When cruising on Questeria, we like to have a route on our chartplotter. This makes for a less stressful day. When cruising for several days, we plan the routes ahead of time and organize them using Google Sheets. We use a number of tools in the process, some of which I created myself. Below is a snapshot of a spreadsheet with our routes. 

This spreadsheet contains seven routes, each on its own sheet. Each sheet contains waypoints, latitudes, longitudes, distances, bearings, durations and times. I will explain how I did this in this series of posts.

The previous articles were about:

• A cruise planning overview
• OpenCPN
• HomePort

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This post is about ActiveCaptain. The next post will discuss GPX Tools. Then, I’ll walk through an example using a route that I created as part of a trip from Florida Keys to Moore Haven, FL. and explain how I put the routes together in a spreadsheet and load them on our Garmin 4208 chartplotter and other devices.

ActiveCaptain

ActiveCaptain is essentially an online cruising guide written by cruisers. It was acquired by Garmin in May 2017 and has undergone a lot of changes. Change takes some time getting used to, and I’m still getting used to all of these.

ActiveCaptain Background

We’ve had a long history using ActiveCaptain. We discovered it in about 2010. It was only a website. We used it to share routes with fellow cruisers—the crowd-sourced database was just getting started.

The developers of ActiveCaptain were boaters themselves and did a great job of promoting ActiveCaptain to the boating community. They wrote a weekly email with tips, advice, product reviews and more. It even included a discount for Defender. The crowd-sourced database continued to grow.

They contributed to the boating community in other ways. They developed a free anchor alarm app called Drag Queen and a social networking website called eBoatCards and an app to go with it called Locations. They created a Facebook group, now with over 13,000 members. The crowd-sourced database kept getting better.

The website used Flash, so it didn’t work on mobile devices. We could save and share routes using the website, and we could look at, or update local knowledge, marinas, anchorages and hazards. But we had to have an internet connection. Then, they created a companion app for android, iOS and Windows.

ActiveCaptain Companion

The ActiveCaptain Companion app was designed to be used while underway—it worked without internet access. It used your location to warn you of nearby hazards and show information about local knowledge, anchorages and marinas. The charts included with the app were not very detailed, and couldn’t be used for navigation. You needed to be connected to the internet to initially download the charts and database. Then you could run without internet, until you needed to download updates.

Other Apps and Devices

Shortly after the ActiveCaptain Companion app was developed, the ActiveCaptain database was made available to developers. App developers started integrating it into their navigation apps and chartplotter makers started integrating it into their devices.

One of the companies that jumped on the ActiveCaptain bandwagon was Garmin. They integrated it into their BlueChart app on iOS and their HomePort app for Windows and Mac. After that, we still occasionally used ActiveCaptain Companion while travelling, but more often we used the Garmin BlueChart app on our iPad or iPhones. We used ActiveCaptain on HomePort for planning. We also used MxMariner on our Android tablet to access ActiveCaptain. We didn’t use the website much after that.

Garmin also integrated ActiveCaptain into some of their chartplotters. We didn’t use it on our Garmin 4208 chartplotter. It is supposed to work, if we purchase a Wi-Fi adapter, but we don’t want to put money into a discontinued product. Our next Garmin chartplotter will have ActiveCaptain though.

Acquisition by Garmin

Garmin acquired ActiveCaptain in May of 2017. The website is completely redone. The ActiveCaptain Companion app is gone, but in its place is completely new app for iOS and Android.

The eBoatCards website is gone and the original apps are no longer supported, even though some are still available in the app stores.

Another change is that Garmin’s HomePort product no longer supports ActiveCaptain. I don’t really understand why they did this, but it means that on Windows, our only choice is the website.

The New ActiveCaptain Website

The ActiveCaptain website is completely redesigned. The Markers for Anchorages, Marinas, Hazards, Local Knowledge, etc. are still there, but everything around them is completely new. It no longer uses Flash, so it works on mobile devices. It also has new charts, which are much better than the old ones.

Using the ActiveCaptain Website

The new ActiveCaptain website is activecaptain.garmin.com. If you try to go to the old one, activecaptain.com, you will be redirected to the new one. To start using ActiveCaptain, open your browser and go to activecaptain.garmin.com.

You need to create a free account. If you created an account before May 2017, you have to create one again. To create an account, or sign-in to an existing account, click on the “Head” icon in the upper-right corner, and then click Sign In. You will get a prompt to enter your Email and Password, or a link to create a new account.

Once signed-in, you will be at the Home page. The Home page has information about ActiveCaptain. There is a menu icon (3-bars) in the upper-left, where you can choose Home, Map and Language, and the “Head” icon, in the upper-right, where you can set your Profile or Sign Out. Click on Profile to set your ActiveCaptain Name and preferences.

Click on “Map” to use ActiveCaptain. You will see a chart with a “>” icon on the left and three icons on the right. Click the top one to select chart type, the middle to go to your current location and the bottom one to measure distances on the chart. Click the “>” to open the menu, where you can search, set filters, set sorting preference, add a Marker and show a list of Markers in the current view. Click the “<” to close the menu.

You can view Sonar, Nautical, NOAA, Road or Satellite charts. You can pan the chart by pressing your mouse button and dragging it, or you can use a finger if you have a touch screen. To zoom you can use a scroll wheel, press plus (+) and minus (-) keys or click plus (+) or minus (-) icons. If you have a touchscreen, you can pinch and spread.

The chart has Markers for marinas, anchorages, hazards, etc. If you hover the mouse over an item, the name will be displayed. Click on it to open it.

You can search for a Marker by name. Click the “>” to open the menu, and type the name into the search field.

You can measure distances. Click the dividers icon, and you will get a line connected by two draggable points. Drag the points to measure distance.

The website does not allow you to create any user data (routes and waypoints). You have to use the app for that.

ActiveCaptain App

There is an ActiveCaptain app for iTunes and Google Play. I have installed it on two different devices. The app is similar to the Garmin BlueChart app which, by the way, has been discontinued.

The app is much more powerful than the website. It has much of the same capability as Garmin HomePort on Windows or Mac, with the addition of the ActiveCaptain database. You can create routes and waypoints (user data), import, export and send them to your chartplotter over Wi-Fi.

Installing the ActiveCaptain App

Download the ActiveCaptain App on your Apple or Android device by going to the appropriate app store. A built-in GPS is not required, but if you have one, you’ll have more capability. You have to download Charts and ActiveCaptain Community before you can use it.

Downloading Charts

The charts included with ActiveCaptain are pretty good, but you can purchase better ones if you want to see depths. One challenge for a cruise planning app on a mobile device is the limited amount of storage for charts. ActiveCaptain addresses this by using tiles. You download only the tiles you plan to use.

To load or unload tiles, select Charts, at the bottom of the display, press the 3-bar icon, in the upper-right, and click Download Charts. Here, you can purchase better charts, or select the default charts. Select the chart icon, in the upper-right, to load or unload tiles. Then, pan to the area you are interested in, and tap on tiles to load or unload.

If you purchased charts for Garmin BlueCharts from the Apple store, they will work with the ActiveCaptain app on your Apple device.

Downloading ActiveCaptain Community

Don’t wait until the last minute to download the ActiveCaptain Community. When I first did it, it took me several days. From the Chart screen, press the 3-bar icon, and select Download ActiveCaptain Community. Next, activate Auto Download Updates and press Update Now. When I did this the first time, I got error messages saying the download failed, but several days later it was there. Once the database is loaded, you can un-select Auto Download Updates if you want.

Using the ActiveCaptain App

I don’t have much experience with the ActiveCaptain app, but here are some things that may be helpful. I installed it on my iPhone 7S and my Nexus 10 Android tablet—the tablet screen size is easier to use. I am used to doing my route planning on Windows, but I think, with a little practice, I could get proficient using it on a 10-inch tablet.

The app has three icons across the bottom of the display; Boat Apps, Charts, and Settings. The Boat Apps screen is where you send user data to your chartplotter. The Settings screen is where you set preferences and look for help and support information. The Chart screen is where you make the most of ActiveCaptain.

The Chart screen shows GPS Speed and GPS Heading in the upper-left-hand corner and has icons along the right side of the screen. The top icon, 3-bars, lets you download, set chart options, search and work with user data (routes and waypoints). The next icon lets you choose which chart to view. Then, there is the Plus (+) and Minus (-) icons for zooming. You can also zoom in and out by pinching and spreading the screen. Next, is the “Show Location” icon. pressing this icon will pan to the vessel’s current location, either by GPS or by “Place”. I will discuss “Place” later. The bottom icon looks like an “X” made with a pencil and ruler. It expands into tools for measuring distance, creating a route and creating a waypoint. The measure distance tool functions the same as on the website.

Other tools are activated by what I call the “Donut” menu.

The “Donut” Menu

I call it the “Donut” menu because it looks like a donut that is cut into sections. Each section activates one or more tools. Press anywhere on the chart and you get a “Donut” menu. The top section, or sections of the donut depend on where you press. It lets you open a marker, route, waypoint, or other item. The lower sections let you create a route or waypoint. The bottom section, 3-dots, opens other tools, like show tides, show currents, show notes, Place and more.

Location Services

If your mobile device has a GPS you can use the app for navigation. You must enable Location Services for ActiveCaptain in your device settings. If your device doesn’t have a GPS, you can Place your vessel using the 3-dots of the “Donut” menu. The app will act as if your vessel is at this location until you Return, or Place again. If you Place on a device with a GPS ActiveCaptain will ignore the GPS until you Return. To Return, press on the vessel icon to get a “Donut” menu, select 3-dots, and Return.

Creating Waypoints

To create a waypoint in the ActiveCaptain app, pan to the location and use the “Donut” menu” to create a Waypoint. The Waypoint will have a default name and symbol. To open the Waypoint, press on the top “Donut” section, or the 3-bar icon, User Data, and Waypoints. There, you can rename, choose a symbol, move, delete, add information, etc. for the Waypoint.

Creating Routes

You can create routes on the ActiveCaptain app. Pan to the starting point of the route and press to open the “Donut” menu. Press the route icon to create the first waypoint. Continue pressing on the chart to create additional waypoints for the route. Press Done to end the route. The route and its waypoints will have default names. Press on the route, and select the route in the “Donut” menu, or press the 3-bars icon, User Data, and Routes to open the route. There you can rename it, edit it, delete it, etc.

Importing GPX Files to ActiveCaptain App

You can add routes and waypoints created on other devices, or by other programs, such as HomePort, or OpenCPN to the ActiveCaptain app. You need a way to copy your GPX file to your mobile device. I use Google Drive, but there are others, such as DropBox, that will work just as well. Sometimes you can open the files directly from the Google Drive app on your device, but if that doesn’t work, you might need to copy the file to local storage.

Once you have the GPX file on your mobile device, select it and, when prompted, open it with ActiveCaptain. The routes and/or waypoints should now appear in User Data.

Exporting GPX Files from ActiveCaptain App

You can export your routes and waypoints as GPX files. Press on the 3-bar menu icon in the upper-right of the chart display, choose User Data and press the 3-dots menu icon in the upper-right corner. Select Export to GPX File and choose your method. I use Mail, and send an email to myself. I get a GPX file with all routes and waypoints. You can import the file into HomePort, OpenCPN, or ActiveCaptain on another device to work with the routes and waypoints in the GPX file.

Summary

We have been spending a lot of our time on the RV, and this was the first multi-day cruise we planned since Dry Tortugas. We were aware of some of the changes to ActiveCaptain, but hadn’t looked at it for a while. I was overwhelmed at first, but quickly came to realize how much better it is.

The website works on any desktop or mobile browser. The ability to switch between Sonar, Nautical, NOAA, Street and Satellite charts is a great feature. The app is all-new, packed with features, and very powerful. Garmin has put a lot of effort into a free website and app for the boating community, but the real value is still the ActiveCaptain Community, and that continues to get better.

Next

In the next article of this series, I’ll talk about two GPX tools; Clean Route, and Convert GPX to CSV. The final article in this series will be an example that puts it all together.