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Marine Traffic Google Earth

Google earth application for free ship tracking by marine traffic.

The information of vessels positions provided by MarineTraffic is available in KML format, which is used by the Google Earth application. Google Earth is freely available for personal use and provides very detailed and efficient browsing in world's satellite maps. If Google Earth is installed in your computer, you may see the vessels positions in real time and you may browse quickly the areas of your interest, without the limitations of the web page maps but just using Google Maps.

Download the Google Earth .kml file of MARINE TRAFFIC

Google Earth Application for Free Ship Tracking by APRS.fi

Screenshot of APRS's Google Earth Application (Plug-In) for visualization of live AIS ship traffic.

Download the Google Earth .kml file of APRS .

Google Earth Cruise Ships Current Positions by SeaScanner

Screenshot of Cruise Ships' Current Positions at Caribbean Sea and the Bahamas

The application shows cruise vessels' current positions and images of onboard webcams of the the following cruise lines:

Download Google Earth .kml file of SEASCANNER

Download GOOGLE EARTH , (if it is not already installed in your computer), here:

Google Earth is a virtual globe, map and geographical information program that was originally called EarthViewer 3D created by Keyhole, Inc, a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) funded company acquired by Google in 2004 (see In-Q-Tel). It maps the Earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite imagery, aerial photography and geographic information system (GIS) 3D globe. It was originally available with three different licenses, but has since been reduced to just two: Google Earth (a free version with limited function) and Google Earth Pro ($399 per year), which is intended for commercial use. The third original option, Google Earth Plus, has been discontinued.

Presently Wolrd Commercial Fleet counts around 90,000 ships. Live Map of all types of ships you can see here .

If you know the name of the ship, its IMO or MMSI number you can track it in few seeconds.

Actually flight radars for ships are called live AIS Ships Trackers and look like this

By now the best ship tracking apps are MarineTraffic and VesselFinder .

Current location of a ship is easy to find with our search engine. Try it here .

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Marine Traffic Google Earth

Google earth application for free ship tracking by marine traffic.

The information of vessels positions provided by MarineTraffic is available in KML format, which is used by the Google Earth application. Google Earth is freely available for personal use and provides very detailed and efficient browsing in world's satellite maps. If Google Earth is installed in your computer, you may see the vessels positions in real time and you may browse quickly the areas of your interest, without the limitations of the web page maps but just using Google Maps.

Download the Google Earth .kml file of MARINE TRAFFIC

Google Earth Application for Free Ship Tracking by APRS.fi

Screenshot of APRS's Google Earth Application (Plug-In) for visualization of live AIS ship traffic.

Download the Google Earth .kml file of APRS .

Google Earth Cruise Ships Current Positions by SeaScanner

Screenshot of Cruise Ships' Current Positions at Caribbean Sea and the Bahamas

The application shows cruise vessels' current positions and images of onboard webcams of the the following cruise lines:

Download Google Earth .kml file of SEASCANNER

Download GOOGLE EARTH , (if it is not already installed in your computer), here:

Google Earth is a virtual globe, map and geographical information program that was originally called EarthViewer 3D created by Keyhole, Inc, a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) funded company acquired by Google in 2004 (see In-Q-Tel). It maps the Earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite imagery, aerial photography and geographic information system (GIS) 3D globe. It was originally available with three different licenses, but has since been reduced to just two: Google Earth (a free version with limited function) and Google Earth Pro ($399 per year), which is intended for commercial use. The third original option, Google Earth Plus, has been discontinued.

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Interactive live map for tracking yachts – Real Time

Mega yacht tracking interactive live map. Tracking yachts and other vessels was never so easy!

Do you want to find out information about worlds mega yachts, super yachts, transport vessels, passenger vessels and all other vessels? This is a place for you! In this interactive real time map you can find almost all existing vessels in the world.

Find out the position, speed and status of every mega yacht in the world – Interactive live map

In this interactive real time map you will find all information you need about yachts that you like. Live world map is easy to use, it allows user to filter only vessels that they are interested in.

The user can read all available information like actual position of the yacht, where it’s heading, current speed of the yacht etc.

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For easier navigation through the map, please see map legend bellow. You can also use filter to enable or disable certain types of vessels.

If you want to explore other mega yachts  CLICK HERE

Embark on a thrilling journey with our interactive mega yacht tracking live map. It’s perfect for mariners, sea life lovers, or ship enthusiasts.

Our map showcases ships worldwide, from elegant mega yachts to practical cargo and passenger vessels. Access ship positions, speeds, and statuses with a few clicks.

Want to find your favorite mega yacht? Our user-friendly map helps you filter and select ships of interest. Need your yacht’s exact location, course, or speed? It’s all here.

Use map legends for easy navigation. Customize your experience by enabling or disabling ship types with our filters. Explore the ocean’s wonders with our real-time map as your guide.

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Superyacht tracker: real-time insights into biggest yacht locations, lady lara mega yacht, super yacht dream, a luxury charter boat, acionna yacht – named after a gaelic water goddess, super yacht maryah, former russian research vessel, luxury sailing superyacht: top 10 epic vessels that define elegance, sustainable superyacht design: pioneering innovation in lürssen think tank, luxury yachting world: a glimpse into the azzam superyacht, fulk al salamah, “ship of peace” supposedly owned by omani royal fleet, biggest yacht in the world – facts, octopus super yacht is like a small island in the ocean.

The Dark Side of Yachting in Hollywood: Hollywood’s Open Secret

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Top 15 Ship Tracking Websites To Find Your Ship Accurately

The rapid advancement of technology has significantly improved monitoring and tracking of ships recently. In addition, the fast-developing satellite services have made ship tracking across the globe easier now, thus ensuring the safety of vessels from various threats.

With the help of satellite-based vessel monitoring systems (VMS), different types of vessels have been 3. Shipfinder is monitored efficiently by marine agencies and vessel owners for a long period.

The automatic identification system (AIS) helps track bigger vessels crossing waters worldwide by offering real-time information about the vessels.

Currently, several websites provide ship tracking using the automatic identification system to display the real-time location of the ships.

With the help of transponders equipped on the vessels, the satellites will collect AIS signals from the vessels to provide their position, route, speed, and ship type through various online platforms.

Moreover, the introduction of Google Earth has revolutionized ship tracking, allowing access to every detail of almost all ships within seconds.

However, since various online services provide vessel tracking information, the purpose of the content provided varies.

It is important to note that ship tracking through these online platforms is often meant for educational purposes.

However, many of these services are also used to track different types of cargo ships, such as container ships .

Though most of these service providers promise a “real-time” location of the ships, the data displayed is always behind by a few minutes or even several hours. Thus, this information should NEVER be used for navigation purposes .

Here, we list a few prominent websites widely used for near-accurate online ship tracking.

These vessel trackers provide the ship’s location, technical and non-technical details, designated routes, and photographs.

Notable Vessel Tracking Websites 

1. marine traffic  .

Marine Traffic, one of the most famous and widely used online ship tracking systems, offers ships’ real-time data and advanced search features.

It offers vessel owners many services, including satellite AIS coverage, enhanced satellite tracking, advanced density maps, nautical charts, etc.

Apart from tracking ships, Marine-Traffic also allows the tracking of various Ports around the world. Moreover, the AIS system of the website boasts a massive database of ships of every type.

Marine traffic records at least 800 million vessel positions and 18 million vessel and port related events monthly. In addition, it offers information about 650000 marine assets such as vessels, ports, lights, etc.

This open, community-based project offers many services free of cost, while more advanced functions come with a fee.

The website operates more than 2000 AIS stations located in over 165 countries and has over 600,000 registered users and around 20 million visits to its website every month.

2. FleetMon

FleetMon, another open database of ships and ports worldwide, offers real-time AIS position data of ships, along with technical information on over 500000 vessels.

It provides the vessel’s particulars, schedules and port arrivals, trading patterns and photos according to the customer’s search.

Using its interactive tool FleetMon Explorer, you can see a real-time view of the marine traffic and access information on operations monitoring, logistics scheduling, fleet tracking, traffic analysis, etc.

Established in 2007, FleetMon currently has customers across 164 countries. Fleet Mon is one of the finest ship tracking services, offering iPhone and iPad apps.

3. Shipfinder 

This is another widely used ship tracking service online that allows one to find ships through various options such as ship number, tonnage, capacity, ownership, construction, etc.

This online service collects AIS ship feeds used by vessels over 300 tonnes, passenger vessels and small vessels like yachts to provide real-time information to its customers.

It also keeps track of the user’s search history to provide a better user experience and offers premium paid membership for advanced users.

4. VesselFinder  

Established in 2011, VesselFinder offers real-time data on more than 100,000 vessels daily with the help of a large network of terrestrial AIS receivers.

Offering services across digital, social and mobile platforms, VesselFinder offers efficient monitoring services, port calls, master data and a detailed voyage history of each ship. In addition, it also provides historical AIS Data services that deliver customized ship movement reports, analysis of traffic density and video simulation of vessel movements,  among others.

5. Vesseltracker

With a database of more than 1,000,000 vessels, Vesseltracker provides customized real-time and historical data on vessels voyaging worldwide. It helps users monitor vessels with the help of map views and layers, including Google Satellite, Google Earth, nautical charts, etc.

The website has a huge database comprising updated vessel specifications, characteristics, ownership and management information, etc. In addition, Vesseltracker offers analytics and reports on vessel movements and port events.

6. VT Explorer

VT Explorer offers users real-time AIS position data and technical information of more than 100,000 ships daily. Apart from the required information, the website also provides images of all the vessels being tracked.

Available to use from both your personal computer and mobile, VT Explorer helps monitor ship schedules and arrivals to analyze trading patterns.

7. myshiptracking

myshiptracking is another advanced website that provides real-time positions of vessels worldwide. With its large database, myshiptracking allows users to monitor vessels and ports efficiently to analyze marine traffic worldwide. The website also allows you to save your browsing data and offers its service to iPhone and Android users through mobile apps.

8. Cruisemapper

Unlike other online vessel monitoring websites, CruiseMapper offers information on the positions and schedules of cruise ships serving tourists worldwide.

With its Cruise ships and ports database, the website provides information on each cruise’s features and technical specifications and information for major ports that house the cruise ships.

9. Ship location

On the ship location website, one can track 80,000 sea and river-going vessels, know the status of 17,000 ports and marinas, 1400 cruise ports, 1000 shipyards and much more. 

It is designed for ship owners, managers, logistics companies and agencies. Even individuals can use it for ship tracking.

The website has three useful maritime tools-

• Distance calculator- for calculating port-to-port distance via different routes.
• Maritime locator- which helps in tracking ship-related services
• Ship tracker- helps in tracking ships using geographical coordinates

Among all, the maritime locator and the ship tracker are immensely useful. The locator saves time by allowing a person to search for the closest commercial or cruise ports or shipping services, such as repair yards, ship agencies, bunkers, etc.  

10. Baltic Shipping

Baltic Shipping strives to maintain the world’s most advanced seafarers database. All the professionals in the shipping industry can use this website. Individuals can develop their careers and find new job openings from reputed maritime companies.

It allows people to keep all the documents in one place, and they can be easily shared with the companies. One can also monitor the expiration date of the documents, and the system will keep everything updated automatically. The registration is also very simple.

Another important service provided by the website is vessel tracking and vessel search. It has a huge database for different vessels. You can get information about that particular vessel by putting in the vessel’s name, IMO number and vessel type.

11. Alltrack

Alltrack allows one to search for a ship by its name/ IMO/MMI number. One can also scroll down and choose from the elaborate database directly. One can track their vessels or ships live and see the ports on the map. Hence, it offers live ship tracking free.

The website is user-friendly and has a simple interface. It also offers other services like air cargo tracking, postal tracking, and courier tracking and provides tracking links. 

12. Marine vessel traffic

This website offers many services. It has around 112,000 ships in its database and information about more than 1000 shipyards, allowing vessel tracking by name. 

The website does not use its tracking technology but integrates Vesselfinder and Marine traffic on its platform. It’s a great idea; one can find all vessel-related information anywhere. 

Also, there is a fleet list of major cruising companies, and the fare discounts offered. One can book their cruise ship tickets here as well. Since COVID-19 hit, the website also shows the names of ships infected with COVID-19.

The website also has tools like a plane tracker, distance calculators, IMPA Codes, air cargo tracker, baltic dry index, nautical charts, incoterms, weather tracker, etc.

13. Marine Online

Marine Online is an e-commerce company based in Singapore that offers important marine-related services to shipowners. It has a website as well that allows for vessel tracking and provides services like vessel karting, ship supply, crewing, marine insurance, bunkering, etc. 

This website provides access to basic and advanced container ship tracking information free of charge. Data fields such as vessel, route info, estimated time of arrival, and next port of call are available at the tip of your fingers. 

Registered customers can also access the fleet management function and charter info like contacts of operators and technical managers. However, it is important to know that most tracking data is free of charge. 

14. Datalastic

This website allows real-time vessel tracking and monitoring. One can access information on all vessels worldwide without any geographical limitations.

The website is not free, and one can choose from the given plans- Starter, Experimenter and Developer Pro+.

The website’s Live ships tracking REST API allows one to access vessel data like the ship’s location, estimated arrival time, deadweight tonnage, navigational status, destination, etc. 

One can put in the MMSI number of the vessel for tracing it, or one can specify the type of vessel one needs to track and give additional info like gross tonnage of the ship, its name, etc., to get quick results. 

The ship tracker tool has a profound database comprising 36 vessel types and over 300 subtypes. 

What makes AISHub different from other vessel tracking websites is access to the raw AIS feeds. The aim of this website is to be a raw NMEA AIS data-sharing centre and a valuable reservoir of data for all individuals and professionals interested in developing AIS-related software. 

The website has a map and a tracker showing the number and location of the vessels plying in the world. One can click on a country or region and get the status of the number of vessels there. 

Ship-tracking websites have drastically changed how ships and consignments are tracked, and marine traffic is monitored. These websites offer a wealth of information with just one click, allowing us to see the vessel’s position in real-time. One can easily get access to the up-to-date and latest info on the ship’s movement, current location, speed and direction.

These websites enable us to track ships across the globe, which is important for businesses involved in shipping and providers of shipping services.

Whether you are a maritime professional, a ship enthusiast, or someone who likes to track maritime traffic, ship-tracking websites are important tools that allow you to get all the information about a particular ship or even fleet easily and readily.

Over to you.

Do you know any other important ship tracking service that should be added to the list of marine trackers?

Let us know in the comments below.

You might also like to read:

• The Long Range Tracking and Identification (LRIT) System: Tracking and Monitoring Ships
• The Importance of Vessel Tracking System
• How is Ship Container Tracking Done?
• Automatic Identification System (AIS): Integrating and Identifying Marine Communication Channels
• What is ETD and ETA in Shipping?

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In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.

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About Author

Raunek Kantharia is a marine engineer turned maritime writer and entrepreneur. After a brief stint at the sea, he founded Marine Insight in 2010. Apart from managing Marine Insight, he also writes for a number of maritime magazines and websites.

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36 comments.

we are one of the lolcal ship service providedr to Vessels calling to indian ports. we required vessel details to service for their needful. We want ship owenrs and master details for corresponding. we are pay any subscribe

we are in the US and have found http://www.maritrace.com to be better, faster and cheaper than all of these…hands down no comparison…its live Sat AIS at the price of all the delays above. a few things need fine tuning but its better than listed above.

I have one more container tracking website in my knowledge i.e. http://www.shippingexchange.com/container-tracking

One can track here shipping, container, trucking, courier, etc.

Nice.Thanks for sharing this information with us. This is really helpful for logistics firms.

e-crewing agency also launches a securely-tracked tracking real-time service

I recommend ShipLocation.com

bigoceandata is also certainly worth a look and beats others on both price and functionality.

Many modern vehicle tracking devices combine both active and passive tracking abilities.

Guys Do you know a website where I can get the vessels e-mail?

Thank you for very useful content. shipsgo can be included in this list. It is a very useful site for live container tracking.

I heard Kpler has developed a great tracking system.

Which sites allow for a large “fleet” to be tracked? Marine tracker only allows 5 in the fleet for free.

@Simon: There are many websites, however, the free account has limited access in all of them.

How could i get in touch with a vessel by sending and E-MAIL when knowing his name? how to communicate with the captain before ETA?

My company is a Ship supply company based in DOUALA -CAMEROON.

What happened to the “Findship” app. Seems everyone is getting a network error message for the last week or so. It was a great free app!John

shiptracker provides a collection of the largest plattforms. You can easily switch between platforms and take advantage of each one.

Hi. Having read you great piece above, it struck me you don’t include Seasearcher from LLoyd’s List Intelligence. https://maritimeintelligence.informa.com/products-and-services/lloyds-list-intelligence/seasearcher

Lloyd’s List Intelligence Seasearcher is the most reliable source of information on the world’s shipping fleets, their vessels, location and ownership.

This uniquely powerful vessel tracking and data tool integrates human intelligence with terrestrial and satellite AIS to offer greater accuracy and reliable information. And, unlike other solutions, it’s exclusive relationship with the Lloyd’s Agency Network means it’s the only vessel tracking tool that can offer verified port arrivals and departures at the click of a button.

Kind regards Gordon.

What happened to findship pro . Cannot find any ships anymore

Do not forget for MarineVesselTraffic

Please we need the find ship app, there’s no any other one like it. All the remaining ones are not working well.

For me also FindShip or FindShip_Pro the best and very good simple app to find ships; although currently not working anymore. As read previous comments does somebody know what happened here? and if the app is still available for Iphone? For me this was the overall best app for on Iphone.

For tracking commercial vessels, check out SignalOcean.com.

Not only does it help with monitoring commercial vessels but also assessing tonnage availability, viewing of position lists, helping folks to find the best vessels for their cargoes, view fixtures, calculate distances, check bunker prices and more…

@John: Thank you for the addition. ??

Hi friends,

I am finding vessel email address. Is there any way to find it for free. Because i just started my business and finding emails for free. Is there any Whatsapp or Facebook group please suggest me on my email address. I will be very thank full to you.

Marine traffic is not that reliable, in my personal experience when trying to find out ships that call a particular port, it does not pull all data as others, try it out and find by yourself.

Thank you Lucas for sharing your experience ??

DO NOT USE VESSELTRACKER, after signing up I realized their service was not what I wanted, so I requested several times for cancelling my bill (of course on next period) and they have two different domain registed for emailing, but it is the SAME people who simply did not attended my request, I had to cancel my credit card so I was not charged. They kept trying to charge me even I requested several times with enough time for them to process but they just passed the ball. After a month and something they shamelessly notified my subscription was cancelled. I can provide all email and screenshots with dates if needed.

Please see http://www.bigoceandata.com for reliable and sophisticated vessel tracking. From single vessel to multiple fleet. Really friendly and supportive company to do business with.

I found Datalastic. com

very easy and intuitive

Am somehow unable to reach them Clariska. Can you help ?

There is any (website) way to find out vessel’s master email.

Hi,This autumns we launched Maritime Optima, and you can create a free user account on our web site. You will find AIS information on more than 60 000 vessels (vessels with AIS A) and the vessels are sorted into segments and sub-segments. We have just signed a 5 years contract with Orbcomm for access to AIS data.

Maritime Optima is also available as apps on mobile devices (iPhones and Android phones).

Besides vessel tracking, you will find advanced search for creating group / lists of vessels. You can add info layers such as weather, Loadline, INL, polar code etc, switch between satellite and default map designs, and still have access to all the vessels.

You can add the list of vessels you have created as layers to your map.

You will also find a vessel questionnaire template, a notebook for your personal notes (you can add personal notes about any of the vessel) and port information.

We have an exciting roadmap for 2021 but we also invite users to comment and give feedback and you can reach us in the in-app chat or by e-mail.

We have also made a user guide where you can learn how to use Maritime Optima

Welcome to Maritime Optima, we would love to see you as users of our software.

I recommend using https://www.maritimeoptima.com/ ! I’ve used it for student projects and despite the software being pretty new it’s very robust in the data it offers and they launch new features all the time for free. Specifically, I’ve used the site for tasks such as tracking vessels, as the software makes it super easy to apply filters and create groups of vessels that I’ve saved and revisited later. It’s also great because other sites often make you pay while Maritime Optima allows users to register and create an account for free which is especially nice being a student.

I want to know when Grande Angola GRA0121 will land at Tema port

Guys how can I know the location of a ship, or how can I track a ship?

No. You need to contact the company for that

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Google Earth Blog

The amazing things about Google Earth

Planning your cruise with Google Earth

August 15, 2014

Google Earth can be great for planning trips of any kind, including those by boat. More than seven years ago Frank was showing us 3D cruise ship tracking , and there have been other great cruising resources over the years. Of course, there is also the great tools that Frank is using as he sails around the world aboard the Tahina .

Doug Logan recently wrote an article on Boat Trader that shows some great ways to use Google Earth to help plan your next trip. As Doug says:

…it’s hard to beat sitting at my desk with a big monitor, loading up Google Earth, and plotting a complete cruise with the best satellite imagery in the civilian world and really simple, intuitive screen tools. For free.

The techniques that Doug uses aren’t overly complex or unique, but they’re a solid example of how you can use the native tools in Google Earth to help plan what you need to do.

Be sure to check out this full article on Boat Trader . Good work Doug!

About Mickey Mellen

Mickey has been using Google Earth since it was released in 2005, and has created a variety of geo-related sites including Google Earth Hacks. He runs a web design firm in Marietta, GA, where he lives with his wife and two kids.

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Yachting World

• Digital Edition

Using Google imagery for yacht navigation?

• Janneke Kuysters and Wietze van der Laan
• July 15, 2022

Janneke Kuysters on georeferenced satellite imagery and why it can be a real help to the cruising sailor

Every cruiser is familiar with that tingle of doubt: is my chart really up to date, and is that shallow bank still in that location? Careful ‘eyeball’ navigation in tropical waters has become a lot easier thanks to satellite overlays on digital charts, and for those sailing off the beaten track there are simple tools to make your own overlays.

Of course shipping routes for commercial traffic are well charted; as a necessity they have been surveyed for well over a 100 years. But those little nooks and crannies where we love to sail or anchor? In popular cruising areas like the Mediterranean or the Caribbean, chances are that your digital and/or paper charts will be a great help in reaching those spots safely, because of the yachting and/or commercial traffic there.

But when visiting more remote spots you may notice that regular charts for chartplotters differ in accuracy per region. One supplier is often best in one area, but another might excel in another. Plotter brands are increasingly linked to a fixed supplier of charts, so in some sailing waters you may lack the accuracy you’re looking for. In other areas there are no recent surveys at all.

This is where satellite imagery comes in handy. If the nautical charts of an area are old or of dubious quality, a satellite image will be much more recent. If you look on, for instance, Google Earth, you can check if there have been any changes in the location of sand spits, harbour layout or channels.

This is very helpful if you have a good internet connection. But offline things are different. And, of course, it is very handy if you can see your boat on screen while moving on the satellite picture, so you know exactly where that coral head is or where the shallower bits are.

Careful eyeball navigation on approaching an anchorage. Photo: Janneke Kuysters

Some chart formats like Navionics Platinum+ and C-MAP Reveal have satellite photos selectable as an optional layer; you still have the information you normally get on a chart, but you can compare it with the reality on the satellite image. This does require a multifunctional display that supports this and the applicable charting card. These may be hard to get in your location, and of course they cost money.

That’s where the open source (almost) free chart software comes in handy. They’re very popular with cruisers because these sources of information can be used for passage planning and visiting ‘off the beaten track’ locations where a pair of eyes from the sky are essential.

Open source data

The two most popular are OpenCPN and Guru Maps. OpenCPN is open source chart plotting software in which you can load digital charts from various free and paid sources; it runs on Linux, MacOS and Microsoft Windows computers. There is a paid Android derivative for tablets and phones. Guru Maps is an app that can be downloaded on a tablet or phone.

When you’ve downloaded the charting software, the next step is to get the geo-referenced satellite images so you can import them into your charting application. This sounds like a daunting task but, fortunately, there is lots of help available on the internet.

There are various sources for satellite images: Google Earth, Bing and ArcGIS to name just a few. You’ll need various sources, because the specific anchorage or island you want might have been hiding under a cloud when the Google Earth satellite passed over. Another source may have a better image of the same area. One very helpful tool is SAS.Planet: a program designed for viewing and downloading high-resolution satellite imagery. All downloaded images will remain on your computer and you’ll be able to view them offline.

Clipping tiles

The keyword here is ‘tiles’. As you scroll along the satellite images of the area that you want to explore, you need to make ‘tiles’, ie clips of a satellite image. These are stored as MBTiles if you use a program like SAS.Planet. Depending on whether you have nautical charts of the area it may be useful to also prepare tiles at various zoom levels.

Approaching Walvis Bay, Namibia, the author saw shipping patterns on Marine Traffic that didn’t match chart data

Google Earth revealed a brand new pier constructed for cargo ships

The next step is to import these MBTiles into your charting application. The software generally shows the ‘best’ chart for your current zoom level. If you only prepare satellite tiles that are very detailed, when you are zoomed out you’ll not see those – the system will show either the worldwide background map or, if you have those, the nautical chart that you have installed for that area. Once you zoom into the area that one or more of your tiles covers, the charting software can automatically switch to the more detailed satellite photo tile, showing the coral heads and sand spits you need to avoid.

This sounds like a lot of work – and it is. If you’re going well off the beaten track and need detailed information, you’re in for hours of careful scrolling, selecting and downloading to make the tiles.

Internet access and time to prepare is paramount for a successful use of these tools. But once again, some helpful cruisers have made tiles of favoured anchorages already and have stored them in libraries that you can access online. So, before you start making tiles yourself, it pays to look around the internet to see what you can find that is downloadable.

Even better, your fellow cruiser in the anchorage might have what you need – a splendid opportunity to go over and share a cup of tea.

“We’ve found satellite ‘charts’ to be invaluable,” says Sherry McCampbell, who cruises their St Francis 44 catamaran Soggy Paws with her husband, Dave.

“In some of the areas we cruise (the Philippines and Indonesia, specifically), the available charts, even just-updated Navionics and C-Map charts, can be off by as much as a half a mile. It’s pretty astonishing to see your boat navigating across an island, using your expensive chart plotter.

“In some places, these charts are only off 100ft, but that’s enough to put you on the reef.”

Sue and John Hacking on Ocelot

We’ve had a similar experience. My partner Wietze van der Laan and I have recently returned from an eight-year circumnavigation on our 44ft Bruce Roberts design, Anna Caroline. Wietze recalls: “We’ve always used a combination of Open CPN and paper charts. In very remote locations like Patagonia, we found that both types of charts were sometimes off by well over a mile.”

The help of satellite imagery (as well as good old eyeball navigation) is invaluable to navigate these waters safely. More than once we’ve been anchored on land on our digital charts, while the satellite image showed us snug in a beautiful little bay near the face of a glacier.

Even in areas where the charts are fundamentally accurate, additional satellite data can be invaluable, says Sherry McCampbell: “We have found that the satellite charts add so much to our ability to find off-the-beaten-path anchorages. Where the Navionics chart shows a large shallow area (interpreted as ‘you can’t go here’), a satellite chart may well reveal a small channel into an area that has a perfectly good anchorage for a boat with a draught under 3m.

“It does take some experience to be able to ‘read’ the colours in a satellite chart and interpret the colours: is it too deep, too shallow? Is there good sand, or maybe a coral head to avoid? But once you learn these skills, it totally expands your possible anchorages.

“We are currently in south-east Indonesia – very few cruising boats travel in this area. I was just today making new satellite charts for our next month of cruising, using Sat2Chart and SAS.Planet. It’s amazing what you can see from the satellite charts: where small villages are (possibilities for small markets to buy fresh vegetables, etc), where ‘sand fans’ are that indicate a viable anchorage, where passage is possible into an inner reef area, where fishing boats are anchored. And for on shore exploration, beaches, mountains, waterfalls etc.”

Stunning Kabui Bay, Indonesia by satellite

Ever changing tools

Jon Hacking is cruising aboard SV Ocelot, a Wauquiez-designed 48ft catamaran. He says: “The possibilities of using MBTiles for exploring islands and anchorages are endless. It pays to invest time in getting to know the online tools and how-to-guides that are available.

Kabui Bay, Indonesia on CM93 chart. Note the bay doesn’t appear on the chart

“The only limit is the size of your hard drive. It pays to choose well where you store your MBTiles, because over the years of cruising, it can add up quickly. If you upload too many MBTiles in your OpenCPN, the performance of your laptop will decrease.”

He adds a word of caution: “These open-source systems develop all the time, so some functionalities will appear or disappear. Make sure that you check if everything is still working before you set off.”

His experiences are echoed by Thom D’Arcy, who sailed his Vancouver 28 Fathom solo around the world. “On my circumnavigation I found the georeferenced satellite imagery extremely useful for backing up my digital and paper charts. In some poorly charted areas such as Fiji and Madagascar I even used satellite images as my primary means of navigation. These images are also very useful for researching anchorages and layouts of ports and harbours before arrival.”

However, he too notes: “The applications for accessing the satellite images are constantly changing and the app I used until recently is no longer available. It therefore requires a vigilant eye on the developments in this field to be able to access the right information when needed.”

If you enjoyed this….

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Tales (not just) from the high seas

Google Earth & GPS For Cruisers & Boat Owners

This article came about from me wanting to use Google Earth (we’ll call it GE from hereon in) to scan the Red Sea. I figured if I could plug in our GPS and track Esper we could use GE to navigate around approaching reefs, all in real-time. Good idea in theory, but can it actually be done? And if we can do this then what else can be done with GE? In this essay I’ve attempted to provide some pointers, resources and links for the yottie to consider when using GE onboard.

First, some caveats: there is a plethora of data on GE out there and this article has been put together specifically for the yottie; it is by no means exhaustive, it merely introduces some relevant applications of GE, so if you have anything else to contribute to this essay that may help other cruisers then please add your comments at the bottom of the page; this essay won’t cover HOW to get your GPS up and running on your laptop, that’s another essay for another day; please note my comments on using GE as your primary navigational aid (i.e. don’t do it).

What this article covers:

1. Introduction To GE & Some Issues How GE works and some issues for yotties to consider.

2. Track yourself in real time This requires some third-party software as well as a working GPS

3. Working Offline Saving GE map data to be accessed when offline

4. Explore The Oceans With the latest version of GE (5) you can now go underwater and check out the oceans!

5. GE Places Loads of links to extra data pertaining to the sailor that may be overlaid GE.

6. Conclusions Is GE actually any use to the boat owner?

1. Introduction To GE & Some Issues

When you open up GE your computer logs onto the GE server and loads up satellite images as you move around Earth. You use your mouse or keyboard to control where you move to and as you explore a new area, new images are introduced. As you zoom in, so more detailed imagery is loaded. Whilst it is doing this it is adding your already-viewed places into its memory, or ‘cache’. This means that you can then view Google Earth offline and still see the same level of detail that you did when you were online, but only for those places you have already visited. Try exploring a new area on GE whilst offline and the image will appear blurry.

This is an inherent problem that creates usability issues for yotties: you have to be online to see new places. We get round this problem by caching images, which is explained in more detail below.

There is another issue with GE. It has known differences in GPS measurements when compared to other navigational software like Maxsea and therefore makes it unreliable to use as a primary navigational aide . With this in mind anyone trying to use GE as their primary navigational aide needs their head examined. Do not do it. At the time of writing GE is showing me approx. 20m off my actual position. I don’t need to tell you how significant this error is if you were using it to navigate into a rocky anchorage. There is an article on the difference here .

There are some good reasons for having GE installed on the ship’s computer though. Indeed there is no harm in tracking yourself in GE providing you are not using it for primary navigation. My earlier example of using it to spot reefs that may not be marked on nautical charts is one useful application. You may wish to overlay weather information for your cruising area, or check buoy data across the North Sea. You can even view AIS data in real time. So without further ado:

2. Track Yourself In Real-Time

Plug in your GPS and show your current position on GE. You need a number of tools to do this:

Windows Laptop – I’ve no idea if CrossOver Mac supports these Windows apps

Google Earth – no need to upgrade to the Pro version, just download the free one

GPS – either your ship’s GPS connected with a serial cable, or a more modern USB GPS

Franson’s GPSGate – Tricks the computer into thinking your USB GPS is connected via a serial cable and also creates pseudo multiple connections so you can run one GPS across different applications. Worth purchasing the full version as it has a useful tracking feature.

There’s another application that may be used: GooPs. This links your GPS with Google Earth. It also allows you to control GE by tilting angle etc. You’ll need to buy the pro version as the freebie only allows 5 minutes of tracking. If you purchase any version of GPSGate, however, you get an automatic Google Earth tracking system so using Goops is almost negated. For more information on setting up the GE plug-in in GPSGate, see this link .

Both GooPs and GPSGate websites have comprehensive guides on getting your GPS to talk to GE.

It is also possible to overlay official nautical charts. I haven’t tried this because the only charts readily available are EarthNC, which covers North America only (if anyone is aware of charts for the Med or Red Sea, please let me know!). When you see this in action you start to understand how close GE could be to becoming your primary navigational tool, especially when you tilt the angle of view to 45 degrees and overlay 3D polygons of mountain ranges and submarine layouts. There is a great article by someone who went sailing with this whole set up and he was impressed .

Now that you have your GPS showing your position on GE you can go off for a sail and have GE maintain your boat in the centre of the display, just like Maxsea, whilst exploring third-party information and pictures of possible anchorages/marinas/locations. Oh, wait a minute. There’s just one problem…

3. Working Offline

There are some issues associated with GE that immediately puts-paid to the above-mentioned fun. It works by loading images from its server and the images used are high definition. This means you need to be online for it to work and a fairly big hard drive to handle it all.

Fear not. Google Earth has a built-in cache feature (cache is another name for memory). This means you can save your already-viewed images to your hard drive so that next time you open GE the images don’t need to be downloaded from the GE server. Instead they are loaded from your laptop, which is far quicker and an internet connection is not required. The cache limit is 2Gb, which I would like to put in context for you but at the moment I am still running some tests to see exactly how much surface area this actually covers. It varies greatly depending upon the complexity of downloaded images. Because half of the images we’re downloading to cache have some sea in them, they are probably not as large as city-based images. This is because they contain less colour and detail (i.e. some of your images will just contain shades of blue, which will help reduce the size of each image being downloaded). At a rough guess the rectangle that covers Skopia Limani, Gocek and Fethiye (where the top left corner is 36.75N and 28.83E) will take around 400mb. This covers land as well as sea as it is everything that falls within that rectangle, approx 25 square miles. It is possible to reduce this significantly by only downloading the specific area required. My example included all the moutain ranges around the three sides of my rectangle.

Providing you have the disk space, check that GE is set to the maximum cache limit. To do this go to Tools/Options and select the Cache tab. Change the Disk Cache Size, in MB, to 2,000.

It’s worth bearing in mind that the cache doesn’t stop saving when it reaches 2Gb. All that happens is that the oldest viewed images are scrubbed and replaced with the more recent views, so if you are saving a whole area to cache, keep an eye on the file size:

Firstly locate your cache file.Your Google Earth cache is located under the files dbCache.dat and dbCache.dat.index in the following folder:

Windows XP – C:Documents and Settings{username}Local SettingsApplication DataGoogleGoogleEarth

Windows Vista – C:Users{username}Local SettingsApplication DataGoogleGoogleEarth

Keep an eye on dbCache.dat. This is the file that will reach 2Gb.

One way of getting round the 2Gb cache limit is to save different cache files in a separate folder to the active one. You can then load them back into your GE cache folder as and when you need them.

Normally to cache your images you go to your desired location, zoom right in, wait for the image to download, scroll the mouse over to the next part of your location, wait for that image to download, and so on. You’ll quickly realise that trying to manually update your cache for a large area becomes a bit of a pain. Fortunately there are tools out there that do this for you. The one that worked best for me is called Google Earth Voyager, which can be downloaded here .

Essentially GEV does what you have manually been doing: it flies over a pre-determined area of Google Earth, caching the images as it goes. It works by setting the co-ordinates of certain points and then travels between those points, pausing at each point allowing time for the image to load. It is therefore important to remember that this must be done whilst online, so some preparation is required. It’s also the sort of thing you’ll need to set up and let run over night. And don’t get too ambitious: if you want crystal clear, sea-level images to be saved to cache it takes a while to get them all. The faster your connection to the internet, the quicker you can cache.

4. Explore The Oceans

This is one of those fun applications of GE that has huge potential for the future. It could work like a forward-pointing sonar, giving you real-time imagery of the sea bed and warn you of approaching shallow patches. There are many projects out there striving towards this and other submarine data applications, but as a useful cruiser’s application it’s pretty useless currently. In the meantime just point your cursor downwards and splash into the ocean and have a play around underwater. One to watch for the future.

One of the great strengths of GE is the ability to add third-party content like weather information and physically overlay that data on top of GE’s satellite images. In GE these are known as ‘Places’ and are made up of .kmz or .kml files. These relatively small files are loaded into GE and go online to load up the latest data onto your GE. As a user you may select any number of ‘Places’, add them to your library and turn them on and off when you need them. The one drawback is that you need to be online to update many of them so whilst these are less relevant to offshore navigation, they are quite useful for passage planning.

There are literally hundreds of Places for you to add to GE. Hundreds. Here are a few that the yottie might find useful, followed by a very comprehensive list of other Places. They include a link to .kmz or .kml file. Click on it and it should automatically open in GE and add a link to your Places section.

Esper’s Location

An easy one to get you started! This is the same file that is displayed in a Google map on our home page and is updated as and when we move around. Whilst it shows you where we are in a little embedded map on our website you can also upload the file to GE. Try it by clicking on this link, which should ask you if you want to open it up in GE.

Click here to view in GE[urldisplaymode=nomap]

Nautical Charts from NOAA

If you are cruising north America then the whole country is pretty much represented by nautical charts provided by the NOAA and they can be overlaid onto GE. They work pretty well though we should of course re-emphasise the point that they should not be used for navigation, especialy as these are 2D, flat charts overlaid onto GE’s curved surface. Even if you’re not cruising this area it’s well worth downloading at least one just to see the potential.

Click here to open an example in GE[urldisplaymode=nomap]

Tide Predictions

Tidal data covering 7,500 harbours, based on Xtide .

Click here to open in GE[urldisplaymode=nomap] .

Sea Surface Temperature

Data coming from the Space Science and Engineering Center.

Worldwide Weather Stations This is data supplied from (mainly American) buoys and stations NDBC , US National Buoy Data Center (NOAA). Information includes wind speed, air pressure and other sensors data, latest satellite wind map ( QuickSCAT ) and SST/Wave Height from Weatherunderground .

Clouds Overlay Worldwide clouds overlay : data from xplanet (global cloud map updated every 3 hours using GOES, METEOSAT and GMS satellite imagery downloaded from Geostationary Satellite Imagery page at Dundee University) and compiled by Hari Nair .

MTSAT and GOES Satellite Pictures

MTSAT and GOES satellite pictures : worldwide daily updated data from Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (color and B&W Infrared / water vapor).

Click on the following regions to open them up in GE:

• Europe[urldisplaymode=nomap]
• Atlantic[urldisplaymode=nomap]
• Indian[urldisplaymode=nomap]
• East Pacific[urldisplaymode=nomap]
• Eastern South Pacific[urldisplaymode=nomap]
• Western Australia[urldisplaymode=nomap]
• East Australia[urldisplaymode=nomap]

Conclusion Google Earth still has a way to go before it can be used efficiently and with safety as a primary aid to navigation. Because of the differences in the way it reads lon/lat position it is less precise than a ship’s GPS repeated onto a dedicated chart-plotter. The fact it has to be online for it to work is not practical for sailors, at least until satellite phone internet browsing becomes affordable. It is, however, possible to cache data to be used whilst at sea and this alone is a very useful aid to navigation in small areas and when the NOAA charts are overlaid in America you can see how close it’s getting. Add to that the hundreds of possible data overlay ‘Places’ (see the list below) and suddenly Google Earth has the potential to be a very powerful passage planning tool. It won’t be long before that submarine data becomes powerful enough to navigate your boat into a tricky anchorage, whilst providing aerial images and restaurant data, all at the same time. Get to grips with GE now and the desired technology for cruisers won’t be far behind. Best of all, everything we’ve looked at in this article is FREE!

If you enjoyed playing with the .kmz files above then prepare to amuse yourself for hours with this very comprehensive list of GE Places, provided by www.justmagic.com . Below is an extract from their list.

Marine-based kml/kmz links :

Weather stations and buoys

NOAA Florida buoys

Buoy locations

Ships and buoys[urldisplaymode=nomap]

Real time NOAA SeaBuoy Meteorology Monitoring [RDEE]

NOAA Pacific data buoys ( World Wind )

16 real-time NOAA DART buoys (Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis), from National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program (NTHMP) ( World Wind )

Partial NDBC Moored Stations

CORS stations

Caro-COOPS near real-time ocean weather data[urldisplaymode=nomap]

Windguru coastal weather[urldisplaymode=nomap]

Global Atlantic GRIB wind[urldisplaymode=nomap]

Global infrared

Global Cloud Map – other sources : 1 , 2 , 3 / 4 ( World Wind )

Global Clouds and NASA Blue Marble[urldisplaymode=nomap] / time animation of NASA’s Blue Marble

live Global Cloud[urldisplaymode=nomap]

10 days Global Cloud animation[urldisplaymode=nomap]

Global cloud archives (from May 2006 to August 2007)[urldisplaymode=nomap]

Real time Sunlight, Cloud Cover & Low Level Winds

Clouds – with GM

Real-time WDSSII (Warning Decision Support System — Integrated Information) Weather Imagery

Warning Decision Support System — Integrated Information (WDSS-II)

NOAA NESDIS Satellite Coral Bleaching Monitoring Datasets : Current[urldisplaymode=nomap] or Annual[urldisplaymode=nomap] SST, SST anomaly, HotSpot, and DHW (twice-weekly, near-real-time, 50-km)

Latest Global Sea Surface Temperatures – from the Space Science And Engineering Center (SSEC) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison

NOAA WeatherMole 5 day forecast for any US specific location

Weather observations map for Australia

European shipping forecasts

UK shipping forecasts

QuickSat wind for Europe

Wave pattern and height data (South America -SW Atlantic-)

NE Atlantic Real Time Water Vapour Overlay

Daily full Caribbean Satellite Imagery – Daily – Sea Surface Temperature (University South Florida)

Australian weather[urldisplaymode=nomap] (METVIS)

Hurricane live tracker

Hurricane live tracker (other from Atlantic storms)

Tropical storms[urldisplaymode=nomap]

Storms historical

SAR wind Overlay[urldisplaymode=nomap]

Global Swell Height, Period, Wind & Surf Forecasts from Wavewatch

ECMWF winds and pressure ( World Wind )

Water temperature Northsea Netherlands

Hurricane Katrina animation[urldisplaymode=nomap] (see collection of GE animations from NASA)

hourly updated weather readings from ships[urldisplaymode=nomap] participating in the NOAA/WMO Voluntary Observing Ship (VOS) program courtesy of destinsharks.com

VOS (Voluntary Observing Ship) NOAA

Meteo Consult world meteo spots

hourly updated meteo sat from Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite GOES11 / GOES 12[urldisplaymode=nomap]

Ships and buoys weather observations[urldisplaymode=nomap]

TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission)

Weather for Europe in GM or in GE[urldisplaymode=nomap]

Meteo radar for Switzerland and Italy

Ships & buoys data for Tropical areas[urldisplaymode=nomap]

Tropical areas[urldisplaymode=nomap]

Hurricane archive

Hurricane tracker (Virtual Earth) courtesy of Stamen Design

Marine & Coastal Weather Conditions

Atlantic Tropical Storm Tracker

New England Sea Level Rise map

Climate changes forecast[urldisplaymode=nomap]

Hurricane Ike Shoreline Assessment from Texas General Land Office

Sea Surface Temperature, Sea Surface Winds & NOAA Wave Watch III[urldisplaymode=nomap]

Bundle for weather data (Surface, SPC and NWS Convective Watches and Warnings, soundings, radar, satellite, hurricanes. Great Lakes data, Ocean data, fire weather, air quality index, historical Event.)[urldisplaymode=nomap]

USA National Weather Service Enhanced Radar Image

NOAA NDBC buoys -GM-

other NOAA NDBC buoys -GM-

Animated NOAA Ridge single radar -GM-

NOAA HF Radar National Server and Architecture Project (used to remotely measure ocean surface currents) -GM-

Go to www.justmagic.com for loads more .kmz and .kml files, including live AIS and shipwreck data.

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7 thoughts on “Google Earth & GPS For Cruisers & Boat Owners”

I’m a pro navigator, I deliver sailboats now, and find the new ‘Street View’ feature surprisingly useful. Y’see, it’s difficult getting people to create in their own minds a ‘feature-rich image’ of a scene – a harbour entrance or the layout of a tiny anchorage – from conventional 2D paper/electronic charts.

Here’s an current example proving my point. I’m planning to take a sailboat from England down to St. Malo, in northern France. I’ve been there a score of times, and am quite happy navigating in along the several miles of reef-strewn aproach channel. Not so the boat’s owner.

He wants me to leave the boat securely moored in through the Rance tidal barrage. I’ve never been in there, so don’t know which of the many tiny yacht harbours might be suitable. My wife is bringing a car over on a car ferry, but we need to identify a rendezvous point both she and I will recognise. Enabling ‘Street View’ in the Layers menu gives me a vast choice of panoramic views, I can rotate 360 degrees, pick out a couple of likely spots, identify that there are similar boats already there ( with similar depth needs ) and agree a solution with the owner. Using the same panoramic feature allows me to show my wife exactly where the ferry-port exit slipway enters the public road system at a roundabout,spot a legal parking place with a cafe nearby, and agree a rendezvous she can find.

What would have involved lots of mobile phone time can be reduced to a few previewed and stored images. Hell, some can even be loaded onto a little USB pen-drive and uploaded to a netbook on board. That’ll help confidence when cold and tired, and in the rain, on the final approach to the anchorage at St. Servan, ‘cos we can’t yet get across the tidal sill to the big marina with the showers…..

Try it yourself. St. Malo. North France ( N48.38.05 W02.01.49 ) Have a look around….

Thank yoy very much, such a good guied.

I just learned so much from this. Thank you.

Very interesting and certainly thought provoking. Makes you realise that total real time navigation will soon be a reality………..! Crikey! 😯

Absolutely excellent, especially all of the links – many thanks – this page is now bookmarked for posterity!

Excellent stuff… a comprehensive and useful intro to the subject… thanks!

A very comprehensive article Mr Furlong.

I recently downloaded GE again after uninstalling it some time back for being too resource heavy when in use.

This time it was the new Google Underwater feature that brought me back as a potential tool for scoping out new sea fishing spots. Like you say though it’s very limited at the moment and purely a fun application but knowing Google this will be constantly developed.

I just hope that in the long term this does not open up the ocean to further exploitation by creating familiarity.

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Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2024

• Google Earth Feed
• Live Finish Tracker New
• Legacy Tracker
• Tracker FAQ

View the race inside Google Earth

Viewers can if they wish consider accessing our  Google Earth based yacht tracker instead of the tracker embedded in the race website.  Each has the same automatic update function.

If you are using our desktop or mobile site, please use the following process to access yacht tracker via Google Earth.

• Download Google Earth onto your desktop, or if using a mobile device, it is available at the Apple App Store for iOS or Google Play Store for android users.  Links are below.
• Return to the Google Earth Feed option on our website and click on Rolex Sydney Hobart KML file below.
• That will take you back to Google Earth to follow the race, with the race rhumb line and boats presented on the satellite image in Google Earth.

Key links below

Google Earth .

Download the Google Earth application, then download the Rolex Sydney Hobart KML file to open it in Google Earth.

A download of Google Earth is available at the Apple App Store , or the Google Play Store .

OFFICIAL ROLEX SYDNEY HOBART MERCHANDISE

Shop the official clothing range of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in person at the Club in New South Head Road, Darling Point or online below.  

From casual to technical clothing, there is something for all occasions. Be quick as stock is limited!

Explore Google Earth

Grab the helm and go on an adventure in Google Earth.

Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2024

• Google Earth Feed
• Live Finish Tracker New
• Legacy Tracker
• Tracker FAQ

View the race inside Google Earth

Viewers can if they wish consider accessing our  Google Earth based yacht tracker instead of the tracker embedded in the race website.  Each has the same automatic update function.

If you are using our desktop or mobile site, please use the following process to access yacht tracker via Google Earth.

• Download Google Earth onto your desktop, or if using a mobile device, it is available at the Apple App Store for iOS or Google Play Store for android users.  Links are below.
• Return to the Google Earth Feed option on our website and click on Rolex Sydney Hobart KML file below.
• That will take you back to Google Earth to follow the race, with the race rhumb line and boats presented on the satellite image in Google Earth.

Key links below

Google Earth .

Download the Google Earth application, then download the Rolex Sydney Hobart KML file to open it in Google Earth.

A download of Google Earth is available at the Apple App Store , or the Google Play Store .

OFFICIAL ROLEX SYDNEY HOBART MERCHANDISE

Shop the official clothing range of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in person at the Club in New South Head Road, Darling Point or online below.  

From casual to technical clothing, there is something for all occasions. Be quick as stock is limited!

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Viewing and Downloading Nautical Charts with Google Earth

By David Burch, Starpath Navigation

We have been working on using Google Earth (GE) for practice with echart navigation, which led to a couple short videos on the process listed at the end here.  In this process we discovered a remarkable NOAA service that I am embarrassed to say that I did not know about till now.  I am not sure how long it has been online, but it is there now and works great. It is part of their new products on seamless display, that we discuss more at the end here.  The GE feature of that program is the subject at hand.

With this easy to use utility you can see at a glance all 2100 NOAA charts outlined on the GE world map, with the ability to actually view the individual charts, with or without a border, as well as a very quick way to download the RNC echart of any one of them.

The process is explained on a page of the NOAA site called  Seamless Raster Navigational Chart Server & Web Map Services , but you pretty much have to know it is there to find it. Once there the main link that is needed is the Google Earth kmz file, called  NOAA_RNCs.kmz.

When you click that link it will download the 340-kb kmz file to your downloads, and then just open Google Earth and drag and drop that file onto the GE world. You will see something like Figure 1.

Then just zoom to the region you care about. Below is the region we use for our coastal nav training program near the chart 18465.  In Figure 2 I have rolled the cursor over the 18465 boundary, which highlight it, then clicked the boundary line to pop up the control panel shown.

At this point you can start experimenting with the options.  The “collarless preview” loads the chart without the borders; the collared preview shows a full copy of the paper chart with all borders and scales.

As noted earlier, NOAA is getting started with their own version of this  type of display from their own server , which has a lot of potential, but it is not yet nearly as convenient as the GE version. Especially promising is the counter part they have for vector charts , but this one is even less developed than their seamless raster chart. All in all though, NOAA has been doing a tremendous amount of development of their site with many benefits to mariners.

Melges 24 World in Victoria in 2018

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Can’t seem to be able to open the charts themselves on an iPad. No curser to point and click. The kmz file overlays the goggle earth map. Can this be used on an iPad or does the program require a computer?

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