Emergency Navigation

Bepi

E27 Roxanne
INavX. This is an app for phone or tablet. It allows you to download a variety of standard charts to your device. Once downloaded you no longer need an internet connection as it uses the device GPS and overlays it on the chart. It's not feature heavy but it's nice to know that "No matter where you go, there you are."
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
I have been considering a "nav app" for my iPhone 12. Sounds like you like this one... true?
Thanks much.
 

Tin Kicker

Sustaining Member
Moderator
I have a good chart plotter, plus charts on the iPad and phone but still keep and refer to these "emergency navigation devices" regularly.
51O2LKC+J3L._SX343_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg
 

Bepi

E27 Roxanne
I have been considering a "nav app" for my iPhone 12. Sounds like you like this one... true?
Thanks much.
I like it for the simplicity. It does quite a bit but I just use the GPS map/chart It gives Lat, Lon. and heading. The only electronics I have on Roxanne are a phone/tablet, depth gauge and a radio. I have paper charts for southern California but those don't help when it's hazy and you can see neither the mainland nor Catalina. I wouldn't recommend it as a primary nav/chart plotter but In a pinch it will tell you exactly where you are.
 

Alan Gomes

Sustaining Partner
I have been considering a "nav app" for my iPhone 12. Sounds like you like this one... true?
Thanks much.
Take a look at the Navionics app. It works very well on an iPhone. There's a 2-week free trial with full features, so it's worth looking into.
 

bgary

Advanced Beginner
Blogs Author
I personally like iSailor far more than iNavX.

iNavX basically gives you an interactive view of (paper) charts, and you have to choose which chart to display. iSailor is far more seamless, works just like a chart-plotter.

$.02
Bruce
 

Alan Gomes

Sustaining Partner
I personally like iSailor far more than iNavX.

iNavX basically gives you an interactive view of (paper) charts, and you have to choose which chart to display. iSailor is far more seamless, works just like a chart-plotter.

$.02
Bruce
Have you ever looked at Navionics? How does it compare to iSailor?
 

tenders

Innocent Bystander
I like iNavX too. I use it on my phone and iPad, along with OpenCPN on desktop.

Each one of these systems has its weakness however.
- iNavX has no desktop application (Mac or Windows), so if you like to do planning/scheming on a large screen you have to use something else and then translate/import the data
- OpenCPN is free on desktop and inexpensive on Android, but has a quirky interface and no iOS app
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
My emergency nav screen is 3 feet square and made of paper. Not hard to keep local charts aboard, and guests appreciate studying the "map."

We all have numerous GPS sources aboard nowadays, and if you know where you are you can plot a course to anywhere.
 

Pete the Cat

Member III
My emergency nav screen is 3 feet square and made of paper. Not hard to keep local charts aboard, and guests appreciate studying the "map."

We all have numerous GPS sources aboard nowadays, and if you know where you are you can plot a course to anywhere.
OK, this is another one of those "depends on how you use it" questions. I like iNavx because I can select the chart I want to use and not have it chosen for me. Most often in coastal sailing I probably will want to see multiple charts in different scale when planning--I want easy access to all of them and to know what scale I am on when I am looking at them. I generally carry every electronic chart available for any place I go. This saved my bacon more than once on deliveries when I had to find a hidey hole from crummy weather--having very detailed electronic charts to look at is a good thing. I still carry paper for very high level planning and guest amusement, but you probably know that they are not going to be made in the future. I also like iNavx as it seems dead simple to set courses and I like the display sense. iNavx still has some NOAA raster charts available (so sad they will no longer be produced) and I think the vector charts of most other systems are ugly and harder to interpret---they were designed to accommodate the limited chip and memory specs of the first chart plotters . I still have a hand bearing compass and plotting tools but have not touched them in 15 years. Have a sextant for sale in excellent condition.
If you ae going out of the US you are going to want to be careful about the system you choose. Not all will work with Admiralty charts and other foreign sources. Some require some really expensive packages for foreign chart access. FWIW.
 

bgary

Advanced Beginner
Blogs Author
My emergency nav screen is 3 feet square and made of paper. ...and if you know where you are you can plot a course to anywhere.
+1.

I have... hmm, probably a half-dozen GPS sources on the boat at any given time (the chartplotter, the mounted VHF, my phone, the iPad at the chart-table, the mini-iPad I read e-books on, my Garmin watch... oh, plus the old-skool pocket GPS in the chart table. Sheesh!)

...but I also carry paper charts, plus hand-bearing compass, plus plotting tools....
 

bgary

Advanced Beginner
Blogs Author
- iNavX has no desktop application (Mac or Windows), so if you like to do planning/scheming on a large screen you have to use something else and then translate/import the data

I haven't tried this with iNavX, but... I can export files from my Garmin GPS, fuss with them (for plotting a route, for example) on my laptop using Garmin "HomePort", and re-import to the GPS.

I can import that same file into iSailor on my iPad. In other words... can create a route on laptop, and make it available on both platforms.
 
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