I-Sailor

Brilliant app with good quality and good value charts that are updated annually with no extra cost. I have Southern England, Northern France and some Caribbean charts.
If you have an iPad and iPhone on the same Apple account, the app automatically works on both.

it forms one of the independent systems - chartplotter, iPad, iPhone, GPS and paper charts although I haven't used a paper chart in years now.

My PC based chart plotter uses the same type of charts creating a degree of familiarity.
 
Looking at the study and fairly in-depth report on 10 tablet Navigation products for Android and ipad, by Duncan Kent and Ross Farncombe in YM June 2015, the Verdict for isailor (£75.96 or £18.99 for one of the 4 world sections) after other considerations was....

"This is a good app spoiled by the slow chart refresh rate and lack of details when zoomed out.
The cost of all the in app purchases for weather and tide data means that there's an annual ongoing expense".

p/anum
Weather £18.99
Tides £7.99

I hope I've reported correctly on the article.
S
 
Last edited:
Another vote for iSailor. Not used in anger yet but will be doing so on our trip to Torbay in June as a backup to our Rayamarine E80.

Also you can import GPX files from PC programs to cater for waypoints, routes and tracks. (I use Neptune Plus for planning on the PC and then port across the necessary GPX files via Bluetooth to my iPad.)

It also supports AIS but be aware that both the AIS and the Weather module require an internet connection.

The tidal module is a yearly purchase. It show streams and flow rates on the charts

Can also control a wireless interface for the autopilot.
 
I use both iSailor and Navionics on an iPad.

I prefer the iSailor charts.

Don't have a problem with refresh rate.

Might go for the tide add-on. So many free weather apps it's not worth subscribing for the weather add-on IMO.
 
Scotty_Tradewind said:
Looking at the study and fairly in-depth report on 10 tablet Navigation products for Android and ipad, by Duncan Kent and Ross Farncombe in YM June 2015, the Verdict for isailor (£75.96 or £18.99 for one of the 4 world sections) after other considerations was....

"This is a good app spoiled by the slow chart refresh rate and lack of details when zoomed out.
The cost of all the in app purchases for weather and tide data means that there's an annual ongoing expense".

p/anum
Weather £18.99
Tides £7.99

I hope I've reported correctly on the article.
S
Click to expand...

I have the tides installed for convenience but don't suffer with a slow refresh rate on my iPad3.

I don't use the weather section so can't comment. £7.99 a year for the tides when the charts refresh for free doesn't seem too bad.

Piddy
 
I went for the iSailor tide option as, although it's not as comprehensive as Turbarco's/Imray's, I thought there may be a problem with that one on renewal following the sad untimely death of the chief programmer recently.
 
for ipad...YM's article put the iNavX as their 'Best for features'
App £39.99 www.inavx.com
Charts £34.99 possibly try https://x-traverse.com/ as YM 's was incorrect ???
YM Verdict ....
"Currently this app is the most comprehensive navigation programme available foe a tablet. With the additions of a wifi router this makes it the closest competitor to a proprietary plotter"

Best budget buy for ipad Aquamap £19.99 www.globalaquamaps.com

Verdict... "Initially looks basic and it lacks a few frills, but it's easy to view, simple to operate and very reasonably priced".

if you want more info' on these..... buy the mag' :)

S.
 
Last edited:
I started out with Navionics on the phone and now have ISailor on the ipad. It's a great app, easy to use and clear. Navionics seems to have ore detailed depth/seabed info but generally speaking the ISailor maps are more than sufficient.

It's a shame that iSailor does not seem t have the tidal info you can get in Navionics, maybe it's a plugin I have missed.
 
I have iSailor on an iPad 2 and I bought the tidal and AIS add ons for very little cash. Used to use Navionics but now prefer iSailor. Takes a little playing with to get used to it, but any app does!

I have a digital yacht AIS receiver which broadcasts other boats AIS data over wifi acting as an access point. The ipad connects to the digital yacht device immediately and shows all those transmitting AIS with great clarity. Two easy taps brings up all the data on a vessel including how many seconds since last data received.

Must admit to not really yet knowing how good the tidal info is, but again the display is very clear as to what it thinks is happening.

Yes, charts cost more than Navionics, but I think worth it.

I'm very impressed.
 
Many thanks, I purchased the east coast UK chart and it is up to Navionics, I like the AIS as I'm mainly coastal and normally have a data connection.
 
Hi Guy's

Just picked up on this old thread, has anyone found a way to hard print off the course details as back up. I would be handy in the event of power outage.

Thanks Gareth
 
Piddy says he hasn't used paper charts in years. In that case he should read tom cunnliffe's article in this month's yachting monthly. Due to the anti clutter software, some features aren't shown on plotters except at maximum zoom. This has lead to instances of grounding on sandbanks etc.
I'm not a Luddite and do use electronic charts but in will do as Lord Tom does in unfamiliar waters.
 
ghostlymoron said:
Piddy says he hasn't used paper charts in years. In that case he should read tom cunnliffe's article in this month's yachting monthly. Due to the anti clutter software, some features aren't shown on plotters except at maximum zoom. This has lead to instances of grounding on sandbanks etc.
I'm not a Luddite and do use electronic charts but in will do as Lord Tom does in unfamiliar waters.
Click to expand...

I do make sure I carry paper charts for the areas I sail in - I just choose not to use them.
It's one of my systems - DR (hourly position kept in log kept when travelling outside the Solent and all that) which coupled with multiple independent systems with GPS/chart plotter has enabled me to get to where I have aimed over those years.

If I were to be exploring an unfamiliar small cove or harbour, I do make sure I have and use an appropriate pilot book, chart and everything else I need available and wouldn't blindly trust any one of the systems.

Regular use of all my systems: Radar, Chart plotter etc. is important to get used to the foibles of each system. Whenever we motor, everything is turned on, partly to dry it out and partly to allow me to play with it when I know where I am. I spent enough years marking positions on charts and wobbling about on small boats trying to use RDF to know how to do that.

Cheers,
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top