Laptop Navigation Software

[Yamsailor]

Hi All,

Does anyone have any recommendations for Laptop Navigation software?

Thanks
Yamsailor

[Izabella01]

I have The Capn 8.3 it comes with all themaps of all of the u.s. and its possessions.
right now its on sale thru defender for about $350.
its worth every penny..

[camaraderie]

Yam...You might also just want to get one of the free software programs that work with the free NOAA downloadable charts like sea-clear.
All depends on where you plan on sailing and what you need..doesn't do nearly as much as the Capn software but it is free and MAY do all you need.

[sailingdog]

It would also help if you said what kind of laptop. If you're on a Mac, you might try MacENC or GPSNavX. On a PC... look at SeaClear, which IIRC is free, or if you want something more capable, Fugawi or Cap'n.

[sailortjk1]

I recently purchased a Maptech Chart Book and it came with a Downloadable CD. Very basic system, Navigator Lite I think its called. But for $60 you get a chart book and electronic software, for me it was a great starting point. The electronic charts only cover what is in the chart book, very limited. But like I said a great place to start with out spending a whole lot of money. The lite system is very simple to use and has a lot of valuable info. I find it very useful.

Than I added a USB-GPS (which was discussed on an earlier thread) for around $60 and now I have a backup GPS/chartplotter on my lap top.

I am using Maptech, Navigator Lite.

[PBzeer]

I use the Fugawi ENC as my active software, but also have SeaClear II which came with a seperate purchase. The main difference is the SeaClear is raster based, while the Fugawi is vector based. Vector charts are more seamless (they flow into one another), while the raster charts are individual charts you have to load. Both though will accept downloadable free charts in the proper format. Also the USB GPS from USGlobalSat, is a great buy for a laptop.