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GPS as a technology is incredibly accurate and precise. The problem in narrow waterways is that even with the modern chartplotters of today, the fix lags behind

GPS as a technology is incredibly accurate and precise. The problem in narrow waterways is that even with the modern chartplotters of today, the fix lags behind – sometimes even twenty seconds or so. GPS is a very important aid in determining the rough position of a vessel, but the micro-scale navigation is just so much easier to do with navigational aids (buoys, lighthouses, glitters, leading marks, etc.) > But doesn't virtually anyone have a smartphone now? Perhaps one tool amongst the others, but they have several disadvantages * You have to hold them -> one hand less available to anything useful * Even if you can figure out a way to mount a phone so that you can read it (remember to somehow accommodate charging!), the screen is still quite small -> can't be viewed at a distance Even if you somehow get all of the physical problems sorted, software problems still persist: * Where are you going to get your charts from? Certainly do not expect to not have to pay for them (a couple of hundred of dollars is not uncommon) * How are you going to view them? The solutions of the big players are quite expensive (couple hundred quid per season). Sure, the play store and such are full of some random dude's chart viewers, but are you going to trust that some random ass guy got the projection and datum conversions right? Even if they mostly did, even an error of ten meters or so could be critical. tl;dr: a good phone-based solution costs at least as much as a basic chartplotter. In addition, you have to make multiple compromises.

sccxy 4y ago
Navionics boating app [1] is free and 1 year daily map updates for Mediterranean Sea costs 20 eur. It is really cheap and improves safety a lot on board. Even without any navigational experience they can use this app, same can't be said about most nav systems. I am not saying you should only rely on it, but it is great addition where even passangers can use when main navigator gets injured/is sleeping/... [1]: https://www.navionics.com/fin/apps/navionics-boating https://www.navionics.com/fin/apps/navionics-boating
- kaapipo 4y ago
  There have been multiple occasions where I would've ran aground if I had trusted Navionics' charts. Granted, I sail in Finland which has one of the rockiest waters in the world but in my situation, their products are simply inadequate for any serious use. But yeah, I could see a use case for it in some situations
jskrablin 4y ago
You can use a mount for smartphone. Charging is easy to solve - just use a big enough powerbank + full phone battery when heading out and you should be good for at least a full day of non stop navigation + screen on. I agree on small screen... but then again, you can use a tablet instead of a phone. According to my experience (off road motorbiking including a rally with weather going from really hot to bad downpours and everything in between) using a cheap (120€) rugged phone works just fine. There can be some lag sometimes (100+ km/h on a motorbike is way faster than what most boats can manage though) but in this case you rely on Mark 1 Eyeball and spatial awareness anyway. During rally we were required to carry an old school map of the area so if your GPS device failed you could find your way back to bivouac. I carried a spare phone, because it's cheap enough anyway. Can't speak for nautical charts but for general navigation I guess OSMAnd should work just fine. I'd still recommend against going out without basic navigation experience, relying on a smartphone only.

sccxy 4y ago

Navionics boating app [1] is free and 1 year daily map updates for Mediterranean Sea costs 20 eur. It is really cheap and improves safety a lot on board. Even without any navigational experience they can use this app, same can't be said about most nav systems. I am not saying you should only rely on it, but it is great addition where even passangers can use when main navigator gets injured/is sleeping/... [1]: https://www.navionics.com/fin/apps/navionics-boating https://www.navionics.com/fin/apps/navionics-boating

kaapipo 4y ago
There have been multiple occasions where I would've ran aground if I had trusted Navionics' charts. Granted, I sail in Finland which has one of the rockiest waters in the world but in my situation, their products are simply inadequate for any serious use. But yeah, I could see a use case for it in some situations

jskrablin 4y ago

You can use a mount for smartphone. Charging is easy to solve - just use a big enough powerbank + full phone battery when heading out and you should be good for at least a full day of non stop navigation + screen on. I agree on small screen... but then again, you can use a tablet instead of a phone. According to my experience (off road motorbiking including a rally with weather going from really hot to bad downpours and everything in between) using a cheap (120€) rugged phone works just fine. There can be some lag sometimes (100+ km/h on a motorbike is way faster than what most boats can manage though) but in this case you rely on Mark 1 Eyeball and spatial awareness anyway. During rally we were required to carry an old school map of the area so if your GPS device failed you could find your way back to bivouac. I carried a spare phone, because it's cheap enough anyway. Can't speak for nautical charts but for general navigation I guess OSMAnd should work just fine. I'd still recommend against going out without basic navigation experience, relying on a smartphone only.