Just checked out Navigation Planner. 10 day free trial, hard to get at actual cost. Works on all PCs, requires GPS into a USB port (or similar). Doesn't work with all Navionics charts.

Based on Navigation Planner, finding a freebie besides OpenCPN is not likely. Like you, all I really want is a viewer that I can put courses on and transfer to my Android phone.

I tried bringing up the Boating app on my PC via Phone Link but that just duplicated the phone screen on the PC monitor. Has full functionality with the same aspect ratio as my phone. Better than nothing I suppose.

What I don't like is the inability to completely shut down the Boating app - which is a heavy battery user - without restarting the phone.

Fred W

 

If you are using for general planning you could use either Waterway Guide or DeepZoom.com .

 

Thanks - the Waterway Guide online looks interesting (I have the paper one for my immediate area). DeepZoom also.

Interesting about trying to use the phone app on a computer screen. If my Mac was newer, I may be able to run the iPad app, but alas it's too old for that.

I was also just playing with this one: i-Boating : Free Marine Navigation Charts & Fishing Maps

 

....I was also just playing with this one: i-Boating : Free Marine Navigation Charts & Fishing Maps

Took a look at it - it uses the unsupplemented NOAA (now discontinued) chart for Albemarle Sound with its paucity of soundings and complete cutoff of the creek that is my home. So not good for me, which is why I pay for the Navionics chart subscription. The Navionics chart includes ALL the navigable waterways, and can include soundings from users. I have found the user soundings to be remarkably accurate and trustworthy. Those user soundings are also very useful in the larger lakes (Kerr Reservoir is a great place to sail in fresh water and only 3 hrs to trailer to).

Fred W
Stuart Mariner 19 #4133 Sweet P
Yeopim Creek, Albemarle Sound

 

What are you finding no working for you with OpenCPN? That's usually what I use on my laptop or Windows tablet.

I've also exported and imported routes between Navionics and Opencpn

 

I use AquaMap but you have to pay for the maps, good news it’ll they are reasonable priced and have a “forever” subscription, which is good investment. I bought their “forever” maps years back and never have to worry to renew. They have PC, Mac and smartphone apps as well and a paid service for realtime weather, currents etc. Their course plotting is compared to Navionics very archaic and it takes a while to figure it out. Otherwise OpenCPN is your friend.

PS: don’t google anymore use Perplexity.ai, Claude from Anthropoc or ChatGPT to get your answers. They are free for the first couple of questions per day.

 

What are you finding no working for you with OpenCPN?

That's a good question. Some is look and feel. Some is how the maps behave when panning and zooming. A few other small things. I've played with the settings a bit and made some progress. But, since we use Navionics on our phones and our MFD, I don't have a big incentive to invest time in learning OpenCPN.

I was looking for some type of "quick start guide" but perhaps all the info is in the FAQs and long, long threads that I've found on various sub-forums devoted to the software. If you can suggest something I could digest in a couple of hours that could get on the right track, I'll give that a shot.

Thanks,
Andy

 

But, since we use Navionics on our phones and our MFD, I don't have a big incentive to invest time in learning OpenCPN.

I couldn’t agree more. I go back a decade or more with trying OpenCpn. If you can imagine, it used to be substantially more difficult. It’s a dream app for those that like to tinker with technology. Navionics is plug and play, but you have to pay.

Since you already have it, why not just plan on those devices? That’s exactly what I do.

 

Another web based option is active captain: https://activecaptain.garmin.com/en-US/Map

 

Since you already have it, why not just plan on those devices? That’s exactly what I do.

Convenience, or perhaps laziness But you're right - I have to adapt to what is available.

 

I have Navionics on my smartphone and it works for me. I don't do more than set a waypoint or two as I sail. User interface is fine.

 

Just download navionics onto any tablet. I use it on a Samsung android tablet mounted on a swivel bracket which is mounted on the binnicle. Cheap and easy. I can plan routes and save tracks. I can't see any reason to get a "real" chartplotter, plus, I can watch YouTube or Netflix if I want!

 

I run Navionics on a Chromebook, it's great for planning at home. (Chromebooks can run native Android apps)

onboard I run navionics on a tablet and phone. But I do have a "real" plotter in the cockpit. I like having it there ready and easily readable for all conditions.

 

I am using Saavy Naavy free version on my Samsung tablet with location turned on. It's OK. Not sold on it enoughmto purchase premium version yet. The GPS can be a bit spotty offshore. I am not confident in it yet. That may change. Sail and sea... ⛵

 

It seems like the main point the OP made has been lost here. He wants a Navionics solution on a laptop for planning purposes. Not a tablet or phone or different app that doesn't use Navionics.

To get Navionics on a PC will likely require a more expensive program like Coastal Explorer, as well as purchasing the Navionics charts for it. Timezero used to be another for this, but Garmin refuses to license to them because they are associate with Furuno.

Mark

 

active captain is web based and so it would work on his Mac. It's free and uses navionics charts (including the sonar overlay) https://activecaptain.garmin.com/en-US/Map

pretty rudimentary though, not many tools other than dividers. Notably you can't create, or import, routes

 

Yes. Lots of different things exist that are not at all what the OP was asking about.

My suggestion, since we are all providing different answers to his question, is to use OCPN a bit more. It gets easier and more comfortable to use within a short time, and it is by far the best planning solution.

Mark

 

That's my rec. You can import and export routes as well. It's free. There's a lot of support and people using it.

 

The only one of the original apps listed I've heard of is Expedition, which is not particularly cheap.

On my Mac I have OpenCPN and SEAiq. The one is free, the other is a small one time fee, and both pull US charts directly from NOAA at no cost. Neither has the prettiest UI, but I find the latter far easier to use compared to OpenCPN and it has an overlay for Waterway Guide info.

The downside of NOAA charts, as mentioned up-thread, is the lack of detail in many shallow or inland water areas compared to Navionics.