Google maps for cruising destinations

Conachair

Conachair

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Does anyone else use google maps for saving what's where? I find it a bit surprising that it isn't more popular on the web for sailing destinations. In areas where google streets is available it can be a great tool to get a feel for a place, and maybe get a pointer to a local ferrateria :)

Hope this works, here's a selection from the canaries.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=212590728540189306306.000471913a7d5a2ef665d&mid=1318708966

Suppose what would work well would be some sort of central database which you could search, maybe a sticky here would be a start.
 
RichardS said:
Trouble is you've got to have an internet connection to use it.

Even Google Earth soon fills the cache if you try and store high-res stuff.

Google Earth with a 100GB cache would be good!

Richard
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I'm struggling to think of anywhere round the atlantic where (usually free) internet wasn't available close by, if not onboard. :)

Before heading to a new cruising area I would always get a bit excited and search out any info there was, noonsite, cruising guides, lonely planet, yacht websites etc. A google map of where things are, like the market, best local supermarket and more important which bar the cruisers hang out in :D could be another useful string to the bow.
 
A word of caution though: I recently planned to sail to Ostende where I had last been in 2008 and, though I have two independant electronic charting systems on board, I looked up Google maps and had a look at the satellite picture of Ostende harbour - nothing changed and all the same as per my memory and as my charting systems were showing.

BUT when I showed up at 2300hrs on a dark night I was greeted by rocks in the middle of my approach channel, they have built two breakwaters and moved the entrance about 150m to the east, demarkated by two floating buoys and not lights on the pier ends. Needless to say I was rather perflexed.
 
multihullsailor6 said:
A word of caution though: I recently planned to sail to Ostende where I had last been in 2008 and, though I have two independant electronic charting systems on board, I looked up Google maps and had a look at the satellite picture of Ostende harbour - nothing changed and all the same as per my memory and as my charting systems were showing.

BUT when I showed up at 2300hrs on a dark night I was greeted by rocks in the middle of my approach channel, they have built two breakwaters and moved the entrance about 150m to the east, demarkated by two floating buoys and not lights on the pier ends. Needless to say I was rather perflexed.
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But surely that would be the same situation as with a pilot book and, for that matter, charts both electronic and paper.. when they're old, however old that may be they can be wrong.
 
While Google Maps are great fun, and are generally very useful, I'd be quite careful about using them as my ONLY source of information. There are several drawbacks:

  1. Placenames are (in general) acquired from commercial sources with no authority and little checking.
  2. Other information depends on a Google search for information that is on the web. So, you won't find interesting places, shops, bars or restaurants that don't have a web presence that allows their location to be extracted.
  3. A lot of other information is taken directly from Wikipedia, which is as good or as bad as the last editor of the page. Wikipedia has rules that sometimes mean that authoritative sources AREN'T referenced if those sources don't meet Wikipedia's rules about copyright (I have direct experience of this).
  4. The Internet isn't as widely available as the OP says - even on the West Coast of Scotland - a well known and well used cruising ground - sufficient band-width for Google Earth is hard to come by.

There are other, technical, reasons why GE isn't suitable for navigation.
 
AntarcticPilot said:
While Google Maps are great fun, and are generally very useful, I'd be quite careful about using them as my ONLY source of information.
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I'd be very concerned about using *anything* as a sole source of information, that includes mk1 eyeball. ;) ;)

The thing with google maps is that you can create your own easily and quickly, then share it. Individual yacht websites can be very useful, like the excellent one by JimB, but for the rest of us who won't get that far, creating a map only takes a few minutes and I think could be useful to others, especially for the things which don't make it onto the cruising guides, like a little backstreet hardware shop which sells stainless etc.

Sites like Jims (and Webbys for the Canaries) I used a lot planning the next passage, and internet really isn't far away for most of us, the west coast of Scotland is obviously behind the rest of the world :p .

Thread drift but google earth I actually used quite a lot for nav, not on it's own of course, but with the 3d view you can sometimes get a better idea of which hill is the one before the bay you are looking for, and where the yachts tend to anchor when you get there. Then see any paths for a days walking. It's all more strings to the bow.
 
Thanks for the nice comment about the site!

I researched whether to use Google maps, or create home drawn maps, for the site. I emailed a lot of subscribers, and the consensus was "small files please". So I plumped for home drawn .gif files using only web colours. These are tiny compared to Google map downloads, so very little data cost for dongles.

With more and cheaper G3 now, this is less important.

What Gmaps has been exceptionally useful for is research - finding new marinas and harbour constructions long before they hit the pilot books or charts. I then ask people cruising an area to go and have a look to see what's going on . . .
 
The suggestion, of using Google maps, reminds me of the prosecution, of a Greek supertanker skipper, for using the Shell Roadmaps of England when navigating the Channel - about 45 years ago.

I suspect that the only thing missing (and who wants it in a shallow draft yacht) are precise water depths.
 
charles_reed said:
The suggestion, of using Google maps, reminds me of the prosecution, of a Greek supertanker skipper, for using the Shell Roadmaps of England when navigating the Channel - about 45 years ago.

I suspect that the only thing missing (and who wants it in a shallow draft yacht) are precise water depths.
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Think you missed the point there Charles, the suggestion is not to use google maps for nav but for cruisers to save and make available user maps with placemarks of relavent local places, like marina office , the market etc.

As for nav, according to chart software on the laptop I've sailed up a main street and anchored in hotels more than once :cool: with a datum maybe a mile out, where google earth will display you much more accurately.
It's all usefull, just be sure which bits to ignore.
 
Conachair said:
the suggestion is not to use google maps for nav but for cruisers to save and make available user maps with placemarks of relavent local places, like marina office , the market etc.
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A good idea, but, like pilot books which offer this sort of data, things change.

Some countries already provide this type of information as an infrastructure service. Italy's "pagineazzure" for example, and the excellent free Swedish harbour guides. These rely on local ports keeping their info up to date. However, even though this is free advertising for the ports, about 1/10 don't note changes!
 
jimbaerselman said:
A good idea, but, like pilot books which offer this sort of data, things change.

Some countries already provide this type of information as an infrastructure service. Italy's "pagineazzure" for example, and the excellent free Swedish harbour guides. These rely on local ports keeping their info up to date. However, even though this is free advertising for the ports, about 1/10 don't note changes!
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A point I didn't make is that it is often not very clear what the date of the imagery in Google Earth is. And the associated searches may well not be current. Not important for a lot of places; rocks don't move very much. But sand and mud does!
 
AntarcticPilot said:
A point I didn't make is that it is often not very clear what the date of the imagery in Google Earth is. And the associated searches may well not be current. Not important for a lot of places; rocks don't move very much. But sand and mud does!
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Actually, there is a button on google earth which lets you switch between different historical map aquisition dates, bottom left of the screen tells you image date, oldest of London is 1945! Still doesn't tell you if what it's showing is still there though!
I don't expect charts to be that perfect either though. making landfall a couple of years ago in Brazil there was a suspension bridge across the river which wasn't mentioned anywhere, not on any charts, not on google maps, not in the vague photocopied pilot book. Not a mention anywhere. Despite initial instinct against, the gps was right and the bouys matched up so in we went. Bridge is on google now, I would suspect that charts might not be that current, this is an older cm93, not sure if newer exist.

Capture.jpg


Point is don't knock it, google earth can be a very useful tool. It can all good or bad, take everything you can and don't completely believe any of it. Even your eyes ;)



Edit
PS - Some placemarks in Brazil, just in case someone needs a starter motor rewound in Joao Pessoa :) . http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ms...4.8462spn=0.095727,0.169086&source=gplus-ogsb
 
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I take snapshots of anchorages from Google Earth and keep them on my laptop. Used in conjunction with the chart, these can be very helpful for identifying exactly the best place to drop the hook, especially as I can often tell if the seabed is sandy or not (in the Adriatic, at least...).
 
Conachair said:
In the same vein, does anyone here contribute to the world cruising wiki?

http://www.cruiserswiki.org/wiki/World_Cruising_and_Sailing_Wiki
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Me, no longer.

The idea is good, but there is little incentive for people to come forward and add their bit, especially when quality control is missing. Also, there are other wikis around trying to do the same thing, which dilutes the effort, and there's competition from more local sites which do smaller areas to a far higher standard - some charter companies, for instance.

The only reliable way to create such sites is pro-actively to seek inputs and filter them for accuracy. For instance, by asking specific questions on a forum such as this, or through YBW PMs, or an email list of site subscribers. I've had great success asking specific questions of our YBW local experts, who have been incredibly helpful!

The Cruising Association (CA) also runs several such email fora - for the Baltic, the Med, Biscay, Blue water, and a new one for France and the Channel Islands. Specific questions raise loads of replies to the original sender, and they're all recorded on fora to be digested for next year's cruise planning.
 
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