Recommendations for passage planning software?

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peter2407

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Looking for recommendations for laptop-based passage planning software, specifically for the Channel, but to have the capability for further distances. I would like to have GPS integration capability, tides, wind effects, make tea, do sail changes etc ...

PS - just kidding about the tea making ...
 
OpenCPN is free to download and very simple to use but you will need charts. It can use CM93 charts if you can get a hold of them. It will interface with a gps but it doesn't do tides. Not sure how you will get software to do "wind effects" I think you will have to work that bit out yourself. However you can enter a route and suggest an average speed and it will give you times for the route.
 
I have Euronav's Seapro (the full version not the Lite) and I find it good. However you have to accept that this is low volume software which results in two key factors:

1) It's not very cheap; I think I paid £260 on a Boat show offer. (However compared to Windows 7 one could argue that is very cheap indeed given the relative number of licenses sold)

2) It's a bit "buggy". You'll find things that are not as polished as one might expect from Microsoft (but they have thier own problems!) or the suchlike. These things tend to be mildly irritating rather than hugely inconvenient.

It does passage planning well and interfaces with nav systems. It also accepts Radar and AIS feeds . It is possible to import GRIB files for the weather and of course it handles tidal data.

I've found it easy to use, reliable and accurate and on that basis would recommend it.

rob
 
The new version of the Imray chartplotter has a passage planning facility if you get the tides package add on. As for earlier post for other software, if you plot a course and then identify an estimated speed, start date and an approx start time, it will give you predicted elapsed time, and best time to start predictions for a number of days following the initial prediction.

It does build in the tides throughout the route, either by selection or automatically, but no winds input. Cost c £75.
 
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1. Opencpn does do tides - you click on the tides symbol on the tool bar and then look for the very small symbols indicating the tidal stations. It has proved most adequate for our needs in Australia and Vanuatu since we acquired it.

2. We found that the chart packages for Spain and the Caribean supplied by Seapro had omissions of detail in some areas which were not shared by other chart systems - hence the excuse that the digital data was not available did not hold water.
 
Have used the Neptune package for several years now and found it to be good.

As well as the specific planning for a given leg or route I find it useful in the early stages of planning a trip when trying to get a good feel for how the tides are evolving over the period and therefore what outline routing should be

Not had much cause to ring their tech support but when I moved PC they were helpful
 
Haven't used it myself, but I believe Maxsea does the kind of thing you are looking for.
 
Possibilities

Just think, a good passage planning software to run at home, download to your chart plotter (that is interfaced to your radar, AIS, VHF, autopilot, etc.) over the web, get someone to untie your boat and you could send it on a trip by itself. Saves you the bother of travelling back and forth to the boat. Cameras could relay back all the excitement of the trip so you could enjoy the sailing from your armchair.
Does anyone know of any software that can untie knots?
 
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