Live Navigation

5. Project your position

When navigating by GPS or dead reckoning you can optionally display your projected position in, say, 15 minutes' time. The number of minutes can be set in Preferences.

6. Find the boat on the chart

If you scroll to another area of the chart you may find it difficult to get back to where the boat currently is. The 'Find Boat' button automatically scrolls to centre the boat in the screen. It also returns the zoom level to 100% if a different level had been set.

[Note: specifically, the screen scrolls to the latest recorded position. This might not be your actual current position if you have switched off the GPS or stopped dead reckoning.]

7. Check a distance and bearing

You can drag from any point on the chart to any other and see the distance and bearing of the second from the first.

8. Compute a ‘course to steer’

Having dragged a bearing between two points (see 7. above) you can optionally compute a magnetic course to steer between the two, allowing for tide, leeway and magnetic variation. To be meaningful, this has to be used with care, especially as regards tides.

9. Record a log

A log is automatically created. It records your position and other data automatically at a frequency you specify (eg, every 15 minutes). You can also add manual entries, including comments, at any time.

10. Archive old tracks and logs

Since tracks and logs automatically add entries at regular intervals, they can become large. You can at any time create a new track, in which case the old one is archived for record purposes. Similarly, the log can be archived and a new one started at any time. Normally, only the current track is displayed, but, if you wish, you can also display any number of archived tracks and assign different colours to each. The current log and archived logs can be exported as comma-separated values (.csv) files, which is useful if you want to format and print them (import the .csv file into a spreadsheet or database application or Google Spreadsheets).

 

In Live Mode, PassagePlus helps tell you where you are now and where you have been (your track). You can compare this against your planned route. You can also create a log and perform various other navigational tasks.

1. Select charts

PassagePlus provides five different ways of choosing the chart you wish to open. Particularly useful is the Related Charts panel which displays thumbnail images of charts intersecting your current position and is continuously updated. This gives you one-click access to all charts relevant to your current position.

2. Navigate using GPS

Most users will wish to attach a GPS to record their live position and track. Your position (and speed, etc) are updated and displayed every two seconds. If your course is steady or the boat is stationary, you can smooth the track to reduce the number of unnecessary track points saved to file.

3. Track other vessels using AIS

If you attach an AIS receiver to your Mac, PassagePlus lets you track other vessels in your vicinity, as well as land base stations, aids to navigation (such as lightships) and search and rescue aircraft that transmit AIS data. This is a valuable safety feature if you sail in busy waters, helping you avoid collisions and near-misses. As well as static information such as name, type and size, you also see the last known position of the object as well as its course and speed, its recent track and its projected track. If you are converging, the closest point of approach is calculated, showing how close you will come and when.
4. Navigate ‘manually’

If you have no GPS (or it is not working), PassagePlus can help you to navigate by traditional methods:

  1. (a)You can fix your estimated position (i) by clicking on the chart, or (ii) by entering bearings taken with a hand-bearing compass, or (iii) by estimation based on speed, time, tide and leeway from a previous known position.

 
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  1. (b)Starting from a position fixed by (a) above, you can track your current estimated position continuously by dead reckoning based on speed, time, tide and leeway, any of which can be changed at any time. The track is recorded in the same way as for GPS.