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Cruising

Planning Multi-Day Cruises—Example

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OpenCPN was updated after I posted this article. I have updated it with footnotes to address some of the changes in OpenCPN 5.0. Click here to see details of what’s new in OpenCPN 5.0

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.

Cruise Planning Overview

In Planning Multi-Day Cruises—Overview, I talk about how I plan extended cruises. I discuss plans vs. intentions, or being flexible. In this case, the cruise we planned never happened.

The post talks about how I create a route by starting with two or three waypoints on a small scale chart, and then, zoom in and iteratively refine it on larger scale charts.

I also give an overview of the tools we use. The next articles discuss each tool in more detail.

OpenCPN

In Planning Muli-Day Cruises—OpenCPN, I talk about OpenCPN. I discuss installing and setting-up OpenCPN and installing charts. I also talk about using OpenCPN to create waypoints and routes.

HomePort

In Planning Muli-Day Cruises—HomePort, I talk about Garmin HomePort. The post talks about installing and setting-up HomePort on a Windows PC. I also talk about using HomePort and transfering user data between HomePort and a Garmin chartplotter.

ActiveCaptain

In Planning Muli-Day Cruises—ActiveCaptain, I talk about Garmin ActiveCaptain. The post talks about the website and the mobile app. I talk about using ActiveCaptain to find anchorages, marinas and more. I talk about setting-up the mobile app on an iOS or Android device and importing and exporting user data to/from the app.

GPX Tools

In Planning Muli-Day Cruises—GPX Tools, I talk about GPX Tools. These are two utility programs that I wrote to make it easier to plan multi-day cruises.

Example Route

In this post, I put it all together. I walk through an example route that I created as part of a trip from FL Keys to Moore Haven, FL.

I talk about Plans vs. Intentions in Planning Multi-Day Cruises—Overview. This turned out to be the case here. We had a schedule—a memorial service in Chicago, and a wedding in Phoenix, Arizona. When we called the boatyard in Moore Haven, FL, they told us there was a waiting list. So we left Questeria in Marathon and took off in our RV.

I started this series of articles a while ago. For now, this is the last post on this topic. Maybe later we will take this trip, and I will follow-up with more posts. Here is my example.

Copying Data from Chartplotter

Before doing anything, I like to copy all the routes, tracks and waypoints from my chartplotter to my SD card. I use a 16GB Micro SD card with an SD adapter. It contains my map and user data, with plenty of room to spare. I turn on my chartplotter and plug in my SD card/adapter and I select the “Manage Card” prompt, and then “Save to Card” and “Overwrite this File: USERDATA”. I press “Yes”, and it prepares the card, transfers User Waypoints, Routes and Tracks. Then, I eject the SD card from the chartplotter, remove it from the adapter and plug it into my computer. Then I start HomePort—it finds the SD card. I can click on USERDATA and see all my waypoints, routes and tracks from my chartplotter.

Finding an Anchorage or Marina

Once we have a rough idea of the trip, we look at places where we might want to drop the anchor, or pull into a slip for the night. We use ActiveCaptain website to do this.

We want to spend a night at the anchorage called West Pass. After opening the ActiveCaptain website and signing-in, I search for West Pass, click on the anchorage, and it brings me here. I click Show Marker Info, if it’s not already visible. I copy the latitude and longitude to the clipboard, by highlighting them with my mouse, right-clicking and selecting Copy.

Creating a Waypoint

After copying the latitude and longitude of my anchorage, I go to OpenCPN. I create a waypoint by right-clicking in the approximate location on the chart and selecting Drop Mark. Then I double-click on my new waypoint to open the Waypoint Properties window. I enter the name, West Pass, and change the symbol to Symbol-Anchor1¹. Then I right-click in the Latitude field, and select Paste lat/lon. I now have a waypoint of the West Pass anchorage.

I do this again for the anchorage called San Carlos Bay NW.

Exporting a Waypoint from OpenCPN

When I create a waypoint on OpenCPN, I may want to have it on my Garmin chartplotter. I do this by exporting it to my PC, importing it into HomePort, and sending it to my userdata in my SD card.

To export a waypoint from OpenCPN, I open the Route & Mark Manager, by clicking the icon at the top of the screen. Next, I select the Waypoints tab and click on the waypoint to be exported. Then, I click on Export Selected… I get a File menu. If this is my first waypoint for this trip, I create a new folder, something like Route2019. I select a folder and file name. I usually use the suggested file name, like West Pass.gpx. I now have a GPX file on my PC.

Importing a Waypoint to HomePort

If this is the first waypoint from the trip in HomePort, I create a new List to hold my waypoints and routes. I right-click on the My Collection Folder and select New List. I name the new list Route2019.

To import the waypoint, I click on the list Route2019, and then click File and Import to ‘Route2019’... I get a File Explorer menu, select West Pass.gpx, and click Open. It imports my waypoint. The waypoint symbols in HomePort are different than in OpenCPN. I double-click the waypoint and change the symbol to an anchor and close the menu. I want the West Pass anchorage waypoint on my chartplotter, so I right-click on it and select Send To… I select the USERDATA ADM file, under my GPSMAP 4808 device, and click OK.

I click on my USERDATA ADM file and see the waypoint. It is stored on my SD card and will be stored on my chartplotter in a later step. Some things to note about waypoints on the chartplotter are:

  • Every waypoint, route and track must have a unique name. This also applies to waypoints that are inside of routes.
  • HomePort/chartplotter modifies a duplicate name by appending a digit to the end.
  • The chartplotter truncates names to ten characters, and ensures no duplicates by appending digits.
  • The chartplotter will force all names to uppercase.
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Creating a Route

For me, creating a route is an iterative process. I usually start with OpenCPN. I make sure that I have charts for my cruising area, and that they are up to date. First I create a simple route with a few waypoints. I click the Create Route button, and click my mouse to create waypoints. I usually start on a small scale, and create a starting point, ending point, and maybe a few in between points. It’s okay if my ending point is not on my screen, because I can append it later. If I already have routes or tracks for part of the way, I start with that.

First, I create a simple route with a few waypoints. I start my route at West Pass waypoint. I click near the West Pass waypoint and I get a message saying “Use nearby waypoint?”.  I click Yes. Next, I click near San Carlos Bay NW waypoint, and click Yes to “Use nearby waypoint?”. I end the route by right-clicking and selecting End Route. Obviously, the route needs more waypoints.

Next, I insert waypoints where my route is over land and move them over water. To insert a waypoint in OpenCPN, right-click on the route and select Insert Waypoint. I move the waypoint by clicking on it to highlight it, and dragging it with the mouse. To append a waypoint, I right-click on the route and select Append Waypoint. Subsequent clicks will append new waypoints to my route until I end it. To remove a waypoint, I right-click on it and select Delete. I can also select Remove from Route to keep the waypoint, but not have it in the route.

Next, I zoom in and check water depths and markers, and edit the route. Next, I go to a larger scale chart, and continue editing the route. It is an iterative process of zooming in to more detail and refining my route.

When I am done editing, I double-click on the route and a Route Properties window comes up. I name the route, keeping it short, because my chartplotter limits the number of characters in the name. I name this one WP-OWW. I put the Depart From field as West Point and Destination field as Okeechobee Waterway, so I remember what WP and OWW stand for.

Route Properties Screenshot
Route Properties Screenshot

Here is a screenshot of my WP-OWW route. The waypoint names are random, but I will fix them later.

Exporting a Route from OpenCPN

After creating, and refining my route on OpenCPN, I export it to my computer, so I can import it to HomePort, check it and refine it again. I click the Route & Mark Manager icon and select the Routes tab. I click on the route to be exported and click on Export Selected… I get a file explorer menu and save it to my trip folder, using the suggested name, WP-OWW.gpx.

Importing a Route into HomePort

Next, I import the route into HomePort so I can check it out with my chartplotter charts and further refine it.  I click on the list Route2019, and then click File and Import to ‘Route2019’... I get a File Explorer menu, select WP-OWW.gpx, and click Open. It imports my route. 

I click on the route to center it on my display. I zoom in and refine it.

Exporting a Route from HomePort

When, I am done looking at, and/or refining the route, I export it back to my PC. I click on the route to select it. Then I click on File, then on Export, and on Export Selection… I get a file explorer menu, save it using the suggested name and folder. I get a message saying “WP-OSS.gpx already exists. Do you want to replace it?” I click Yes. The file HomePort GPX file is now on my PC.

I’m happy with my route at this point. I could send it to USERDATA and save it to my chartplotter. But I want to clean it up and put it in a spreadsheet. The first thing I want to do is reorder the waypoints, and ensure the names are unique. I do this with the Clean Route program.

Cleaning the Route

I open a Command Prompt window, by clicking the Windows icon, clicking on Windows System and Command Prompt. At the command prompt I change directory to Route2019 by typing “cd Route2019”

>cd Route2019

Next, I clean, and reorder the route. I use a starting waypoint of 400 because my previous routes started with 0, 100, 200 and 300. I type “clnrte -s 400 WP-OWW.gpx”. I get a message saying “WP-OWW.gpx” processed to “WP-OWW_cln.gpx”.

>clnrte -s 400 WP-OWW.gpx
"WP-OWW.gpx" processed to "WP-OWW_cln.gpx"

Since I’m here, I will extract the data from the GPX file to a CSV file. I’ll use the CSV file later. I extract the data to a CSV file by typing “gpx2csv WP-OWW_cln.gpx”.  I get a message saying “WP-OWW_cln.gpx” processed to “WP-OWW_cln.csv”.

>gpx2csv WP-OWW_cln.gpx
"WP-OWW_cln.gpx" processed to "WP-OWW_cln.csv"
Command Prompt
Command Prompt

Importing Cleaned Route

My route is now cleaned up, with unique waypoint names. I import it back into OpenCPN. First I delete the old one by right-clicking on it and selecting Delete… I get a message “Are you sure you want to delete this route?”. I click Yes. Next, I open the Route & Mark Manager and click the Routes tab. I click Import GPX…, select file WP-OWW_cln.gpx. Next, I click on the WP-OWW route that I just imported and click Properties… Some of the original information has been lost or changed. I put West Pass in the Depart From field and Okeechobee Waterway in the Destination field. I change Color from Magenta to Default color and click OK. You might notice that the waypoint name are shown on the display. If this bothers you, you can rerun clnrte, or change the property of each waypoint to uncheck Show name ².

Next, I import the cleaned route back into HomePort. I delete the old route first, to avoid renaming, due to duplicate names. I open HomePort and click on my Route2019 list. Then I right-click on route WP-OWW and select Delete. I get a message saying “Items will be deleted from ALL lists.”, I click Delete. Then, I click File and select Import into Route2019… I select file WP-OWW_cln.gpx and click Open. Then, I right-click on route WP-OWW and select Send To… I click on USERDATA, and then OK to copy the route to my SD card for my chartplotter.

Saving Routes and Waypoints to Chartplotter

Finally, when all the routes are good, I put them on my Garmin 4208 chartplotter. The steps are as follows:

  • Exit HomePort, safely eject the Micro SD from the computer and insert it into the SD card adapter.
  • Turn on Garmin and select Agree.
  • Insert SD card adapter into Garmin.
  • Select Manage Card
  • Select Replace From Card. (We don’t select Merge From Card because we always keep our Micro SD card up to date.)
  • Select USERDATA
  • Select Replace From Card.
  • The Garmin will say:
    • Receiving User Waypoints
    • Receiving Routes
    • Receiving Tracks
    • User Waypoints Transferred
    • Routes Transferred
    • Tracks Transferred
    • Transfer Complete!

Organizing Routes in a Spreadsheet

When I have all the routes for my trip, I like to organize them in a spreadsheet. You can use Excel or Google Sheets. I use both. The first step is to get a template. I have a shared template on Google Sheets here. Start by copying it to your own spreadsheet. I’ll name mine Route2019. The spreadsheet has a template sheet, named RteFormat. The template has six rows of header. The first step is to customize your template. Change speed of 5.5 in cell D3 to your planned average speed, in knots. Then, change your Start, cell C4, to your planned departure date and time, for example “3/16/2019 7:00”. This field can later be modified for each route.

I keep RteFormat sheet as is, and duplicate it to create a sheet for each route in my trip. To start, I click on the RteFormat sheet and select Duplicate. Then I click on Copy of RteFormat and select Rename... I give the sheet the same name as my route, WP-OWW.

Next, I copy the route information into my sheet. Earlier, I created a file named WP-OWW_cln.csv with the Convert GPX to CSV, utility. Now, I open that file with Excel. I copy all the cells in columns A through F, starting with row 2, by dragging my mouse from corner-to-corner to highlight the data, right-clicking and selecting Copy. Then I go to WP-OWW sheet, right-click on cell A7, and select Paste. Finally, I type the route name, WP-OWW, in cell B1, the starting point, West Pass, in cell B2, and the destination, Okeechobee Waterway, in cell F2. I update the speed, in knots, in cell D3, and the start time, in cell C4, if needed. The other fields in the header are computed by the spreadsheet; Total distance of 60.04 nautical miles, in cell B3. Total time of 10 hours, 55 minutes and 6 seconds, in cell F3. End time and date of 3/16/2019 17:55:02, in cell F4.

WP-OWW Route Spreadsheet
WP-OWW Route Spreadsheet

Copying Route to ActiveCaptain App

As a final step, I add my route to ActiveCaptain mobile app. This way I can check for hazards, bridges, locks, etc. along my route. The ActiveCaptain app runs on Android or iOS, not Windows, so I use Google Drive to copy my GPX file to my device. There are others apps, such as DropBox, that will work. I open Google drive on my computer and drag wp-oww_cln.gpx to copy it to the Google Drive.

I open Google Drive on my mobile device, and find the GPX file. I select it and, when prompted, open it with ActiveCaptain. The route WP-OWW now appears in User Data.

Summary

We started planning this cruise from Marathon to Moore Haven, and I had the idea of writing about the process that we use. Once I started, I realized it was too long for a single article. I decided to break it into five posts. Even then, some of them are pretty long. There is a lot more I could have written, but I think people can read about what we do and figure out what works best for them. I thought I knew these tools pretty well, but I learned more about them as I wrote the articles. I hope that some of this is helpful to our fellow cruisers.

¹ In OpenCPN version 5.0 there is a waypoint symbol type of anchor, which corresponds to Garmin waypoint symbol anchor.

² In OpenCPN version 5.0, Show name is shortened to Name.

Cruising

Planning Multi-Day Cruises—HomePort

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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. 

Routes
Spreadsheet of 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.

In the first post I gave an overview of the route planning process. Then, I talked about OpenCPN. In this post I talk about HomePort and, in future posts I’ll talk about ActiveCaptain and 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. Finally, I’ll explain how I put the routes together in a spreadsheet and load them on our Garmin 4208 chartplotter and other devices.

HomePort

We bought a Garmin 4208 chartplotter in 2006 and I was expecting to be able to plan my routes on OpenCPN and send them to my Garmin 4208 chartplotter. At first, I couldn’t make that work. Then, Garmin came out with HomePort. I thought I would be able to use HomePort to plan routes on my computer, but it was harder than I thought. I was not used to the user-interface, and early versions had some bugs. So, I planned my routes on OpenCPN, exported them to HomePort, sent them to an SD card and copied them to our chartplotter. HomePort uses the same charts as the chartplotter and sometimes I would notice things I didn’t see using the NOAA charts in OpenCPN. Then, I started using both programs to edit my routes.

Note: Garmin uses the term “Map” in place of the more nautical term “Chart”. I will continue to use “Chart” in this, and other posts, but they refer to the same thing.

HomePort is free software from Garmin that you can use as a route planning tool. It does not come with charts, you have to copy the charts from your Garmin chartplotter to an SD card.

What I like most about HomePort is that when I create a route, it looks the same as on my chartplotter. When I zoom in and out, the detail of the chart automatically changes, I can easily switch between overview and detail.

Homeport Screenshot
HomePort Screenshot

Here is a screenshot of HomePort with routes. It looks the same on our Garmin chartplotter.

Downloading HomePort

You can start using HomePort by downloading it from the Garmin HomePort Download Page. Go to the page and choose Windows or Mac. Download the executable file, run it and follow the instructions.

When you start it for the first time you’ll see a small-scale global map (chart). It’s not detailed enough for planning routes. You have to copy the built-in charts from your Garmin chartplotter. Also, it will not show any devices until you copy your chartplotter User Data.

Setting Up HomePort

The Garmin 4208 uses a standard SD card to transfer data. Our computer is a Windows tablet, that has a slot for a micro SD card. We have a 16G micro SD card and an adapter that allows it to plug into a standard SD card slot. First, we copy the built-in map to the Micro SD card, and then we copy the User Data. User Data is all routes, tracks and waypoints stored in the chartplotter.

We use the 16G Micro SD card for other things, like NOAA charts for OpenCPN. The card is slightly more than 1/4 used with Garmin files, NOAA charts from six states and the Bahamas, and other miscellaneous files.

Copying the Charts (Map)

I plug Micro SD card into the adapter and then into our Garmin 4208 chartplotter, and select Copy Built-in Map. It takes several minutes to copy the 1.9GB file to the card. I leave the card inserted for the next step.

Copying User Data

Next, I copy the User Data. With the SD card still inserted, I select the Manage Card prompt, and then Save to Card. It prepares the card, transfers User Waypoints, Routes and Tracks. Then, I eject the SD card from the chartplotter, remove it from the adapter and plug it into my computer.

When I start HomePort, with the SD card in place, HomePort finds it and shows the charts from our chartplotter and a 4208 device with a file named USERDATA. USERDATA is an ADM file that contains all the routes, tracks and waypoints from our chartplotter.

Using HomePort

The HomePort window contains a menu bar, Toolbar, and three or four panes. The menu bar, along the top of the display, has drop-downs for File, Edit, View, Find, Tools, Device, Utilities, Charts, and Help. The Toolbar has icons for Pan, Zoom, Select, Measure, New Waypoint, New Route, New Track, Insert, Move Point, Erase, Divide, and other actions. The upper-left-hand pane contains Folders, Lists, and Devices. Beside and below that are the Routes, Tracks and Waypoints pane, a Navigation Chart pane, and/or a Fishing Chart pane. The Navigation Chart pane and Routes, Tracks and Waypoints pane may be swapped.

Folder, List and Device Pane

HomePort provides folders and lists for organizing your routes, waypoints and tracks. Folders can contain folders and lists. Lists can contain routes, tracks and waypoints. The top folder is named My Collection. A device is created when you save charts or User Data to an SD card on your computer. We have a device named 4208, with an ADM file named USERDATA, and a chart file. The ADM file contains routes, tracks and waypoints. It’s like a list, but can be transferred to and from our Garmin.

The Folder, List and Device pane is where you select a folder, list or device. Select the top folder, My Collection, to show all your routes, tracks and waypoints, or select a sub-folder or list to show a subset of your routes, tracks and waypoints. Select an ADM file on your device to show routes, tracks and waypoints coming from, or going to your chartplotter. Select a list or ADM file, not a folder, to create or modify routes, tracks or waypoints.

You can adjust the relative size of the Folder, List and Device pane by dragging the bar between it and the lower pane up and down.

Route, Track and Waypoint Pane

The Route, Track and Waypoint pane lists items in the folder, list, or ADM file that is selected in your Folder, List and Device pane. At the bottom of the pane is a search box and a hide/show filters icon. The search box is used to find an item in your selected folder, list or ADM. If Show Filters is enabled, there is a row of icons below the search box to show only certain types of items, for example routes. The selected filter is highlighted with a blue rectangle.

There is a tab between the Route, Track and Waypoint pane and Chart pane that swaps locations of the two panes.

Chart Panes

The Chart pane, or panes show your nautical chart, overlaid with your routes, tracks and waypoints in the selected folder, list or ADM file. You can elect to show a navigation pane, fishing pane or both. I show only the navigation pane when planning a cruise. If both chart panes are shown, you can drag the bar between them left or right to change their relative sizes. Swap the Navigation Chart pane and Route, Track and Waypoint pane by clicking the tab between them.

Zooming

You can zoom the Chart panes in and out when one is selected. I normally use the scroll wheel of my mouse to zoom. You can also use the minus (-) and equal (=) keys on your keyboard. Another way to zoom in and out is to hover the mouse over the triangle in the upper-left of the Chart pane to bring up a slider. Drag the slider up and down to zoom in and out. You can also zoom in by selecting the Zoom tool (magnifying glass icon) and clicking on the chart. If you have a touchscreen, you can pinch and spread. The chart will become more detailed as you zoom in and less detailed as you zoom out.

There is a distance bar in the bottom right of the chart pane that shows the chart detail. It shows a distance in some unit of measure, for example, 500 ft. It changes as you zoom in and out. If you zoom in too much for the chart detail, overzoom will appear under the distance bar.

Menu Bar Actions

The menu bar is across the top of the HomePort window and has the following drop-down tabs:

  • File — Use the File tab to create new items, import/export, backup/restore, print and exit
  • Edit — Use Edit to open items, undo, redo, cut, copy, paste, duplicate, delete, rename, send to, move to, etc.
  • View — The View tab has actions for changing the look of your window. For example, changing the toolbar, or changing to full-screen mode.
  • Find — The Find tab lets you search for locations, items, etc.
  • Tools — Activates some of the tools. These tools can also be activated using the Toolbar. See below for a description of some tools.
  • Device — Send to/receive from an ADM file.
  • Utilities — Manage boat profiles, check for updates and set program options, such as units of measure.
  • Charts — Switch charts, buy charts, install charts, etc.
  • Help — Help, Garmin Forums, Report Chart Error, Check for Software Update, View HomePort License, View Garmin Privacy Policy and About Garmin HomePort.
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Creating New Folders and Lists

HomePort gives you the option to organize your routes, tracks and waypoints using hierarchical folders and lists. For example, you could have a folder for every year, and multiple lists of waypoints, tracks and routes in each folder. Bit we don’t use folders like that, we just have a list for each cruise and one for tracks in the top folder, My Collection.

Every route, track and waypoint within a list or ADM file must have a unique name. This applies to both standalone waypoints and waypoints within a route. HomePort and the Garmin 4208 modifies duplicate names by appending a digit to the end. The Garmin 4208 forces names to uppercase and truncates them to ten characters. After truncating, it will append a digit to ensure no duplicates. The modified names can get confusing, so I try to keep my item names unique, shorter than ten characters, and use different lists for liked-names items.

To create a new folder, select the parent folder in the Folder, List and Device pane. Then, click File, New and List Folder. A new folder will appear in the Folder, List and Device pane. It will have a default name. Type a name for your folder and press Enter. To create a new list, select a folder in the Folder, List and Device pane. Then, click File, New and List. A new list will appear in the Folder, List and Device pane. It will have a default name. Type a name for your list and press Enter.

Tools

There are multiple ways to activate a tool. For example, to activate the waypoint tool, you can click on the flag icon in the Toolbar, click Tools, then Waypoint in the menu bar, click File, New, and Waypoint, or press “W” on your keyboard.

The Toolbar is under the menu bar. The Toolbar has groups of tool icons. The icons include, options to send or receive to/from a device, Pan, Zoom, Select, New Waypoint, New Route, New Track, route and waypoint editing, view options, tide, current and others. Some of these tools can be activated using the menu bar Tools drop-down. When you activate a tool, the cursor will change to indicate which tool is active. Deactivate the tool the same way you activated it, or by selecting another tool.

Select Tool

The Select tool is the default tool. Activate it by clicking the pointer icon or pressing “S” on the keyboard. Use the select tool to select a route, track or waypoint on the Chart pane.

Pan Tool

To pan, select the Pan tool (hand icon or “H”). The cursor will change to a hand. Hold the mouse and drag the spot around the Chart pane. The Pan tool can sometimes be used to select items on the Chart pane.

Creating a Waypoint

To create a waypoint, select a list in the Folder, List and Device pane. Then, activate the Waypoint tool (flag icon or “W”). The cursor will change to a flag. Click on the Chart pane to create a new waypoint. Deactivate the Waypoint tool by clicking Waypoint (flag) icon or pressing “W”, the Pan tool will be activated. A new waypoint will appear in the Routes, Tracks and Waypoints pane. HomePort will assign a name and symbol to the waypoint. Double-click on the waypoint in the Chart pane or Route, Track and Waypoint pane to open the waypoint. There, you can rename the waypoint, choose a symbol, edit the position and set other options for the waypoint.

Creating a Route

To create a route, select a list in the Folder, List and Device pane. Then, activate the Route tool (Three squares connected with a line icon or “R”). The cursor will change to a pencil. Click on the Chart pane to create the starting waypoint. Move the cursor and click to create the next waypoint. Continue creating waypoints until you reach the end of your route, or the edge of the Chart pane. Deactivate the Route tool by clicking the Route icon or pressing “R”. The Pan tool will be activated. Click the Route icon or press “R” again to continue adding waypoints to your route. A new route will appear in the Routes, Tracks and Waypoints pane. HomePort will assign a name to the route. Double-click on the route in the Chart pane or Route, Track and Waypoint pane to open the route. There you can rename the route and set other options.

Route and Waypoint Editing Tools

For me, creating a route is an iterative process. I start at a high-level, create a few waypoints and zoom in and refine. Select the route or waypoint to edit by clicking on the item or name. There are four tools for editing the selected item. If you make a mistake, you can undo it by clicking Edit, Undo, or pressing Ctrl-Z on your keyboard.

Insert Waypoint

Use the Insert tool to add waypoints to an existing route. First, select the route by clicking on the name. Then, activate the Insert tool by clicking the Insert icon (+ and Pen) or pressing “I” on the keyboard. The cursor will change to a Pen+. Next, click on the route where you want to insert a waypoint. Then, move the cursor to where you want the waypoint to be and click. A new waypoint is now added to the route. Continue inserting waypoints as desired. Exit the Insert tool by clicking the Insert icon or pressing “I”. The Pan tool will be activated.

Move Waypoint

Use the Move Point tool to move a standalone waypoint, or a waypoint in a route. First, select the route or waypoint by clicking on the name. Then, activate the Move Point tool by clicking the Move Point icon (Pointer and Square) or pressing “M” on the keyboard. The cursor will change to a Pointer and Square. Next, hover the cursor over the waypoint to be moved. The waypoint will be highlighted. Then, click and drag the cursor to where you want the waypoint to be and release the mouse button. The waypoint is moved.

Erase Waypoint

Use the Erase tool to remove waypoints from an existing route. First, select the route by clicking on the name. Then, activate the Erase tool by clicking the Erase icon (Eraser and Square) or pressing “E” on the keyboard. The cursor will change to an eraser. Next, hover the cursor over a waypoint in the selected route. The waypoint will be highlighted. Then, click to remove the highlighted waypoint from the route.

Divide Route

Use the Divide tool to split an existing route into two or more routes. First, select the route by clicking on the name. Then, activate the Divide tool by clicking the Divide icon (Scissors) or pressing “X” on the keyboard. The cursor will change to a pointer and scissors. Next, hover the cursor over the selected route, where you want to split it. The last part of the route will be highlighted. Then, click to split the route into two routes. You now have another route in your list. Exit the Divide tool by clicking the Divide icon or pressing “X”.

Other Useful Actions

Here are some common actions performed with the File or Edit drop-down menu bar.

Deleting or Removing an Item

You can delete or remove anything you can create. For example, folders, lists, routes, waypoints, etc. In general, you click on the item to be deleted to select it. Then, you click Edit, in the menu bar and look for options to delete or remove. You can also right-click on the item. To delete a route, track or waypoint, you must have a List or ADM file, not a Folder, selected in the Folder, List and Device pane. You may have the option of removing the item from the selected list, or deleting it everywhere. When removing a folder, list or ADM file, you may be given the option to Remove and Delete Unique Content, or just Remove. If you delete or remove something by mistake, click Edit, Undo to restore it.

Duplicating an Item

To duplicate a folder, list route, waypoint, etc., click on the item to select it. Then, click Edit and Duplicate. HomePort will assign a default name to the duplicate item. I sometimes duplicate a route and edit it to create an alternative.

Renaming an Item

To rename an item, click on the item. Then, click Edit and Rename, type the new name and press Enter.

Sending or Moving an Item

Use Send To… to copy items to lists or ADM files. First, select the item to be copied by clicking on it. Then click Edit and Send To… You will get a menu of folders, lists and ADM files to select your destination. Use Edit, Move To… to move a list to another folder.

Joining Routes and Tracks

You can join multiple routes or tracks into one. We use this feature to create a new route from two or more routes, or one track from multiple tracks from the same day that were created when our GPS lost and regained its signal. First, select all the routes or tracks to join by clicking on the names while pressing the Ctrl key. Then, click Edit, Advanced, and Join the Selected Routes… or Join the Selected Tracks… You will see a menu that allows you to choose the order of the routes or tracks. Click Ok when ready.

Exporting GPX Files

Share routes tracks and waypoints with other programs as GPX files. Select the route, track or waypoint to be exported. Then, click File, Export, and Export Selection… A file explorer menu will come up to specify where to store the file.

Importing GPX Files

You can import GPX files on your computer that were created by HomePort or other programs. First select the List that you want to import the route, track or waypoint into. Then, click File and Import to ‘list name’… You will get a File Explorer menu. Select the file to import and click Open. You will see the new routes, tracks or waypoints in the selected list.

Transferring To/From Chartplotter

The Garmin 4208 has limited memory for routes, tracks and waypoints. Therefore, we don’t store routes that we don’t plan to use right away. When track memory fills up, it will overwrite the oldest track, so at the end of the day, we save our tracks to HomePort. When we anchor in a new spot, we like to save a mark and copy it to HomePort as well. To ensure they are both in sync, we copy USERDATA to our SD card every time we stop for the day. Then, we copy any new items to HomePort and organize them in lists. We edit any new waypoints, remove any routes that we are finished with, replace any routes that have been modified and add any new items we might want. Then we write it back to the Garmin 4208.

We have a list that is only for completed tracks. We send any new tracks to the list, and combine them into one track per day. Then we rename them to trackYYYYMMDD (year, month and date) so we can go back and find them later.

The steps we use to copy data from the Garmin are:

  • Exit HomePort, safely remove Micro SD card from computer and insert it into adapter.
  • Turn on Garmin and select Agree.
  • Insert SD card adapter into Garmin.
  • Select Manage Card
  • Select Save To Card
  • Select USERDATA Save To Card
  • Select Yes to Overwrite this file: USERDATA
  • The Garmin will say:
    • Preparing Card
    • Transferring User Waypoints
    • Transferring Routes
    • Transferring Tracks
    • Card Prepared
    • User Waypoints Transferred
    • Routes Transferred
    • Tracks Transferred
    • Transfer Complete!
  • You can eject the SD card from the Garmin unit.

Next, we insert the Micro SD card into the computer, and start HomePort. Select USERDATA, under 4208 device and we can see an exact copy of what is in our chartplotter. New waypoints will probably have default names and symbols, so we edit those. New tracks will have default names, we send those to the Tracks list, where we combine and rename them. If we have modified any routes or waypoints on the Garmin, we send them to our working list. Next, we update USERDATA with any new routes or waypoints. If we have any changes to routes or waypoints, we remove the old ones from USERDATA and send the updated items. Otherwise, HomePort treats them as duplicates and renames.

We copy the data back to the Garmin before we move the boat again. The steps are:

  • Exit HomePort, safely eject the Micro SD from the computer and insert it into the SD card adapter.
  • Turn on Garmin and select Agree.
  • Insert SD card adapter into Garmin.
  • Select Manage Card
  • Select Replace From Card. (We don’t select Merge From Card because we always keep our Micro SD card up to date.)
  • Select USERDATA
  • Select Replace From Card.
  • The Garmin will say:
    • Receiving User Waypoints
    • Receiving Routes
    • Receiving Tracks
    • User Waypoints Transferred
    • Routes Transferred
    • Tracks Transferred
    • Transfer Complete!

Our Garmin chartplotter is now in sync with HomePort and ready for our next trip.

Summary

HomePort has many features. I’ve used it for a number of years, but I discovered new things about it when writing this article. The Garmin charts are excellent, and you can zoom and pan seamlessly. If you have a Garmin chartplotter that is compatible with HomePort, I encourage you to try it — you have nothing to lose.

Next

The next article in this series talks about ActiveCaptain. Later articles include GPX Tools and an example that puts it all together.

Cruising

Planning Multi-Day Cruises—Overview

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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. 

Routes
Spreadsheet of 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.

In this post I give an overview of the route planning process. In future posts, I’ll talk about route planning tools we use before our cruise:

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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. Finally, I’ll explain how I put the routes together in a spreadsheet and load them on our Garmin 4208 chartplotter and other devices.

Initial Planning Intentions

When we start planning a multi-day cruise , we know our starting and ending points, but we might not know all the places we want to stop along the way. We might have some favorite anchorages or marinas along the way, or maybe a new place we want to explore. At this stage of planning, we think about how long we want to travel in one day. Travel time depends on boat speed and distance, but can vary greatly by current, wind and other factors. We also consider delays waiting for things like bridge openings. Weather is a big unknown. We have left an anchorage at the crack of dawn, and had to stop and wait for fog to clear. Then there’s Murphy’s Law — Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. With boating, you can never plan your trip exactly. We make intentions instead of plans.

From experience, we have found that leaving the dock can be the hardest part of the trip. There is always “one more thing” we forgot about. So, the first day we don’t plan to travel very far. After that, we get into a routine, and plan for longer days. We look at sunrise and sunset times on our chartplotter to take advantage of daylight hours. At the start of the day, we have a rough idea of where we want to stop, but we won’t decide until later, based on our progress during the day.

We learned early on, that our plans must be very flexible. It usually takes longer to get from point A to point B, than we think it will. The set of routes we make ahead of time are outdated by the first day of the cruise, but they are still useful.

I do our initial route planning on Windows. A few years ago, I transitioned from a laptop PC to a Windows tablet, with a docking station, mouse and portable keyboard. I find that this works best for my lifestyle. I could do planning on a Android or iOS tablet, but I have an easier time with a two-button mouse.

Route Planning Tools

My preferred tool for planning a route is OpenCPN.  My second choice is Garmin’s HomePort, but I use them both. I prefer the user-interface of OpenCPN and I prefer the the look of HomePort, but that is mostly personal preference.  I can import/export routes between OpenCPN and HomePort, but I must use HomePort to load the routes on my 4208 Garmin chartplotter.

When we first started cruising we bought a lot of cruising guides, like Managing the Waterway and Skipper Bob books. Now, we use ActiveCaptain. ActiveCaptain is a crowd-sourced database of navigational hazards, anchorages, marinas and more. It is essentially a cruising guide, written by cruisers, that is always up to date.

ChartPlotter

We have a Garmin 4208 chartplotter that we bought in 2006. It is now discontinued, but we are not ready to upgrade. It doesn’t have a fancy touch screen or WiFi, but it works just fine for us. It uses an SD card to transfer data to and from the computer.

Route Planning Process

We might cruise to get from one place to another, like our trip to Moore Haven, FL, or, like our trip to the Bahamas , we might just want to experience a place and come back home. Either way, we determine how long we want to take, and decide on places we might want to stop on the way.

Waypoints

First, we create waypoints for our cruise. We use ActiveCaptain to look for anchorages and marinas. Then, we use OpenCPN and HomePort to create waypoints for the places we found in ActiveCaptain.

Routes

For me, creating a route is an iterative process. First, I create a simple route, with a few waypoints. Then I zoom in and add, move or extend waypoints. I keep zooming in and modifying the route until I am happy with it. I export and import it between tools and look at it on different charts.

GPX Tools

When I am happy with all my routes I clean it up with the Clean Route tool, so it looks the same on OpenCPN, HomePort, my chartplotter, and ActiveCaptain. Then I create a Comma Separated Values, CSV, file that can be copied to a spreadsheet.

Chartplotter

The last step is to put all the routes and waypoints on our Garmin 4208 chartplotter. I also import them to a mobile device running the ActiveCaptain app. We are now ready to cruise.

Next

In the next post of this series I will talk in detail about HomePort. Then, in future posts I’ll talk about ActiveCaptain, GPX tools and putting it all together with an example.