I just downloaded SeaClear II and all the NOAA charts for my area. Along with a GPS USB puck it will make a great trip planning tool and a backup chartplotter.
Cruises yes, day trips no. Main problem is feeding 4 amps to a modern laptop. That was the smallest one I could find in today's world. My old Win95 Thinkpad only asked for 1+ amps. Sigh.
I do computers and networks for a living. I get on the boat to get away from the cursed things!
More seriously: So far we've only day-sailed, raced and overnighted on the boat at the slip. We're working up to cruising. When we do: I'll probably have the laptop along.
Samsung tablet (wi-fi only version) with Navionics installed. Built-in GPS gives me passage planning capabilities and back-up chartplotter (although the screen sucks in the sun). I also have Navionics on my iphone. We are actually just swapping over to new Samsung smartphones so, given the amount of screen real estate on these phones, that might actually do away with carrying the tablet.
1979 C&C 27 MkIII, Hull No. 780
Cygnet
North Saanich, BC
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