waypoints, saved to the phone
Live tracking of a course, with or without a predefined route, with info a saved file for later analysis
Very clear and readable map and data
Excellent chart info
Online reference data by clicking map - requires an internet wifi capability.

The bad:
The basic nav info is not all available in use. I define this basic live nav data as current pos (lat and lon not just a visual cursor), heading, COG, current speed, ave speed this leg, course, time and distance to waypoint, time and distance to end of route. What is provided is (in map view) current speed, time and distance from current pos to waypoint, time and distance from current pos to end of route, and a graphic showing visually current position and heading. In data view more time and distance between waypoints for the route are given. What is not ever given is current pos (lat,lon), heading, COG, ave speed this leg. Current pos can be got by tapping the screen as close as you can get to the current pos cursor, but that's an embuggerance.

This is a bit of a shame. At less than arms length the readout is very clear and easily readable, however I'd not be able to use it by itself as a nav aid. I'd also want to get and log the other 'missing' basic data from something else. It seems that there are several good nav apps, some free, some paid, and between them they cover all the basic functionality, but no single app covers all the the things I see as primary, necessary functions.

I am assuming that the iPad and Android tablet versions have more data available on screen. I'd like to confirm that before buying the app for the tablet. A free app, GPS Essentials, covers all of the required functionality but has no good-quality offline charts data. It does have access to Open Seamap charts but they are not of the same quality and storing them in the tablet cache is not guaranteed that they will be there when you need them.

If I only had the iPhone with Navionics I'd safely make my way around a course, but I'd be screwing up my forehead and wishing for more data. 'd rate it a 4 out of 5, and that's a pity because it could easily be a 5 if just a little more nav data was shown.

Bruce, now ready to go to sea and give it a proper run as soon as I can talk my way onto a boat.

[RFNK]

That Hartley Blue's looking terrific! Great work!

Rick

[brucemoffatt]

The most reliable nav system I've ever used is dead reckoning.... "that way looks good".

Gotta agree with that

Now that I'm old I'd like to be able to say that, and then have some gadget confirm I have some hope of steering myself in the direction that looks good Also I love tech toys.

But yes you're right, nothing quite comes close to knowing where you are, and deciding where you want to go from there.

[RFNK]

Navionics on iPad or Android is excellent. I can't think of any reason not to use it. For about $40 you get all Australia and NZ charts with good lights info. All you have to do is zoom in on the areas you intend travelling to to store the chart detail - you do this with the tablet connected to wifi or a computer connected to internet, and then it's available on the tablet for good. The tablet's GPS works really well with the stored data. All you have to do is keep the tablet charged. You could, in theory, circumnavigate Aust and NZ with just the tablet. The only reason you'd need anything else would be in case the tablet failed or was dropped overboard.
Rick

[PeterSibley]

Rick , with a max battery life of around 10 hours are there any worthwhile external compact battery packs specific to tablets ?

[RFNK]

Yep, what Ian said. No need for special backup power devices IMHO

Rick

[PeterSibley]

Ok, I'm just learning about these new fangled gizmos .

[johnno]

Peter, but you are a new fangled gizmo....

[Larks]

Peter, but you are a new fangled gizmo....

Hey!!! Welcome back John!!! Nice to tune in and see you here mate, I was feeling a bit miz' walking back into the empty apartment after just dropping Kate at the airport but that's brightened me up again!!

[johnno]

Hey guys, funny how much you can miss a cyberspace...nice to see you, thanks for the kind thoughts from everyone, and for the welcome back!

[PeterSibley]

Peter, but you are a new fangled gizmo....

Verily, he has arisen! Glad to see you back John,

Gizmo.

[johnno]

I've been reading of course...got to keep up with the goss. Just wasn't really up to participating.

[RFNK]

Ah, a voice from the deep! Welcome back John! Hope you're feeling okay?

Rick

[Duncan Gibbs]

Indeed! Welcome back from perdition John!

[skuthorp]

Glad to see you up and about again johnno.

[John B]

Excellent! Speedy recovery Johnno.

That 'Hartley Blue' looks suspiciously like International royal blue to me.

[Larks]

Definitely "Hartley Blue"!!!

[John B]

'Davidson' more like it. I'll accept 'ketch'.



..

[brucemoffatt]

Heya Johhno, welcome back mate.

[WX]

Heya Johhno, welcome back mate.

Most assuredly ditto.

[WX]

It's a bit brass monkey tonight! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Took Peter and Duncan for a sail today, though it was barely sailing the wind was so light. At one stage the water was so flat you could see dumped cars that had we presume, washed down from up river during a flood. Had a couple of problems with the engine so there's a couple of new jobs for next weekend.

[Hwyl]

Missing boat, any of you know anything about a "heavily built" boat, possibly a schooner, going missing in the Tasman, she left EnZed bound for Australia at the end of May. Marilyn's friend Evi is on board.

evi left on the 29th her time (28th our time) of may. the last communication we
had was on
the 2nd of june her time. the passage was estimated to take 10-12 days.

there was a call that got cut off on the iridium sat phone on the 4th.
the boat she is on doesn't have long range radio but is a very 'solid' boat.
the boat just had its engine replaced and had only run it for 1/2 hour to test
it out.
my hope is that they mis-wired the engine and can't charge the batteries or
start the engine. search and rescue is involved, but not doing much. no distress
signal has been
activated (Mikii is making friends with NZ search and rescue by calling every
night).
that being said I am planning on buying tickets on the 27th of june
and flying to NZ probably around july 1st.


Libby headed down and was supposed to meet her on the 12/14th in auckland. she
is still there and i will meet up with her (assuming) we don't get any news.

this is is the last confirmed communication we have from her.
wondy-spot
Latitude:-33.59926
Longitude:168.52466
GPS location Date/Time:06/02/2013 00:48:12 GMT

Message:Evi and Nina are OK.
They are here:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/CHwJM/33.59926S/168.52466E

If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...UTF8&z=12&om=1


wondy-spot

You have received this message because wondy-spot has added you to their SPOT
contact list.

[auscruisertom]

Glad to hear you are back on deck John.

[John B]

Missing boat, any of you know anything about a "heavily built" boat, possibly a schooner, going missing in the Tasman, she left EnZed bound for Australia at the end of May. Marilyn's friend Evi is on board.

Nothing I've heard of. No vessel name?

[Larks]

Missing boat, any of you know anything about a "heavily built" boat, possibly a schooner, going missing in the Tasman, she left EnZed bound for Australia at the end of May. Marilyn's friend Evi is on board.

First I've heard of it Gareth but I'll ask around. Any idea what the name of the boat is??

Anyone else here aware of this???

[PeterSibley]

I haven't heard of it but on another recent matter I talked to a bloke at the pub this afternoon who was at Yamba ? in the pub there overlooking the bar and saw the boat that rolled down there as it came in over the bar . Lots of assistance was offered from AirSea Rescue and a chopper .