Ocean Charts

[gehenna]

Good Evening Folks

I would like advice from the experts out there, re a navigation matter.

I am going on a cruise in the Pacific next year, and would like to track our progress. I have a spare HTC 'phone (without sim card) that has GPS capability, and am hoping to be able to download charts of the Pacific before I leave the UK; the trip is from Hawaii down to Sydney.

Can anyone give me any ideas as to where I can download the required charts, and also once at sea and using GPS, will I be able to see where we are?

Hope this makes sense!

Thanks for your time and help.

Gehenna

[Tocsin]

If you're talking about download to laptop, then a visit to MemoryMap - https://www.memory-map.co.uk - may help. I don't think they sell Pacific charts, but the software can import suitably formatted digital maps.

If it's a commercial cruise, then there'll probably be a feed from the bridge.

[KelvinD]

One way to see where you are, providing you have internet, is via marinetraffic.com. Not only will it show you where you are, it will show what other shipping is around you.

[gehenna]

Thanks for your replies.

It will be a commercial cruise; having done this before, the feed from the bridge is poor, and Internet is real expensive. These are two of the reasons I am looking for an alternative.

[le Pingouin]

Google Maps? Download maps around the route you expect to take & use them offline. You'll need a fairly large amount of storage though. You could probably get away with only downloading detailed maps around the islands you'll be visiting on the way as large expanses of ocean have no detail to display.

Here's a novel thought - acquire a paper chart (or print something suitable) and simply plot your GPS derived coordinates. Or use a combination of both - paper chart for the deep blue bits and the downloaded maps near land.

[India Four Two]

You can get some of the charts you need here:

http://www.charts.noaa.gov/InteractiveCatalog/nrnc.shtml

Being US charts, they have the significant advantage of being free. :)