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Macs And The Mariner
Apple has never made a seagoing laptop like the Ocean PC Windows notebook, or even the “ruggedized lite” Panasonic ToughBooks. As a niche manufacturer, you can’t cover all the sub-niches. However, Macs do go to sea. In 1998-’99, a boatbuilder acquaintance of mine, John Steele of Covey Island Boatworks here in Nova Scotia, took his family on a year-long sabbatical cruise from Nova Scotia to the Caribbean vis Bermuda, then across the Atlantic to Ireland and the UK in their then 106-year-old original Bristol Channel Cutter, Marguerite T. In order to stay in touch with the office and for general communication purposes, John installed a Motorola ‘Wave Talk’ M-sat satellite telephone system for phone and email communications on the yacht, and took along his trusty PowerBook 5300 
The 5300 performed well throughout, and remained John’s work computer for some time after his return. 
Opthalmologist and Macintosh-enthusiast Peter Van Houten, who runs his medical practice using Macs and has been features on Apple’s Website, also pilots his 46 foot sail yacht using a PowerBook running GPSy GPS software and NavimaQ navigation software, hooked to a Garmin GPS 45XL GPS receiver. More on GPSy and NavimaQ, as well as other marine navigation software in a moment. Given the modest hardware requirements of most Mac marine navigation software, the ideal seagoing Mac might well be a relatively inexpensive older PowerBook or iBook, or, if the computer is to be mission critical on a lengthy cruise, perhaps a couple of older ‘Books -- one for backup In current machines, my pick would be an iBook, either with the 12.1 inch or 14.1-inch screen. With its tough, copolymer case, the iBook will make a much more satisfactory shopmate than the sheetmetal housed Titanium PowerBook, which is easily scratched and dented in rough use. Whatever computer is chosen, it would be a good sense to invest in a truly waterproof laptop case to protect it from the often equipment-hostile environment aboard a small vessel. Pelican 1490 Waterproof Laptop Computer Case The Pelican 1490 Laptop Computer Case is watertight and airtight to 30 feet underwater, dustproof, crushproof, and molded of ultra high impact copolymer resin, with a neoprene o-ring seal and exclusive purge valve to protect laptop computers from handling abuse and all weather conditions. 
The 1490CC1 Laptop Computer Case includes a padded lid organizer/divider and shock absorbing tray, lock down Velcro safety strap, removable padded shoulder strap, keyed locking latches, and molded fold down handle. It is made in the USA and backed by Pelican’s Lifetime Guarantee. Pelican 1490 Features: Specifications For more information, visit: GPSy 3.39a2 and GPSy Pro 1.18r3 GPSy Pro is a sophisticated, full-featured, Global Positioning Systems (GPS) software package that connects a Macintosh computer to virtually any data-output capable GPS receiver unit on the market. GPSy (pronounced “gypsy”) Pro collects GPS system data, such as your current location coordinates, bearing, heading, speed over ground, velocity made good, distance to go, current waypoint, GPS satellite data, and more, and displays it on the Mac’s monitor. 
GPSy connects your Macintosh to a broad range of GPS receivers, Loran-C, DECCA, and OMEGA navigational units and displays your current coordinates, altitude, bearing, heading, speed over ground, velocity made good, distance to go, current waypoint, GPS satellite data, and more. GPSy can upload and download GPS system data (waypoints; routes; track; almanac) from a variety of GPS manufacturers including Ashtec, Garmin, Eagle, Lowrance, Magellan, Rockwell and Trimble. GPSy is also the only Macintosh program to support the new Internet DGPS-IP services, giving you meter accuracy in real-time through from free, online DGPS-IP servers. Boaters and sailors who want support for BSB (NOAA/NDI) nautical charts, or to work with very large or complex map images, will prefer GPSy Pro, an enhanced version of GPSy. The program presents positional information in Degrees:Minutes:Seconds (eg: 41:18’56”N), decimal degrees (eg. 41.315550N), Degree: Decimal Minutes (eg: 41:18.933N); Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM); Universal Polar System (UPS); U.S. Military Grid Reference System (MGRS), and other formats. Standard GPS tell you where you are. A Macintosh computer running GPSy Pro can show you where you are in considerable detail on a computer screen. GPSy Pro provides a real-time moving map display with navigation features as well as numerous “offline” waypoint and route planning utilities. When connected to Internet Map Servers (on land or via satellite), GPSyLinks allows you to instantly view your position with maps updated over the Internet. GPSy Pro’s Text-to-Speech feature uses the Macintosh’s PlainTalk speech engine. Open up any navigational window and the computer can speak the current location, track, or heading to you. To use GPSyPro you need a Macintosh computer, and will also need a compatible GPS unit -- most popular GPS units by Garmin, Eagle/Lowrance, and Magellan are supported by GPSy. For comprehensive information and recommendations regarding compatible GPS receivers, visit the Global Mapping Systems Website at: GPSy features include: GPSy Pro adds the following features to GPSy: 
GPSy Pro customers can order the MapTech “Chart Kit / BSB Region 1 - United States Planning Charts” CD-ROM (a $199.95 value) for US$20 (or bundled with cable purchase). The Region 1 CD-ROM covers most of the Eastern and Western seaboard (click for list of charts on CD). Newer Macs come with USB ports rather than the serial ports found on legacy Macintosh computers. This presents problems as GPS units expect standard serial ports for communication. While GPSy and GPSy Pro themselves work fine on newer Macs, you’ll can’t directly hook your GPS unit up to your USB-only Mac as there are no GPS receivers with USB ports right now. Until USB compatible GPS receivers hit the market (no announcements have been made to date; so don’t hold your breath), you will need to purchase a “USB to Serial” port adaptor. This device connects to your USB bus and allows you to attach standard Macintosh serial devices (including PDAs, modems, serial printers, etc.) to your USB-only Mac. The adaptors, from Keyspan and other companies, are relatively low-priced, all of the shipping units go for $40-$70. The simplest and cheapest solution is the Keyspan USB PDA Adaptor which costs about $40. This adaptor ends in a PC-style DB-9 connector which you can hook right up to any standard GPS unit’s PC data cable. Global Mapping Systems has verified that it works fine with GPSy and GPSy Pro and offer it bundled with these products. You can also get the Keyspan adaptor from mail-order companies such as MacWarehouse or Outpost.com Note that it is impossible to simply wire an adaptor cable between a USB serial bus and a standard serial device (such as a GPS unit). The USB Serial Bus standard is an intelligent bus, which means that you have to have an intelligent bus controller chip notify the bus master (computer) what configuration your device is, how much power it’s using, etc. This bus intelligence is why USB is plug and play; but it means you can’t use your older serial devices without a special adaptor box with its own integrated intelligence. GPSy is provided as a 68K+PowerPC “fat” binary and is PowerPC accelerated. The monimum system requirements are: For more information, visit: NavimaQ Electronic Navigation Software for Macintosh NavimaQ can display the BSB, NDI and Maptech uncompressed electronic charts in 7 levels of zoom, 256 color, black & white and night vision. The user can click to zoom in one level, option click to zoom out one level and use the scroll bars to navigate which area of the chart is being viewed. The default mode for the cursor is a zoom tool that allows the user to center the area to be zoomed in or out. The cursor can also draw an area that will be magnified. A Spyglass tool can be used to zoom in on one small area of a chart to see detail while zoomed out the lower zoom levels. 
Information Windows float above the Chart Image Window and can be moved or hidden according to the user’s preferences. Improved Settings in version 2.3 allow these settings to be remembered after quitting. Windows: Creating a waypoint file allows the users to enter in up to 250 waypoints per file, and use them as a route. Waypoints can be entered manually by entering coordinates or by double clicking on the chart while the cursor is in Waypoint Editing mode. A logpoint file is created to log the vessel’s position. A logpoint file is similar to a waypoint file in that it also can have up to 250 logpoints. You can have NavimaQ automatically log at intervals set by the user, or log a position any time the user wishes with a menu item, or keystroke. Logpoints may also be edited with the cursor by choosing Logpoint editing mode. The charts can be marked by creating a new chartmarks file. New marks can then be entered manually or on the screen by double clicking in the desired position while in Chartmark Editing mode. A selection of icons are available or a spot can be labeled with up to 40 characters of text. An A to B Tool can be used to determine the course and distance between two points on the chart. When using the A To B Tool cursor mode, double clicking places point A, then option double clicking places point B. The information about these two points is then displayed in a floating window. NavimaQ can receive a signal from a GPS or Loran that sends NMEA 0183. The signal is received through the serial (modem or printer) port. The Mac half of the connection cable is included with NavimaQ. NavimaQ can also control an Autopilot that can receive the NMEA 0183 interface. NavimaQ version 2.3 can communicate with certain GPS models to permit uploading and downloading of waypoints. As of this time, compatible GPS models include GPS models from Garmin and Magellan that support this feature. GPSs that support NMEA waypoint sentences, Micrologic & Shipmate are expected to be supported in next major release. Registered users of NavimaQ are entitled to one year of low cost upgrades from the manufacturer. Which means in plain English, For the first year, when there is a major upgrade available you will receive notification by mail and given the option to upgrade for the cost of media and shipping. (About $5.00) If the manufacturer can send your upgrade as an email attachment, it’s free. After the first year, users are given a special upgrade price to receive current versions for another year. The manufacturer is also available for unlimited tech support by phone and email. There is no extra charge for tech support, whether you just need a hand to walk through using the program the first time or you’re having trouble connecting your GPS to the Mac. Many users prefer to test drive a navigation program before purchase to get a feel for it’s use and features. A full functioned demo version of NavimaQ comes with a sample chart so you can see how it looks. The user can fully test NavimaQ’s functions with the exception of NMEA input, autopilot output, saving waypoint, chartmark and logpoint files. The demo version of NavimaQ can only open the demo chart. (included). The current demo version is 2.0. NavimaQ Navigation Software for Macintosh sells for $180.00 Comes with Mac to GPS data cable connection cable. Additional cable for data out of GPS may be required. (See your GPS manual for data out requirements) Master’s Mate 1.2.2 Celestial Navigation Program Celestial navigation is the traditional art of finding your position at sea by observations of the sun, moon, planets and stars. Although superseded largely by GPS and other electronic navigation methods it is still used as backup for many serious cruising skippers and is an essential part of the courses taken by all commercial masters. One of my long-term dreams has been to make an ocean voyage in a small vessel. I’ve lived aboard several yachts, including an 85 foot ferro-cement schooner, and my own 26 foot molded mahogany sloop, and I’ve done a lot of coastal racing and cruising, but I’ve never made a long passage, and ill health now makes it unlikely that I ever will, alas. I still have my Davis sextant and a couple of chronometers, and at one time I knew the rudiments of calculating a position based on sextant sights of celestial bodies. However, math skills are not my long suit, and the spherical trigonometry principles behind celestial navigation were always a struggle for me. Nowadays, computers, and software like Mariner’s Mate would make it a lot easier (although one would still want to know how to chart a position manually before setting out on a blue water voyage). 
Master’s Mate 1.2.2 provides the following features to celestial navigators: New features of version 1.2 : System requirements:
Master’s Mate is $18.00 shareware. There is a downloadable demo. For more information, visit: Mr Tides 2.0.6 Mr. Tides 2.0.6 Displays displays tide and current information for a variety of locations around the world. It can display the day’s tides, the week’s tides, or the month’s tides in two different ways. You select a station via the maps presented by Mr. Tides. The two types of stations are distinguished by the color of the dot on the map, blue for tide and yellow for current. If the dot has a “+” in it, then there is more than one station at that location and you can select the specific station by clicking on the dot and having a pop-up menu appear. Mr. Tides comes in both Classic and Carbon versions. Users have reported few problems with Mr. Tides X 2.0 on Mac OS Classic with CarbonLib 1.5 installed, but this configuration has not been tested so Your Mileage May Vary. New in this version: • Zooming the window now works for the calendar view. System requirements: Mr. Tides is freeware For more information, visit:
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Cool Mac Gear• iPod 1G-2G • iPod 3G • iPod 4G • iPod Mini • PowerBook-iBook • Keyboard Skins • Garageband
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