Laptop and seapro

[All_at_Sea]

Anyone use this system. l am just about to buy a boat which uses this, l load the programme onto my laptop and then link a GPS to it, sounds easy but l am used to Raymarine chartplotters. Does anyone sail with this method of plotting? Is it straight forward? The complication is that the boat is in Greece and l will get onboard for the first time when l buy it. I will then sail to S France so would want some chartplotting onboard.

I could of course buy a small chartplotter with integrated GPS as a back up and take it out.

 

[[2574]]

I could of course buy a small chartplotter with integrated GPS as a back up and take it out.

That sounds like a good idea. I am a Seapro user but I only use it for planning, I have Raymarine chartplotters on the boat. Seapro is easy enough to use but does take some getting used to; I've known others that have really struggled to get going. If you need to get on board and sail almost immediately then taking a bit of kit with which you are familiar sounds like a good idea to me.

rob

 

[jdc]

Anyone use this system...

yes, I do. I do not have a chart plotter (by choice) and so normally use conventional paper charts. But in certain parts of the world you'd need literally hundreds of charts to cover the reasonably likely cruising ground and I can neither afford, nor have room for them nor actually buy them in the UK with any ease. This is especially the case if it's just for the one time visit. In this circumstance buying electronic charts makes a great deal of sense. For us the trigger was a trip down Norway, entering inshore waters from the Barent's Sea N of Tromso and then cruising south through the Lofoten and on to a reasonable jumping-off point (Kristiansund) for the return to Inverness. We bought 8 or so paper charts at 1:200,000 for use as planning charts, which with the pilot book would have got us into and between major places had the electronics failed, but we'd have missed out the smaller inshore channels.

So we bought SeaPro 3000 lite and associated charts from Euronav. It behaved pretty well - not quite flawless as it's PC based so there was the odd re-boot required (eg closing the lid of the lap-top while the program is running turned out to disable all graphics when the PC re-started, requiring a re-boot). The charts proved very accurate (hardly surprising as the Norwegians pretty much led the rest of the world way with ENCs) and we navigated the entire length of the Indelia passage with SeaPro.

I'm always worried by the potential unreliability of the PC, so tend to plan a bit defensively; ie while the PC chart plotter is working I note down a few way-points and escape routes or pilotage features which we could use with just the GPS and the paper charts I do have, and which would get us somewhere safe to stop and fix things. Only once (not on my boat) have I sailed with no paper chart of any scale of the area we were in and it felt most uncomfortable; so what I did was spend 30 mins with the chart-plotter transcribing the major features and coastline onto paper. I think this was maybe a bit OCD, but it made me happier!

 

[All_at_Sea]

Thinking about l could also buy a small usb gps receiver and couple that with some other software (that does work ok) any suggestions for that set up? Navionics?

 

[JohnGC]

I have been using SeaPro for a couple of years with vector UK + France charts. It's been very good and I'm pleased with it.

I use it with a netbook rather than with a laptop and the power requirement is very low. The payoff for that is the screen refresh is a bit slow, although that's only ever an issue when planning. When planning at home I run SeaPro on my main laptop which is more powerful and has a larger screen; it's then a simple matter to copy the routes to the netbook for use on board.

SeaPro is copy protected by dongle - make sure you get the dongle. Without the dongle SeaPro won't run and a replacement costs the full amount.

It would also be worth having the installation disks. You can download the software from the web-site, but the installation disk will have the charts that were purchased by the original owner. The charts will be on the laptop harddrive, but having the disk will allow you to install elsewhere should you wish to.

For position input I use the main Furuno GPS and carry a simple USB/GPS for back-up. AIS comes from a RO4800 and I plan to add Navtex.

I also have the Navionics App on my phone and carry and use paper charts.

The only SeaPro problem I've had was with my multi-screen laptop at home. It was a minor issue related to the display. I contacted Euronav regarding it and I found them quick to respond and helpful. I don't use that laptop for navigation but it wouldn't of mattered if I did as the issue didn't interfere with the function.

A properly maintained Windows system is very reliable.

 

[nigelmercier]

I have been using SeaPro for a couple of years with vector UK + France charts. It's been very good and I'm pleased with it.
... SeaPro is copy protected by dongle - make sure you get the dongle. ... It would also be worth having the installation disks...

Agreed, on all counts. You can also download a trial version to play with, and once you have the dongle you can install an identical setup at home.

 

[westhinder]

I can echo most of what has been said about Seapro: it may take some getting used to, but it is a very good system. I run it on a 12V mini-pc with a fixed 17' 12V monitor.
As I also have a Raymarine C-series plotter on board, I can compare them. Seapro wins hands down for ease of use for planning, constructing routes and tidal calculations. Adapting routes is also easier with a mouse. The plotter's big advantages are that it can be mounted in the cockpit, is viewable in daylight and probably more robust than a pc/laptop.
The ideal would be to combine the two, but unfortunately, the plotter is not able to communicate with the pc. I don't know if the new Raymarine plotters have cracked this

 

[blenkinsop]

I was disappointed with some aspects of Seapro and eventually lit on OpenCNP. I found it easier to use and it was free but for the need to acquire charts. The main advantage of Seapro was the ability to link in performance data, but this required connecting the navigation/wind/speed data etc to the laptop, useful for racing, of limited value for long distance cruising.

 

[JohnGC]

I was disappointed with some aspects of Seapro and eventually lit on OpenCNP. I found it easier to use and it was free but for the need to acquire charts. The main advantage of Seapro was the ability to link in performance data, but this required connecting the navigation/wind/speed data etc to the laptop, useful for racing, of limited value for long distance cruising.

The netbook I use for SeaPro is mounted above the chart table and I like having the instrument data repeated there. It saves me having to pop my head up into the companion way to read wind speed, log etc when filling in the log book.

My instruments are SeaTalk connected. I have a YAPP from Angus which converts all of the data on my SeaTalk bus to USB. So for £20 and a 3 wire cable I have, magnetic heading, wind speed, wind direction, log, depth on the SeaPro display.

I'd be interested to know what aspects of OpenCNP you prefer.