Downloading GRIBs to an iPad over Iridium

It took me a few goes to get this to work so it might be useful to give some tips on what to do, which are:

1. First get the iPad configured to talk to the AxcessPoint. Switch it on and then in the iPad settings under wifi select it. To use it with web there are also some http proxy settings - look under the iPad App help as to the server and port to use.

2. Connect the AxcessPoint to the Iridium phone and switch it on and wait for it to say registered

3. On the iPad open up iNaxX and centre the chart on the location you want GRID data for

4. Select the "Forecast" tab and then go into settings.

5. It is very important to grab as small a file as possible. Go for (say) 3 days with resolution 12 hours / 2 degrees over an area 20 x 20 deg

6. Select get data by AxcesPt then save

7. Select "Request GRIB": it will appear to dump you into the AxcessPoint App without doing anything but actually it has created an email for you.

8. When you're ready select send/receive email and it will send off the request

9. Wait a couple of minutes

10. Then do another send/receive email and you should get an email with the data as an attachment. If you select it then you should be able to open it in iNavX

Eh voila!

Software review: iNavX for iPad

For the sail we're planning this summer we're planning on using a range of navigation tools, including paper and chart plotter, but also iNavX for the iPad.

The reason for not using a laptop was two fold: firstly we didn't have one available and secondly the iPad is actually easier to make waterproof (touching wood at this point). Combined with the iNavX software it seemed to give a pretty flexible tool.

So far, checking it out on land, I've been impressed. Its not like Navionics just a chart display program as allows you to define waypoints and routes plus download GRIBs of weather information including wind strength and direction and wave heights.

To get the GRIBs while offshore a satellite phone is needed and in this case we used an Iridium phone. The standard USB cable doesn't work so instead we used the Iridium Axcess point which turns the phone into a very slow wifi hotspot.

Again a bit of practice was required but it seems to do the job.

To download charts for Europe you need an X-traverse account, but then its pretty straight forward. You have to buy online and then download within the application and then they get backed up to you computer which is a bit backwards but I'm blaming Apple's 30% AppStore cut for that.

My only grievance is that you have to buy them twice if you want it to be both on your iPhone and iPad which is a bit cheeky if you ask me.

Anyhow looks like being a good option for offshore sailing and will report back after return.

Putney river bus runs aground

Uh oh!

This is the Putney river bus hard aground earlier this week. It was stuck on a mud bank for 20 minutes or so, blocking half of the river, prop churning white foam, turning grey waters brown.

If this were to happen during the Queen's Diamond Jubilee 1,000 boat parade it would be bad.

The Thames Barrier is meant to be raised during the pageant to ensure sufficient water but will it be enough?

At low water the Thames isn't that deep - see here and here for more information.

A label promising much....

Preparing for the Queen's Jubilee Regatta

On the 3rd of June 2012 a great armada will parade along the Thames.

It will be the culmination of a series of events to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and preparations are already well under way.

Organising a flotilla of maybe a thousand boats will of course be a mammoth task. The Port of London Authority's web site has a number of notices to mariners that point to some of the key tasks.

For example if you look at notice U4 of 2012 you see a chart (above) of the areas where moorings, and lots of them, will have to be laid in the upper river by Barn Elms. More will be laid along the route, for example in Battersea, and others by London Bridge, Tower Bridge and Wapping (see M5 of 2012). These will be used before and afterwards to martial the great fleet.

Today it was announced that the Thames Barrier would be raised on the 3rd June, presumably keeping water levels high.

In case you're thinking of going for a paddle or sail that day you best check out notice to mariners No. 9 of 2012 which basically says if you're not on the list you should keep off the river.

If you want more the pageant briefing can be found here.

As to me? It looks like I'll miss it as I have a family event that weekend, but fear not: Buff will on hand to give his minute by minute, boat by boat description.

I can't wait!

Chartlet from: Port of London Authority

Pageant route from:  Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant

Updated: See latest post here.

Cathy and Heathcliff - lost on the moors!

EXT: the moors where Wuthering Heights was filmed. Visibility is poor but improving: out of the mists come HEATHCLIFF and CATHERINE.

CATHERINE

Oh Heathcliff my love I fear that we have made a grievous error and are now lost upon these desolate moors! We shall die forsaken: what a terrible fate! But be comforted by the fact that we will be together, forever!

HEATHCLIFF

Alas it is worse than that - I will miss the footie!

CATHERINE

But what is this? A tree? Will it be a better signpost than those false rocks?

HEATHCLIFF

We must hurry though, the kick-off is mere minutes away.

So what can our heroes learn from this tree? Can you help them reach safety in time for Heathcliff to see the kick-off?

Wuthering Heights - Naturally

EXT: Moors where they shot Wuthering Heights. Moody sky with dark clouds driven by a fierce wind.

CATHERINE

Heathcliff!

HEATHCLIFF

Cathy!

They run towards each other and embrace.

CATHERINE

Oh my beloved Heathcliff, what raptures it is to be in your strong arms, to feel protected against the harsh world alone with the wind and clouds for company, my love growing stronger, wrapping around your soul to gain the nourishment that mere food can not compare.....

Fade out, then fade into:

CATHERINE

...and so my beloved Heathcliff my love is as strong as those rocks whose countenance is so like your manly face engraved as it is into my heart, by spirits climb as a lark blown across the stormy sky....

Fade out (seems like we were a bit hasty). Lets try again and fade into:

CATHERINE

...my love, my only one, for whom I live, for whom my soul breaths, and without whom life itself meant nothing, to be with you is to be complete!!

Beat

HEATHCLIFF

And I think you're right fit, lass

Beat

CATHERINE

Oh alas, woe is upon us, for as we have been engrossed in our love a mist has descended, cutting us off, as even an island with two occupants upon a sea of heather! How are we to find our way home to Wuthering Heights?

HEATHCLIFF

But what is this? A path, bound by dry stone walls on either side! And 'tis good stone work that, nicely laid.

CATHERINE

Aye, maybe these two walls can aid us in our hour of need! Tell us your secrets, oh ancient stones: which way be west?

So readers, can you help our young lovers? Which of the two walls should be on their left and which on the right if they are to make their way west to Wuthering Heights?

Where's the Volvo going?

I'm having a problem understanding the point of Leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race. Ok, maybe it means something to those actually sailing it but to us watching we have no idea what is going on.

In theory its from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi but because of pirates its actually sailing to [CENSORED] at which point the boats will be put on a ship and ferried through the danger zone before being dropped off at [CENSORED] for a final sprint.

But as we haven't been told which "safe haven port" is the destination we have no idea who is in the lead or what routing tactics should be used. To further hide from us what is going on, we don't have distance to finish, though we do have some basic (lat, longs) and DTLs.

Ah-ha captain, this be solvable, this be. Yeh be a problem with two unknowns and five pieces of eight information, it be!

So I did wonder if the destination location it could be reverse engineered from parameters available and had a quick hack with C++:

According to this rather rough and ready code the destination is (-20.104, 57.531) which looks like Mauritius.

But if the organisers are so worried about security then surely they'd have thought of this reverse engineering trick and put in some randomisation to throw the calculations off the sense. Therefore the DTLs are either a security risk or meaningless.

So instead of a sailing competition this has turned into a game of bluff and code-cracking, not what the Volvo should be about.

More James Bond than Peter Blake, alas.


Updated: working from the (lat, longs) and DTLs tonight (Sunday 18th) we have a new destination, namely the Maldives as per this Google Earth map:

Google Earth and Pilot Books

Its been a bit nippy recently, though some have braved the elements and gone out for a sail.

As keen readers might have noticed amongst the distractions involving rat matadors and lego Christmas Tree was a brief mention that JP might possibly be venturing out for an unseasonal excursion - for a good reason of course.

The where's and when's will remain TOP SECRET until planning is a bit further advanced but as to who is involved in this scheme if I say there's a Bond connection that might possibly be a clue.

In the mean time I'm having a lot of fun considering possible routes and even destinations, mucking about with Google Earth (above - note the Fastnet Race route is purely there as a red herring) and even buying pilot books.

Its a great way to pass an evening indoors when its dark outside.

The Mousehole

One of the walks on the All roads... TV show ended up at the little port of Mousehole (above). This is an incredibly picturesque little village around a nearly semi-circular harbour and I stayed there just recently for the wedding of one of the crew members of Aeolus, the classic yacht I sailed in Fowey earlier this year.

I won't try to explain how to pronounce its name as every time I tried I was told I got it wrong - but will go as far as to say it is not a combination of the words "mouse" and "hole".

One of its claims to fame was it was destroyed by the Spanish in the years after the Armada, which coincidentally I am reading about at the moment. But if it is a more recent construction (by which I mean post 1595!) it is still very pretty:

For those rowers out there, yes it has a rowing club too:

Well worth a visit if you find yourself at the far end of Cornwall.

All roads

Last night there was a program on the BBC called All Roads Lead Home in which three presenters used techniques of natural navigation to make their way around Cornwall.

The natural navigation bits were good.

There was a description of how to use trees as direction finders given their shape is often influenced by prevailing winds (SW in the UK), as in the pic above which was described as the Trump hairstyle.

Another influence on trees was the N/S variation in growth, the so-called tick effect as in the following graphic:

A high spot was the dung compass, in which the sun will dry the N/S sides at different rates as in the following helpful graphic:

There was more about lichens (complicated) and using the orientation of churches (simpler) but rather a lot of the three presenters just chatting. It felt a bit like 3 men doing something boaty without the boats, and while there was Sue Perkins, she didn't once mention soggy bottoms or tarts, let alone say "on your marks, get set, bake".

To be honest I'd recommend anyone interested in learning about natural navigation that the best way would be to buy and read the book.

If you want an update on unnatural natural navigation there's a list of top tips at the BBC. Number 1 tip, about satellite dishes, is a favourite of mine, though I say they are SSE rather than SE, but there you go.

Watch this

The last couple of weeks have been manic and so instead of blogging have been mostly working. This evening things slacked off enough to give me time to watch the final of the TV institution that is the Great British Bake Off (GBBO).

But it has just finished, with Jo crowned queen baker (and well done her) so I was just wondering what I should watch next when up came this trailer for a program that included one of the presenters of the GBBO, namely Sue Perkins, and a certain face that seemed rather familiar (above).

Yup, the Natural Navigator is back with a TV show on prime-time BBC called "All roads lead home" and I for one shall be watching.

The Street, Whitstable

Yesterday I went for a walk along the sea wall at Whitstable. We usually go west but this time tried east, turning round when we reached what is called "The Street" (see iPhone photo above).

It is a nearly straight line of shingle heading almost directly out to sea, as can be seen in this Google Earth picture:

It is such a regular structure that there are some that say it's man-made, maybe created to help harvest the oyster beds as has been done since Roman times.

But according to Wikipedia it is entirely natural shingle built upon underlying clay. Some more pics here at geography.org.uk.

As you might expect such a clear navigational hazard is most definitely on the charts:

The Black Rabbit and the return of the Chelsea Bun

Chris from Rowing for Pleasure has posted a picture a bit like the one above and I can guess why, as I stopped there too when walking with the Natural Navigator.

You might not be too surprised to discover that the explanation involves a pub, namely The Black Rabbit that occupies this picturesque corner of the Arun river. It's a great location but I've heard a few bad stories of slow service and poor value for money.

Continuing the gastro theme, there is good news for any ex-Cambridge sailors out there (yes Tillerman I mean you) in that the famous Fitzbillies Chelsea Bun might be making a return.

Fingers crossed that next trip up there I'll be able to enjoy that sticky, gooey delicacy.

Natural Navigation Picture Puzzle

If you haven't already spotted it, Tristan has recently posted a good natural navigation picture puzzle for you to test your NN skills - full background to this picture to be found here.

Holy Crepe!

So did you celebrate pancake day yesterday? As you can see above I most certainly did, and fab they were too.

A couple of equally quickly consumable stories:
- Nautical chart with "Giro bay" gets the thumbs down
- Sea levels rising even faster than previously thought - think 475 gigatonnes per year
- Four men on a raft blown backwards with update here

The Buff Competition Service

G'day all! Buff Staysail here, Buff by name and Buff by nature!

Well I see that over on Proper Course Tillerman has announced the winner of the navigation competition. Well I must admit to being a spot disappointed - not 'cos missed out on winning as I've borrowed ol' JP's copy (JP: bring it back!!) - but because Mr T. didn't use the services of Buff Enterprises to run the competition and award ceremony.

Yes, here at Buff Enterprises we can offer a full range of services whatever your budget!!

1. Coach Level ($)

This is your basic package: you get a blog (natch!), twitter feed, facebook page, bots to flood the internet with comments, premium rate number voting lines, a lady with a home-made sign (her above) & guests arrive by inflatable dinghy.

2. Gold Level ($$$$)

This is where it gets interesting. In addition you get camera crew and YouTube uploaded video, lights that swivel up and down, theme tune that goes De-De-De-Dah as per Who's a Millionaire, dedicated hosted web site on own domain, clips of Simon Cowell saying rude things about the entries, runner's up play-off, generic winner trophy etc etc, guests arrive by launch.

3. Platinum ($$$$$$$$$$$$$$)

This is what it should be about, the works! You get full networked TV coverage, guest judge Simon Cowell (for real), presenters Charlie Sheen (includes free beeper, note: no-non-appearance insurance cover, drinks bill NOT included) and Anne Hathaway (multiple costume changes must be negotiated separately), red carpet, fireworks, after event party, guests arrive by helicopter, customised gold plated trophy etc etc

Extra services ($$$$ variable)

Just ask and we can arrange:
- Lady Gaga performance with bizarre but publicity raising costume
- Costume malfunction (note does not include FCC or other regulator fines)
- Charity auction of places on day sail on AC33 winner USA-17
- Buff Staysail as after dinner speaker (DJ / tux included!!)

Yes, let Buff Enterprises take over the competition and award ceremony and we can make "The Tillies" the competition event for 2011!!

This is Buff Staysail, your host for the evening, over and out!!

North heading West

Oh no! Another navigation post - surely its time to move on!

Well that's exactly what the North Magnetic Pole is doing. According to this article from the Independent it is heading towards Russia and speeding up as it does. It's now racing at about 60 km/year.

Hold on to your hat and do adjust your sets.

Rather appropriately currently watching right now in HD the latest Brian Cox TV series, the Wonders of the Universe, where have seen a brilliant description of entropy through use of a sand pile and castle (you'll just have to watch it) and hence explain why there is an arrow of time.

Of course there must be an arrow of time: how else could we - or rather he - say "Things can only get better"?

Book Review: The Barefoot Navigator

I bought this book at the Boat Show in January and rather topical it turned out to be. However given the flood of other navigation posts decided there'd be no harm in pushing its review into March (golly have two months gone already?)

This book's subtitle is Navigating with the skills of the ancients and as you might expect has a lot in common with Tristan's The Natural Navigator. Indeed Tristan includes it in his bibliography and references it a couple of times.

So there are similar chapters on navigational skills of the Polynesians, able to sense the presence of islands by changes in the swell, and celestial navigational techniques using the sun and stars - all good stuff.

But there are also differences. The Barefoot Navigator is firmly focussed on finding your way on the great oceans while the Natural Navigator is more holistic, covering land as well, such as showing how trees often can be used to find south (in northern temperate latitudes).

A more intriguing differences is where each considers an acceptable level of technology. Where Tristan is a purist, Jack Lagan, author of the other book, allows some of the early navigational tools, including a compass and rather controversially a quartz watch.

For there is a very specific application that the book aims to address: what do you do when things go horribly horribly wrong at sea. The author clearly has a wealth of experience in sailing in waters from the Atlantic to the Pacific and high on his list of priorities is what do you include in a grab bag.

Yes of course you should include GPS but if you are forced into the life raft you might well not have it or at least only as long as the batteries last. But with a compass, a watch and a bit of understanding you will still be able to a degree answer the key questions of where am I and where is it I want to go.

I am not going to say which book is better because of course you should have both on your bookshelves.

There is one final point to consider. At the back of the book are instructions on how to make a sun-shadow board together with sun declination and equations of time tables, with a comment that more can be downloaded from his web site at www.jack-lagan.com.

But the site is no longer to be found, sadly replaced by one of those standard "sponsored listings."

Technology is great.... but it is not infallible.

This is not a navigation post

I was going to post a review of a book tonight, but will have to delay it until tomorrow, as it is a book about navigation.

Unfortunately it seems that reading endless (ok about 42) navigation posts has already caused Tillerman to retreat leaving a paranoid android call Marvin Arvin to take over the Proper Course. It also caused O'Docker to complain of unfair practices in me apparently flooding the blogsphere with navigation posts in order to win a book I already own.

So I won't explain how you can navigate your way to Hawaii by lying on your back on the foredeck, head to the mast, so you could use it as a pointer to Arcturus, which should spin its way directly overhead: you will just have to simply admire the beauty that is the night's sky.

And I won't explain how the Egyptian King Necho II sent an expedition of Phoenicians to sail from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean the long way round, which found its way by simply keeping turning right, so you will have to watch Dylan's Keep Turning Left instead.

Instead I'll simply post a picture of the daffodils which are currently opening in the parks nearby.

And there can't be any navigational information in daffs coming out where JP lives on the 28th February - can there?