French Inland Waterways - Electronic Charts

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Andy and Lyn

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Been cruising for the past couple of years in Westrn Med and used a C Map (wide) electronic chart extensively - and loved it!

Now, just about to enter the French waterways, by way of the Rhone, western route via Paris to Le Havre.

Has anyone used the relevant C Map wide card (W15) - is it worth the £190 and does it provide a useful addition to the paper "fluviacartes" which i have?
 
Inland Waterways satnav system

I'd like to know further details too - coverage, details, screenshots, etc.
You might be interested in the dedicated Water-Way inland waterways satnav software - SatNav system map, guide and route planner, with full navigation and service information for 9,600km of waterways in France, edited by renowned waterways specialist David Edwards-May.
Also includes the route planning function for the entire 40,000km of inland waterways in Western Europe.
Cheaper and possibly better, more focused, more up to date, at 180€ . . . [I'd certainly like to know]
 
so with this "software" package Grehan - how does one get the GPS signal into the laptop to integrate the package?

certainly sounds what i have been looking for - with the exception that the laptop will need 240 v ( i have no inverter) to keep the battery topped up - whereas the chartplotter obviously runs on 12V - ie. alternator/solar power!!
 
It should be possible to interface a GPS into a laptop - I used to do this almost 10 years ago when cruising in the yacht, had no dedicated chartplotter and it worked very well using MapSea software and electronic charts.
As for running on 240v, there I can't make a suggestion. We run our own computers, when motoring (as is now the case having switched from raggie to stinky), from inverters.
Everything has its pros and cons ! :)
It won't help you (or me right now) but I have suggested to Water-Way in the last 1/2hr that a road test comparison between their system and a C-map inland module could be interesting . . .
 
You can get GPS dongles for under £20. I use one from Maplin, but don't know what the latest model is - 12 months is a long time in this industry. Similarly a 350w inverter is only £40 or so and as you are motoring all the time rather than sailing consumption by the PC is not a problem. Once you have tried PC charting you won't want to go back to dedicated. for working at the chart table.
 
it would appear that a company called yachtbits.com operate a scheme where they will take in my used C-Map card and exchange it for a card (fully up to date) of whatever coverage I wish - in this case of the French Inland waterways. And at a cost of about £80.

Seems a good deal - anyone ever used them? With the Chart plotter all up and running it seems the obvious way forward!! (as opposed to the Laptop/GPS dongle/laptop power supply /laptop software alterative)
 
Well, at £80 (£93 incl. vat?) I guess it's definitely worth a try. Please let me know how it goes, how useful. Very interested in some screenshots.
Looking on the website and then at the c-map site, there would appear to be different 'scales' (sorry, not familiar with c-map system) local, wide and mega-wide - this would imply (?) different exchange costs for each scale. As you said in your OP, I'd say that the Wide was the most relevant - the list of places looks comprehensive.
 
Ok will do.

Exchanging my W16 "wide" card (west med) for another wide card (french inland water ways - card W15.

having just spoken to a retailer who deals with these things is that everytime you "exchange or upgrade" you get the most current information.

So for the price not only do you get a card relevant to your own geographics you also get the upgraded info! So on the surface of it it seems to a very good service for the price. Obviously somewhat subsidised by the commercial world no doubt!!
 
We used to use the navicarte system but after watching a little red line for hours and hours I turned it off and bought a few guide books. Much more informative, no need for power, don't crash the PC,don't need the laptop in the wheelhouse, useful info on stops, restaurants etc etc etc etc. perhaps I'm a luddite but after a voyage of over 3500km on the waterways of Europe I can honestly say that as long as you know roughly where you are then the signeage is excellent and you would be hard pressed to get lost! PS Was also able to flog them afterwards for a reasonable sum.
 
so, just to report back!

i have used the plotter with the C Map card for the inland waterways for a couple of weeks now, up the Rhone as far as Lyon.

Frankly, I have found it a complete waste of money. In the last few days I have given up using it altogether and just use the "Fluviacarte" , as we always used to.

On the electronic version there is no depth information - often the channel markers are either in the wrong position or don't appear at all. Data base of "ashore" facilities is often either incorrect or plainly wrong and information regarding facilities along the river/canal banks such as pontoons/mooring facilities are either misleading or again incorrect.

So, in my opinion not of much use in the inland waterways I have traversed to date.
:mad:
 
I am so glad you came to the same conclusion as I did, when I saw this system being exhibited. Apart from being so boring to watch, it suffers from the same problems of so many printed guides - out of date information.

I have come to realise that so much of what you read in a guide is either too late or wrong that I have not bothered with them for quite a time, not to mention their cost, a complete set from Channel to Med costs far more than a bottle of good wine, or two - and I know which I would prefer!

Lets face it its very dificult to get lost on a canal, and even if you do take the odd wrong opening it so often leads to something you would never have seen otherwise, often a pleasant surprise.

Also the old bargees didn't have guides, in fact most of them couldn't read, so I'm quite happy to follow them
 
Digital channel?

If it's possible and have you the time and inclination, I'd be very glad of a couple of 'real' screen dumps from c-map, just so I can see what it's actually like. I'm a great fan of printed books, guides and maps (Grehan is loaded down with them), but I don't intend to be stick-in-the-mud either. The 'old bargees' often did the same trip over and over again so suggesting they might have wanted to consult a chart would be a bit laughable - but modern commercial barge skippers almost always have electronic charts and geo-positioning; it's a serious business.
 
Andy and Lyn said:
Been cruising for the past couple of years in Westrn Med and used a C Map (wide) electronic chart extensively - and loved it!

Now, just about to enter the French waterways, by way of the Rhone, western route via Paris to Le Havre.

Has anyone used the relevant C Map wide card (W15) - is it worth the £190 and does it provide a useful addition to the paper "fluviacartes" which i have?
Click to expand...


Can't quite see why you would need nav software there....am i missing something?
 
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