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Many thanks to all readers who took the time to answer last week’s survey on using satellite images for navigation. Of those who replied, 44% do use some form of sat images. Asked to comment, here are several useful replies:
We use Open CPN in addition to Navionics and paper charts. We primarily use Google Earth images (or other satellite images) to look for coral Bommies in the Pacific at the moment.
use mbTiles program to adapt the GE images. I’ve found there’s no better way right now to navigate the atolls, bommies and reef passages while sailing through French Polynesia, Fiji and the South Pacific these last few years. I’ve come to rely almost exclusively on GE images overlayed on a viewer software.
don’t adapt images. I use them to get a better idea of the land behind the coast. Most photographs seem to have been taken at high tide, so they don’t show rocks and are not so useful.
I use Zulu Waterway that has Google Earth built in,
Use them to see details not always visible on a chart such as rocks and kelp. Can also give clues to the type of bottom for anchoring.