IPad for marine navigation.

[cbayer]

Just got an Ipad and am loving it.

We bought it specifically for the marine navigation app. The software we were looking at costs about $400, so getting the Ipad and their $25 app made sense.

The charts are spectacular, up to date and accurate. The plotting doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles, but give you exactly what you need - distance to next waypoint, speed, direction and real time plotting of where we are.

We also got the AIS program of $8. This is a program that shows all registered ships in about a 50 mile radius in real time. It gives you tons of data about each ship, including their speed, direction, and where they intend to go. It will be priceless, as we cross the shipping lanes frequently.

And the IPad is perfect for the cockpit. Small enough to stow easily but a big enough screen to see everything you need.

Big plus is also weather updates and downloaded books and music that you switch seamlessly.

What a great deal!

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. I will probably have to fold

and finally get one... SL of PDFs to read...

And yes, I have been using my Touch... oy.

I got an android tablet, that did exactly what I needed for much less... alas forty hours into it the SD card started having issues.

Droid is a good OS, but sucky hardware is sucky hardware.

(And yes I loved the 7 inch screen form by the way. For book reading it is like purrfect)

[Swamp Rat]

2. Is it waterproof?

I think I'll stick with my sextant a little while longer. :D

[cbayer]

3. Not waterproof, but I have a watertight stow bag that I put it in when not in use.

Sextant??? You could at least get a waterproof gps, Swampy!

:rofl:

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Hubby took a USN sub across the pacific using just

Charts and a sextant.

These new fangled devices are a nice backup.

:hi:

Yes he is old school that way. Very much a dying breed in the modern nuclear navy if you ask me.

[cbayer]

5. OK, I just have to ask. How does a sextant work on a sub? Don't you need stars and

the sun??

Coincidentally, I was talking to a guy the other day who was a navigator on a Navy sub. They went to the Arctic, where the compasses became completely useless. He said that the closer they got, the less sure they were of where they really were.

He spent 4 months on this sub. I would go insane! Kudos to your husband.

:hi:

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. Periscope depth

They had a few issues with electronics.

[cbayer]

9. OK, so the sextant is on the periscope and the navigator looks at it through that?

Wow!

:toast:

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. They use an actual sextant

Yes the sub has one

[Swamp Rat]

6. Your hubby is the coolest!

My father was a real navigator (USAF-SAC), but I am merely an amateur with sea legs. :yourock:

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. We went to the back country hiking and we

Took two compasses and maps...

Boy am I damn rusty.