I'm sorry to hear that ... I wish you well.
-
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Cheers - Bryan
Interested in a boat for 2018 TransPac
- Thread starter jamottep
- Start date
I'm sorry to hear that ... I wish you well.
Yet another trip to the boat ... another series of slow projects ...
1. Inserted a switch between the trickle charger solar panel and the controller to allow for the prescribed sequence of connects/disconnects (load, battery, solar panel).
2. Removed the battery isolator/combiner, which is for sale now: https://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/bpo/d/blue-sea-systems-mini/6487955961.html
3. Removed the 800 W converter, SOLD
4. Removed the spare engine bracket, also for sale: https://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/bpo/d/trac-outboard-motor-bracket/6487931914.html
5. I bought a cheap ammeter that I put into the circuit to get a sense of consumption. With everything turned on I couldn't get it up to 5A. Of course I wasn't doing much charging nor was the auto-pilot drawing much in standby. However I feel a little more confident that I will be able to get through as long as I manage energy consumption.
What's next?
1. Inserted a switch between the trickle charger solar panel and the controller to allow for the prescribed sequence of connects/disconnects (load, battery, solar panel).
2. Removed the battery isolator/combiner, which is for sale now: https://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/bpo/d/blue-sea-systems-mini/6487955961.html
3. Removed the 800 W converter, SOLD
4. Removed the spare engine bracket, also for sale: https://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/bpo/d/trac-outboard-motor-bracket/6487931914.html
5. I bought a cheap ammeter that I put into the circuit to get a sense of consumption. With everything turned on I couldn't get it up to 5A. Of course I wasn't doing much charging nor was the auto-pilot drawing much in standby. However I feel a little more confident that I will be able to get through as long as I manage energy consumption.
What's next?
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About setting that poled out jib ... Someone had mentioned gybing the main, setting up the pole behind the main then gybing again. Some say it's best to attach the pole to the jib clew ... I prefer to the sheet as it seems to allow for more flexibility ...
A bit of research shows that an alternative is using a setup similar to what you'd do for a symmetric spinnaker but with two afterguy sheets: one to bring the pole back and one to pull the jib over. Three lines are used to keep the pole in place (topping lift, foreguy and afterguy) and one sheet is run through the pole jaws to the jib clew. That's a lot of lines for a single guy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II589dqAzLo
Now ... sail changes take time. Let's think through this. It's day time and I've got the spinnaker up (do I?), cool. Night's coming with its suit of squalls. I want to "simplify' to a poled out jib. So I bring out the #2, lay it on the deck, rig the jib sheets and the jib's afterguy sheet, knowing that I'll have to put it into the pole jaws. Ok, so down goes the spinnaker, flawlessly of course. I now run the jib's afterguy sheet in the pole jaws. I rig a second afterguy sheet and position the pole out there, maybe at 45 degree. Next I hoist the jib to leeward and then pull it to windward with the jib's afterguy sheet. Voila ...
Wait ... I want a longer pole for this ... Darn I need to switch poles!
Let's resume this exercise. Jib on deck, jib sheets on, long whisker pole on deck but not attached to the mast, jib afterguy through the whisker pole jaws, whisker pole afterguy rigged (where it goes I have no idea as I'm running out of choices there). Down goes the spinnaker, back on deck to drop the spinnaker pole, move the topping lift and foreguy to the whisker pole, secure the whisker pole to the mast, move the pole out to 45 degree. Ok, hoist the jib to leeward and pull it through to windward. And voila ... Yes?
I'm probably down to the main for 30 minutes there ... Maybe once the spinnaker is down, I hoist the jib and head up a little to keep some amount of speed.
Just thinking like a racer is tiring ... Cruising anyone?
A bit of research shows that an alternative is using a setup similar to what you'd do for a symmetric spinnaker but with two afterguy sheets: one to bring the pole back and one to pull the jib over. Three lines are used to keep the pole in place (topping lift, foreguy and afterguy) and one sheet is run through the pole jaws to the jib clew. That's a lot of lines for a single guy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II589dqAzLo
Now ... sail changes take time. Let's think through this. It's day time and I've got the spinnaker up (do I?), cool. Night's coming with its suit of squalls. I want to "simplify' to a poled out jib. So I bring out the #2, lay it on the deck, rig the jib sheets and the jib's afterguy sheet, knowing that I'll have to put it into the pole jaws. Ok, so down goes the spinnaker, flawlessly of course. I now run the jib's afterguy sheet in the pole jaws. I rig a second afterguy sheet and position the pole out there, maybe at 45 degree. Next I hoist the jib to leeward and then pull it to windward with the jib's afterguy sheet. Voila ...
Wait ... I want a longer pole for this ... Darn I need to switch poles!
Let's resume this exercise. Jib on deck, jib sheets on, long whisker pole on deck but not attached to the mast, jib afterguy through the whisker pole jaws, whisker pole afterguy rigged (where it goes I have no idea as I'm running out of choices there). Down goes the spinnaker, back on deck to drop the spinnaker pole, move the topping lift and foreguy to the whisker pole, secure the whisker pole to the mast, move the pole out to 45 degree. Ok, hoist the jib to leeward and pull it through to windward. And voila ... Yes?
I'm probably down to the main for 30 minutes there ... Maybe once the spinnaker is down, I hoist the jib and head up a little to keep some amount of speed.
Just thinking like a racer is tiring ... Cruising anyone?
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I don't have enough experience with my boat (or in general) to think that I could do everything with my eyes closed, unlike some folks here!
So I've decided to write down evolutions so I can refer back to these instructions before starting a new evolution.
I'll print and laminate ...
Feel free to poke at my stuff
https://docs.google.com/document/d/.../edit?usp=drivesdk&ouid=108957117370338380000
So I've decided to write down evolutions so I can refer back to these instructions before starting a new evolution.
I'll print and laminate ...
Feel free to poke at my stuff
https://docs.google.com/document/d/.../edit?usp=drivesdk&ouid=108957117370338380000
Daydreamer
SAILOR
Happy Birthday!
Bean bag is terrific!!
With all the hard surfaces and corners, it'll provide some needed comfort.
Bean bag is terrific!!
With all the hard surfaces and corners, it'll provide some needed comfort.
Thank you
I've been researching alternatives to the laptop setup that's in Double Espresso. Instruments data is fed into a Raymarine iTC-5 network converter (NMEA 2000). An Actisense NGW-1 USB plugs into that and spits out NMEA 0183 in a USB male end. Then the VHF provides GPS/AIS over NMEA 0183, which comes out USB male as well. It's a great setup to get everything into a laptop. I've been looking into an alternative solution where everything would go on a tablet. I'd need a wifi NMEA multiplexer apparently. And none of these work with USB input. I don't feel like re-wiring everything ...
There are DIY projects out there with Raspberry Pi. However these are using too much power.
A couple findings on eBay (I know that there are plenty of other options, but much more expensive):
www.vela-navega.com Portugal: https://www.ebay.com/itm/273055846081?ul_noapp=true
Yakker Yakbitz Australia: https://www.ebay.com/itm/NMEA-to-Wi...397144?hash=item2a79e0b998:g:yycAAOSwUKxYiG30
Both vendors have been responsive and helpful with my questions ...
Why am I looking for an alternative? Well ... see next post.
I like to think of myself as a smart man, capable of good decision making. In practice I'm a bit of a dummy who needs to be told what to do. Every time I need to make a choice I resort to the Internet hoping to find the elusive answer to my question. I spend hours browsing, finding nothing really and generally speaking making zero progress. I'll admit that this behavior is borderline manic.
One of those topic that confounds me is weather and navigation. In short I need to figure out a reliable setup, a workable process, and what to make out of that information so that I can sail safely and maybe faster. And I need a backup plan or two. A not so quiet part of me is saying: "screw that, rhumb line it". That's easy enough and very appealing. I reserve the right to fall back to that simple plan and enjoy the blue water instead of scratching my head looking at tiny arrows on a tiny screen bent down on my knees in front of the "oh so large nav table" in an Olson 30 heeling 30 degrees, trying not to throw up all over the laptop. The only downfall to this approach is that I read that small ULDBs can harness 0.5 kt out of every knot of wind. I'm guessing that's downwind (yeah) and fully crewed. As far as I'm concerned I think I should say that above 15 kts it's more likely going to be 1 kt of speed for every 3 kts of wind.
Let's use Stan Honey's 10 miles to the South example (see resources section on the main SSS site). Let's say that I realize that I should be 10 miles South and decide to bear away 20 degrees. It'll take me an extra 1.8 miles to get there. Say I was doing 8 kts and now do 8.5 kts. It'll take me just under 4 hours to make up the extra distance sailed. Is this complication all worth it?
Anyways here's how I look at the different components:
1. Communication channel: how to request and get weather forecasts.
2. Requesting weather forecasts: this seems to revolve around downloading grib files but there's other stuff too.
3. Interpreting GRIB files, i.e. visualizing them on a chart.
4. Making routing decisions based on forecasts and boat capabilities (polar, wave polar).
5. Monitoring current conditions: I guess I'll need a barometer.
6. Tracking the boat's progress as compared to the plan.
7. Go back to 1.
Double Espresso came with a satellite setup for Iridium GO so I'm going to stick with that. There's also a setup that allows to get instrument data and AIS/GPS (from VHF) on USB for a laptop. All of that seems to say that I should run everything out of the laptop. Besides the fact that I don't like the idea of having a laptop always on in an Olson 30, getting emails from the laptop through Iridium GO requires an extra bit of SW: Xgate ($50 for 30 days) or SailMail ($275 for one year). Most apps go for less than $50. So all that got me going for a spin.
I have a cheap Windows 10 laptop, an Android phone and an old Nexus 9 tablet. The phone will remain as backup of last resort and to communicate with the race committee in Hawaii. That leaves the laptop and the tablet. The tablet does have a barometer.
The laptop has a 3900 mAh battery and reviews say the battery lasts 9 hours. So a full day is about 11 Amph. The tablet shows 6700 mAh and as my sail up from Santa Cruz attested this lasted for more than 24 hours (easily 36 hrs) with Navionics ON. The winner is the tablet in terms of energy consumption.
However I can't get USB stuff into the tablet, which means no AIS no instrument data (see previous post).
There are two apps that I know of that work straight with Iridium GO: SailGrib and qtVLM. Both appear similar in terms of capability, except that SailGrib seems to do chart plotting too. Both vendors responded to my questions.
If I go for one of these and make the tablet my main device then the laptop will be the backup. Since I can't email via Iridium GO from the laptop I need a backup plan for GRIB emails. I could use the phone at that point to send "manual" GRIB emails, get the attachment and transfer to the laptop.
I really like the idea of a wifi tablet giving me a good view on everything. I could rest and monitor conditions from the berth, instead of crouching at the foot of the nav table altar.
I've got paper charts and a pencil so I can and should use that, leveraging the GPS position from the VHF (at a minimum log it regularly).
This is probably more than I bargained for. And I've not even touched the "making sense of this stuff" part.
Oh, news flash: Double Espresso was inspected today (who keeps messing this up) and passed.
One of those topic that confounds me is weather and navigation. In short I need to figure out a reliable setup, a workable process, and what to make out of that information so that I can sail safely and maybe faster. And I need a backup plan or two. A not so quiet part of me is saying: "screw that, rhumb line it". That's easy enough and very appealing. I reserve the right to fall back to that simple plan and enjoy the blue water instead of scratching my head looking at tiny arrows on a tiny screen bent down on my knees in front of the "oh so large nav table" in an Olson 30 heeling 30 degrees, trying not to throw up all over the laptop. The only downfall to this approach is that I read that small ULDBs can harness 0.5 kt out of every knot of wind. I'm guessing that's downwind (yeah) and fully crewed. As far as I'm concerned I think I should say that above 15 kts it's more likely going to be 1 kt of speed for every 3 kts of wind.
Let's use Stan Honey's 10 miles to the South example (see resources section on the main SSS site). Let's say that I realize that I should be 10 miles South and decide to bear away 20 degrees. It'll take me an extra 1.8 miles to get there. Say I was doing 8 kts and now do 8.5 kts. It'll take me just under 4 hours to make up the extra distance sailed. Is this complication all worth it?
Anyways here's how I look at the different components:
1. Communication channel: how to request and get weather forecasts.
2. Requesting weather forecasts: this seems to revolve around downloading grib files but there's other stuff too.
3. Interpreting GRIB files, i.e. visualizing them on a chart.
4. Making routing decisions based on forecasts and boat capabilities (polar, wave polar).
5. Monitoring current conditions: I guess I'll need a barometer.
6. Tracking the boat's progress as compared to the plan.
7. Go back to 1.
Double Espresso came with a satellite setup for Iridium GO so I'm going to stick with that. There's also a setup that allows to get instrument data and AIS/GPS (from VHF) on USB for a laptop. All of that seems to say that I should run everything out of the laptop. Besides the fact that I don't like the idea of having a laptop always on in an Olson 30, getting emails from the laptop through Iridium GO requires an extra bit of SW: Xgate ($50 for 30 days) or SailMail ($275 for one year). Most apps go for less than $50. So all that got me going for a spin.
I have a cheap Windows 10 laptop, an Android phone and an old Nexus 9 tablet. The phone will remain as backup of last resort and to communicate with the race committee in Hawaii. That leaves the laptop and the tablet. The tablet does have a barometer.
The laptop has a 3900 mAh battery and reviews say the battery lasts 9 hours. So a full day is about 11 Amph. The tablet shows 6700 mAh and as my sail up from Santa Cruz attested this lasted for more than 24 hours (easily 36 hrs) with Navionics ON. The winner is the tablet in terms of energy consumption.
However I can't get USB stuff into the tablet, which means no AIS no instrument data (see previous post).
There are two apps that I know of that work straight with Iridium GO: SailGrib and qtVLM. Both appear similar in terms of capability, except that SailGrib seems to do chart plotting too. Both vendors responded to my questions.
If I go for one of these and make the tablet my main device then the laptop will be the backup. Since I can't email via Iridium GO from the laptop I need a backup plan for GRIB emails. I could use the phone at that point to send "manual" GRIB emails, get the attachment and transfer to the laptop.
I really like the idea of a wifi tablet giving me a good view on everything. I could rest and monitor conditions from the berth, instead of crouching at the foot of the nav table altar.
I've got paper charts and a pencil so I can and should use that, leveraging the GPS position from the VHF (at a minimum log it regularly).
This is probably more than I bargained for. And I've not even touched the "making sense of this stuff" part.
Oh, news flash: Double Espresso was inspected today (who keeps messing this up) and passed.
Springing for the SailMail membership will get you 1, 2, and 3 on your list. The SailMail client software gets you email, plus really simple way to get text forecasts covering any area you want, GRIB files by drawing a box for area you want to see, and built in GRIB viewer. SailMail support is excellent. My use of it has been only via SSB, but plenty of folks using it with Iridium seem to like it too.
And congrats on passing inspection!
I know but ... That's $275 ... For that price I can get qtVlm, SailGrib, OpenCPN, Navionics on Android, a NMEA to WiFi bridge and an Iridium GO SIM card ... And a fish & chips ... For my use case it's significantly overpriced ... And the laptop is still a pain in the butt in an Olson 30, power hungry and not very mobile with all the cables ... In fact if I only get one app I can probably get another cheap tablet as backup ... At this time I'm really trying to get under $100.
Yep. Totally understand. My choices are driven by different circumstances -- a very different boat and what it came with. I was throwing in my .02 for what it might be worth to the general audience as much as a reply to you, Philippe. Cheers.
tiger beetle
N/M 45 Tiger Beetle
Does SailGrib manage the email and GRIB file transfer over the Iridium connection, or is third party software (e.g., SailMail, XGate, OCENS) needed to get the email and data back to the boat? I read through the SailGrib manual and it wasn't clear what the minimum software/hardware requirement is to do the data request/receipt.
- rob/beetle
- rob/beetle
My response only applies to Android ... This video tutorial is for SailGrib (in French but with English subtitles): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucQIXCMzGRU
My guess it's similar with qtVlm.
Summarized:
1. Make GRIB request in app;
2. Go to Iridium GO Mail app and send email;
3. Wait 5 minutes (this is where the fish and chips come in handy);
4. Download email with IRidum GO;
5. Download GRIB file attachments;
6. Import in app.
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tiger beetle
N/M 45 Tiger Beetle
I'm on a metered bandwidth cellular internet connection on my boat here in Oahu, so I don't stream video - it's unfortunate that people think a video tutorial is a substitute for a well-written manual [one of my pet peeves!].
I'm running an Iridium GO on board Beetle, have been for the last year, it's worked very well. I do NOT use the Iridium Mail mechanism as there are some significant issues with how the Iridium email servers are set up that make it not helpful for me to use - the big two issues are (or at least were) the ability to check email onlyl through the Iridium satellite system (can't check from any shore-based service), and the inability to receive oversize emails (e.g., a file too large to transmit to the boat becomes 'lost' on the Iridium server as the server won't send it out over the satellite and you can't retrieve the email other than through the satellite). All that was true a year ago, there's a chance things have changed since then.
For purposes of SSS TransPac, using Iridium GO the way you're describing should work to make a request via email to SailDocs (or any other GRIB-supplying service that responds to email), and retrieve the response through Iridium Mail. Test all that out on the ground way before the race; it took me four days to sort through the capabilites of Iridium GO and figure out how I wanted to integrate it into how I manage communications on the boat. (My primary components for using the GO are the laptop, SailMail, GMail, SailDocs, Note 2 Android phone - it takes a fair bit of reading to figure out how to configure everything to play nicely.)
I would strongly suggest that you'll want the unlimited monthly data plan if you're going to with Iridium GO; trasnferring data over the Iridium network takes a long time and if you're paying by the minute it quickly becomes expensive.
I would also strongly suggest you'll want an above-deck antenna for the Iridium GO. The unit is fairly small, it's not at all watertight (it has multiple cable entry ports that have little rubber stoppers pressed in place that look like really good water entry points), and overheats in direct sunlight and shuts down (if you're going to use it on deck in a protected area where the sun can get to it, put a hat over the unit to shade it from the sun). Maybe the boat came with such an antenna?
As regards using GRIB files - I don't find it helpful to visualize them on a chart, it's easier to just look at the output (provided there is a Lat/Lon grid on the display) and see where I am, and look at what the model thinks the weather will do over the next 2-3 days. If you want to do this from shore, download ViewFax through SailMail and use your regular email to request/receive GRIB files from SailDocs and look at them on ViewFax - all of this costs nothing and you have lots of information available via the web if you get stuck along the way. None of that is easy to do once you're offshore on the boat!
Do you have polars for the boat? I don't know what a 'wave polar' is, that's a new term to me. What is one?
I never saw the need to try and bring AIS/GPS/instrument data into the computer just for purposes of TransPac. I do that today because I'm cruising, am running cartography software (Coastal Explorer) that you don't need for Hawaii as there's not much to hit between San Francisco and Hanalei), and the AIS displays better on Coastal Explorer than on the WatchMate Vision's own screen. I suppose it would be convenient to hide down below and could see the boat instrumentation from the bunk, I'd be concerned about dropping a portable tablet onto the floor while asleep and having it get wet.
For monitoring current conditions, definitely carry a barometer. A recording barograph is ideal, anything that will plot pressure over hours and produce a graph. I've got a Mintaka Duo, it's a pretty amaing little unit though rather more expensive than I imagine you'd want to spend on TransPac. A simple aneroid barometer does just as well provided you right down the pressure readings often (as in at least hourly, so you can see if the High is moving your way).
One of my soapbox issues is the perceived value of a GRIB model output; the are very precise but are not necessarily accurate. I much prefer to use Weather Fax drawings from the weather folks, they bring their experience to the table coupled with lots of information beyond what a model produces and prepare a drawing of where the important stuff is and where they think it will go. The High Seas text broadcasts are also very helpful. If you can get those onto the boat and use them in conjunction with the GRIB data, then you're getting a pretty good sense of what is going on and what the forecast might be.
- rob/beetle
I'm running an Iridium GO on board Beetle, have been for the last year, it's worked very well. I do NOT use the Iridium Mail mechanism as there are some significant issues with how the Iridium email servers are set up that make it not helpful for me to use - the big two issues are (or at least were) the ability to check email onlyl through the Iridium satellite system (can't check from any shore-based service), and the inability to receive oversize emails (e.g., a file too large to transmit to the boat becomes 'lost' on the Iridium server as the server won't send it out over the satellite and you can't retrieve the email other than through the satellite). All that was true a year ago, there's a chance things have changed since then.
For purposes of SSS TransPac, using Iridium GO the way you're describing should work to make a request via email to SailDocs (or any other GRIB-supplying service that responds to email), and retrieve the response through Iridium Mail. Test all that out on the ground way before the race; it took me four days to sort through the capabilites of Iridium GO and figure out how I wanted to integrate it into how I manage communications on the boat. (My primary components for using the GO are the laptop, SailMail, GMail, SailDocs, Note 2 Android phone - it takes a fair bit of reading to figure out how to configure everything to play nicely.)
I would strongly suggest that you'll want the unlimited monthly data plan if you're going to with Iridium GO; trasnferring data over the Iridium network takes a long time and if you're paying by the minute it quickly becomes expensive.
I would also strongly suggest you'll want an above-deck antenna for the Iridium GO. The unit is fairly small, it's not at all watertight (it has multiple cable entry ports that have little rubber stoppers pressed in place that look like really good water entry points), and overheats in direct sunlight and shuts down (if you're going to use it on deck in a protected area where the sun can get to it, put a hat over the unit to shade it from the sun). Maybe the boat came with such an antenna?
As regards using GRIB files - I don't find it helpful to visualize them on a chart, it's easier to just look at the output (provided there is a Lat/Lon grid on the display) and see where I am, and look at what the model thinks the weather will do over the next 2-3 days. If you want to do this from shore, download ViewFax through SailMail and use your regular email to request/receive GRIB files from SailDocs and look at them on ViewFax - all of this costs nothing and you have lots of information available via the web if you get stuck along the way. None of that is easy to do once you're offshore on the boat!
Do you have polars for the boat? I don't know what a 'wave polar' is, that's a new term to me. What is one?
I never saw the need to try and bring AIS/GPS/instrument data into the computer just for purposes of TransPac. I do that today because I'm cruising, am running cartography software (Coastal Explorer) that you don't need for Hawaii as there's not much to hit between San Francisco and Hanalei), and the AIS displays better on Coastal Explorer than on the WatchMate Vision's own screen. I suppose it would be convenient to hide down below and could see the boat instrumentation from the bunk, I'd be concerned about dropping a portable tablet onto the floor while asleep and having it get wet.
For monitoring current conditions, definitely carry a barometer. A recording barograph is ideal, anything that will plot pressure over hours and produce a graph. I've got a Mintaka Duo, it's a pretty amaing little unit though rather more expensive than I imagine you'd want to spend on TransPac. A simple aneroid barometer does just as well provided you right down the pressure readings often (as in at least hourly, so you can see if the High is moving your way).
One of my soapbox issues is the perceived value of a GRIB model output; the are very precise but are not necessarily accurate. I much prefer to use Weather Fax drawings from the weather folks, they bring their experience to the table coupled with lots of information beyond what a model produces and prepare a drawing of where the important stuff is and where they think it will go. The High Seas text broadcasts are also very helpful. If you can get those onto the boat and use them in conjunction with the GRIB data, then you're getting a pretty good sense of what is going on and what the forecast might be.
- rob/beetle
The Smokester
New member
I use SailGrib WR, an Iridium Go with external antenna and $150/month Unlimited (not really) data. Use a 10" Android tablet. (Sony makes one that is sorta waterproof.) Works a charm.
If you are doing routing an issue is developing your boat's polars for the open ocean.
If you are doing routing an issue is developing your boat's polars for the open ocean.
Hi Rob, thanks for sharing your perspective. I'm not sure what they are but they are a feature of qtVlm 5.7.2. There's a short description in their latest documentation. I think I understand the general idea but not sure how to implement for Double Espresso ... I have polars but my guess is they're for flat water. I haven't validated them either, i.e. adjusted them to my capability. There is an efficiency setting to take my loosey goosey trimming into account though
Boat’s behavior in waves can be defined in two ways:
• You can specify a “Waves Polar”, that will indicate what gain or loss will be calculated depending
on waves angle and height, i.e. which % to apply on the wind polar. Waves Polar can be defined
for various TWS (1m waves height has more effect in very light winds). For this calculation, qtVlm
uses first “Maximum Waves” height and direction, then if not available it will use “Swell” height
and direction, and finally if nothing else is available, it will use “Primary Waves” direction and
“Combined Waves” height.
• Crossed Sea: You can define what is crossed sea by entering a minimum height and a minimum
angle between wind waves and swell. If wind waves direction is not available (as often), then
wind’s direction will be used instead. If such a condition is met, a coefficient will be applied on
the wind polar.
Do you find that you use SailGrib for navigation as well? Or do you use something else for that purpose? It'd be nice to have one app for everything.
The Smokester
New member
I use SG for routing when racing (since PredictWind is not allowed.) I have a B&G chart plotter with a Navionics chart chip so that is what I use for naviagtion. Paper for backup.
Note that SailGrib will ingest NMEA date over WiFi if you have an access point connected to your ship's backbone.
I've hit a road block ... There's no wifi multiplexer that will take USB input. The VHF AIS/GPS is NMEA 0183 and the instruments are on a SeaTalk ng network, i.e. NMEA 2000. qtVlm only reads 0183. In other words I need another Actisense like device to convert before getting to the NMEA to WiFi bridge. That's now more costly than I had hoped ...
The Smokester
New member
I have no experience to advise. My system is pure B&G. I use B&G GoFree WiFi which is Ethernet to 802.11. Originally had a mixture of NMEA 0183 and 2000 but have gradually migrated to pure NMEA 2000.
Edit: My system uses Zeus 2 chartplotters. The newer latest and greatest Zeus 3 has WiFi built in. They take both 2000 and 0183 input. So, if you want a chartplotter in your cockpit or at the navigation station this could be a way to go. A Z3 is about $1.3k.
Edit: My system uses Zeus 2 chartplotters. The newer latest and greatest Zeus 3 has WiFi built in. They take both 2000 and 0183 input. So, if you want a chartplotter in your cockpit or at the navigation station this could be a way to go. A Z3 is about $1.3k.
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