Active Captain partners with Garmin

Bruce Moore

Bruce Moore

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Joined
Nov 22, 2008
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2,248
Fluid Motion Model
C-24 C
Hull Identification Number
USFMLT4104I
Non-Fluid Motion Model
SSBN 658 Mariano G. Vallejo
Vessel Name
Soundtrack
MMSI Number
368096220
Garmin and Active Captain have announced a new BlueChart Mobile marine app for iPad and iPhone which will let users access and fully utilize ActiveCaptain's web-based community that provides real-time content generated by mariners for mariners.

Garmin's new app and partnership is being formally announced at the Miami International Boat Show (Feb. 16-20, 2012) and will be shown in Garmin's booth (#1689). Jeff Siegel of ActiveCaptain will be there Friday (afternoon) and Saturday (morning) to demonstrate with live data.

The app will be free (additional chart downloads will vary in price by region) and is expected to be available this summer. Lots more information is available in their press releases.

Garmin press release
ActiveCaptain press release

What a great partnership, combining some our favorite assets - iPhone/iPad & Garmin & ActiveCaptain.

Can't wait!

Bruce & Vicki
 
I'll second that! Navmatics, my existing iPad app, has worked well and incorporates Active Captain content, but the additional use of weather and the ability to pre plan a trip and download to the chartplotter are real pluses. Thanks for sharing.
 
All I can add is...it's really cool.

I'm a tester for the US and Canada data in addition to my obvious ActiveCaptain role. It looks like the US region (it's one region and pricing looks to be the same as Navionics - all subject to Garmin's decision) includes the Bahamas and the Bahamas data is the Explorer charts. I'm shocked at how good the Bahamas data is.
 
Now I need to know how to hook my router up to my Garmin 5212, so it will talk to my IPad. Anybody have the information on this or where to get it??
 
ActiveCaptain":ryr0mf5g said:
All I can add is...it's really cool.

I'm a tester for the US and Canada data in addition to my obvious ActiveCaptain role. It looks like the US region (it's one region and pricing looks to be the same as Navionics - all subject to Garmin's decision) includes the Bahamas and the Bahamas data is the Explorer charts. I'm shocked at how good the Bahamas data is.
Click to expand...

Nice job, Jeffrey. I hope your continuing efforts to integrate ActiveCaptain will help propel the take-up rate of boaters in the Pacific Northwest. It will be great when we have more crowd-sourced information about our cruising grounds, and when more marinas and marine service providers join the ActiveCaptain community.

Stop by and meet the Ranger crew, Jeff Messmer, Andrew Custiss, and Dave & John Livingston, while you're at the Miami show. You know, we're anticipating 75+ boats at our 4th annual rendezvous in Bremerton next September. And, at the end of July we'll have a flotilla of around 40 Ranger Tugs and Cutwaters cruising to Desolation Sound. We're almost all Garmin boats.

Thanks to you and Karen for your great work, and give Dyna and Dylan a scratch behind the ears.

Cheers,

Bruce
 
Pardon my ignorance, mes amis, but what is Active Captain?
 
johnniethek":1mu4u62i said:
Pardon my ignorance, mes amis, but what is Active Captain?
Click to expand...
ActiveCaptain, at its core, is a set of online charts full of information about marine facilities, routes, hazards, and more. Much of the information is crowd-sourced, which means it is provided by boaters with local knowledge.

This alone makes it a good resource. More importantly, the developers - Jeffrey and Karen Siegel - have managed key licensing deals, most recently with Garmin, which embeds this information into other navigational tools. Many Tugnuts already use an iPhone/iPad (and Android) app called Charts & Tides (by Navimatics) which includes the ActiveCaptain information. This makes Chart & Tides no only an excellent back-up chart plotter, but a location-aware cruising guide as well.

Their information is also available within the new version of Coastal Explorer (Rose Point) and they have stand-alone apps for Palm and Windows mobile devices. More detailed information is on the web site.

Karen and Jeffrey are very active cruisers who share their boat with two golden labs, and write regularly about their experiences. Check out their blog, Taking Paws.

I'd encourage you to join ActiveCaptain (it's free, you get points for premiums, discounts, etc.) and start adding to wealth of information gathered by local boaters. They have far more members on the East Coast, and it would be nice to seem some growth here in the Salish Sea.

Cheers,

Bruce
 
Does anybody know what the new app is called? I'm having trouble finding it in the app store (maybe they haven't released it yet...)

Thanks!

Jon
 
Jlee1017":2rsyekkm said:
Does anybody know what the new app is called? I'm having trouble finding it in the app store (maybe they haven't released it yet...)

Thanks!

Jon
Click to expand...

Hi Jon - won't be released until "this summer". No date yet, but more could be announced when they introduce it at the Miami Boat Show this weekend. Looks like they're calling it Blue Chip Mobile.

Cheers,

Bruce
 
Thanks Bruce. I'll be on the lookout for it
 
Bruce - great description, thanks. The dogs are always thankful when mentioned.

Connection a 5212 to a router: it's simple. The proprietary "Garmin network" cable is normal Ethernet. Plug that into a $25 Linksys router and your Garmin data is now wireless. I use a cheap Netgear that runs on 10-15v DC. It's one of the behind-the-scenes part of their announcement. They're going to use that "proprrietary" data and connections in a more open way to other devices. There's a bigger story there.

For the Pacific NW- we have had a pretty good influx of anchorage data throughout the area. If you haven't seen it in a few months, it's worth checking out. We can't seem to get the attention of marinas there though. Except for one group of about 20 marinas, they are bad at updating their fuel prices and keeping other data current. I wish I understood why.
 
ActiveCaptain":1pu6aj1i said:
Bruce - great description, thanks. The dogs are always thankful when mentioned.

Connection a 5212 to a router: it's simple. The proprietary "Garmin network" cable is normal Ethernet. Plug that into a $25 Linksys router and your Garmin data is now wireless. I use a cheap Netgear that runs on 10-15v DC. It's one of the behind-the-scenes part of their announcement. They're going to use that "proprrietary" data and connections in a more open way to other devices. There's a bigger story there.

For the Pacific NW- we have had a pretty good influx of anchorage data throughout the area. If you haven't seen it in a few months, it's worth checking out. We can't seem to get the attention of marinas there though. Except for one group of about 20 marinas, they are bad at updating their fuel prices and keeping other data current. I wish I understood why.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jeffery, We have a router with a Verizon air card on board. We have 4 slots available as we use wireless to our laptops. We will try it out next week.
 
Bruce,

Thanks. I already have Navionics on my iPhone. So you recommend getting Active Captain in addition to it?

Thanks,

JtheK
 
For the Pacific NW- we have had a pretty good influx of anchorage data throughout the area. If you haven't seen it in a few months, it's worth checking out. We can't seem to get the attention of marinas there though. Except for one group of about 20 marinas, they are bad at updating their fuel prices and keeping other data current. I wish I understood why. ActiveCaptain
Click to expand...

We keep working on our home port, Elliott Bay Marina, and they are showing interest. For the last two years they've participated in Passport to Puget Sound, 20 marinas in 2011. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like there will be a passport program in 2012, for lack of a sponsor. But, at least these marinas attempted to co-market in the recent past. We'll keep working on EBM, and encourage other Tugnuts to make their marinas aware of the benefits of ActiveCaptain.

Thanks for the router tip. You've alluded to much of this in your posts about the new electronics system you're specifying for your boat. Clearly, using wifi to share the data on many devices is a key.

Cheers
 
There are two iPhone/iPad apps similarly named -

Navionics - offers charts that look exactly the same as those on our RayMarine plotters.
Navimatics - offers charts - and include Active Captain links

I don't think you can view Active captain using the Navionics app

Mac
 
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