On Fri, 3 Mar 2006 08:34:26 -0800, "Gordon"
wrote:
With all the talk about laptops, does this mean more sailors are going to
laptops? If so, what software are you considering or using and how do you
like it?

Based on my experience and that of other people I know, the biggest
use is for electronic charting/course plotting. I've been using a
product called Maptech Offshore Navigator (OSN) for many years. It
has gotten progressively better with every new release, to the point
where I would recommend it to just about anyone. The latest version
does real time tide and current calculation which is a very convenient
thing to have. I use the same software off the boat for trip planning
and storing the electronic logs of our past cruises, another nice
thing to have.

Another popular use onboard is as an adjunct to SSB radio
comunications for weather fax reception, NAVTEX weather reports, and
EMAIL via HF radio (Winlink, Sailmail, etc.).

Last but not least, I use a laptop for connecting to the internet
when in harbors with WiFi or cellphone connectivity.

An up and coming new application that I have not yey implemented is
AIS ship plotting. This requires some additional hardware and
software to receive, decode and plot the data transmitted by AIS
transponders on ships and larger boats.