Hi everybody,
I started lurking here a month ago, initiated through a
Google search that directed me towards some very helpful posts in this forum. I am from southern
Germany, but some themes and problems seem to be pretty independent of geography, for example finding the best electronic
charts and
software .
After some experimentation with
software from Stentec (a
Netherlands based company) on Windows and Windows Mobile, I have now settled for
OpenCPN on Windows, because that allows me to use the widest variety of free and
commercial charts. Currently I use
- Free Inland-ENCs for German rivers
- Self-scanned and calibrated paper charts for some of the northern Italian lakes
My
boating history starts years back with an ancient
inflatable and a 4HP
outboard. I then upgraded to 20 HP and 25HP outboards, still on the same
boat. All these motors were really old two-stroke models, which I learned to
repair myself. Last fall, I bought a used 17ft Daycruiser equipped with a 75HP
Evinrude E-TEC
outboard. Really modern stuff in comparison
. I have been cruising the coasts of
Corsica and Sardinia in the
Mediterranean, Lake of Como in nothern
Italy, and the river of Main in southern
Germany. I am planning for Lake Garda later this year, to end the season.
Besides cruising, I also enjoy windsurfing,
photography, shooting videos, and all sorts of electronic gadgets (including
navigation gear for road and
water, my "newest" being a Fujitsu-Siemens Lifebook P1610 tablet notebook computer with a 9-inch transflective display).
My first real post (besides this one, which, forgive me, is my second) can be found
here. It is an improved version of the map2kap chart conversion utility, which I find handy to convert
Google satellite imagery for use with
OpenCPN.
Best wishes and smooth sailing and cruising
Horst