Safety in numbers

Redundancy can be a good thing

For decades, the aerospace industry has known that redundancy improves safety and reliability. They put backup systems into airplanes to make them one of the safest ways to travel. Then there’s me: I haven’t spent years training as an aerospace engineer, and I don’t have the budget of an airplane manufacturer. But I can use Aqua Map to get similar benefits from safety in numbers.

Sailing the Great Lakes

I’ve been sailing on the Great Lakes, shared by Canada and the USA, since I was in high school. Along the northern edge of Lake Huron is the not-surprisingly named North Channel. It’s 300 km (160 nautical miles) long. It’s bordered by the mainland to its north and its southern edge is the world’s largest freshwater island, Manitoulin Island. The North Channel is what many people imagine when they think of Canadian wilderness: remote, beautifully rugged, clear blue water, and anchorages hidden among rocky islands with windswept trees. In August, you can pick wild blueberries (if you know which island to go to). Without hesitating, I’d say that my favourite anchorage is Benjamin Island, with its pink granite rock polished by glaciers during the last ice age.

For the past few summers, I’ve been sailing on the eastern end of Lake Ontario in Canada. It’s a beautiful area with rolling farmland, famous mansions, and quaint shore-side villages. It’s a big area that includes Lake Ontario itself, the St-Lawrence River, the Thousand Islands, and Prince Edward County. It’s also tricky to navigate. Boaters have to deal with the Kingston Harbour magnetic anomaly, ferries, underground cables, rocky shoals, and river current. And I have to stay on the Canadian side of the Canada-US border while avoiding the city-block-sized commercial ships on the Saint-Lawrence Seaway.

My navigation tools:

For planning trips: paper charts and cruising guides.
When on the move: My ship’s compass and a digital chart plotter.

Well, I used to use a chart plotter. I’ve just discovered Aqua Map. It’s turning out to be an excellent tool to navigate safely, reassure my family and friends, and stay in touch with other sailors. And Aqua Map lets me take advantage of my phone and tablet’s best features: a responsive touch screen, portability, and multiple ways to connect.

I can go solo without being alone

Most of the time, my wife or friends join me on my boat. But for a few of those weeks I’m alone. I spend that time going for day sails, exploring new anchorages, or just staying at anchor to enjoy being on the water.

One of my few good habits is to send out a sail plan every day. My wife appreciates the reassurance that the boat is still floating, with me in it. Now my wife and I can use Aqua Map’s Live Sharing feature. She can see my location live on her own phone. This feature will be great for coordinating with guests, too. With their own personal GEC account (which is free), my wife and guests can check my location in real-time.

Future plans: a flotilla

Some other sailors and I are planning a cruise on Lake Ontario this summer. I’m looking forward to joining a group of boats to explore new places with. The meeting point will be somewhere in eastern Lake Ontario. Some boats will be coming from western Lake Ontario, others from further down the St-Lawrence.

There’s a lot of discussion, planning, and coordination:

Dates and destinations: When and where do we meet up, how long are we staying, which places can we visit together as a group of boats with varying capabilities?
Underway: Once we’re in the flotilla, there will be last-minute changes from bad weather, mechanical trouble, and so on. We’ll agree on the itinerary before the cruise, but how do we let everyone know about last-minute changes to routes and locations?

Mobile devices are easy to use, but keeping everyone up to date can be a pain. I’m planning on taking advantage of Aqua Map’s other sharing features. Some tools for synchronizing sailors:

With an optional GEC account, we can stay synced with markers, tracks, photos, and routes. We’ll also share our Public folders to stay up to date on hazards and other navigational changes.
With Live Sharing, we can keep an eye on our flotilla in real time, share other info with each other, and even chat, in-app.

Crowd-sourcing

I’ve discovered a few treasures in Lake Ontario, like Prince Edward County, which has some beautiful anchorages. Smith Bay and Prinyer’s Cove are my favourites. They’re sheltered and close to hiking trails, swimming spots, roadside farm stands, and even vineyards. The local wine makes the sunsets even prettier.

There’s still a lot I haven’t explored. So it’s nice to have insider knowledge, like marinas, restaurants, and other points of interest. My cruising guidebook is good for these things, but it isn’t up to date. For example, marinas and other boating services often adapt their opening hours to the season. A paper guidebook can’t provide timely information like this.

The good news is that, like charts, guidebooks are available online now. And there are excellent online services for boaters. Aqua Map combines these sources for me:

Waterway Guide has been producing well-researched cruising guides since 1947. You can access the digital information from their guides directly in Aqua Map.
ActiveCaptain uses crowd-sourcing to keep up-to-date navigation and point of interest information, also accessible from Aqua Map.

A device for every purpose

For most Canadians, me included, boating pauses for the winter. I’ve given up figuring out how to sail my boat through ice that’s thick enough to support its displacement. So in the winter, I soothe my impatience to get back on the water by making plans for the next sailing season.

One of the things I’m looking forward to this summer is to explore Thousand Islands National Park. It’s made up of about 20 of the Thousand Islands. Canada maintains them as historic sites and natural conservation areas. I won’t have time to see all of these islands, so I’ll concentrate on 5-6 islands that are easy for a sailboat. And I want protected anchorages and fun points of interest.

To plan these routes, I like to use my tablet because it has a bigger screen than my phone. My GEC account lets me install the the Aqua Map on up to 5 devices at no extra charge. I’ve already installed it on my phone and tablet.

On the water, everyone on board can have their own personal chartplotter. Or I can combine multiple devices for different purposes: I can charge my phone in the cabin, keep my tablet in the cockpit, and keep another tablet at my nav station, all showing the same information in the same, familiar way.

A remote anchor alarm

Speaking of multiple devices, I’ll be taking advantage of AnchorLink, available with the Master subscription. For those times when we go on shore this summer, I’ll bring my phone with me and leave the tablet on board to monitor my boat’s position. If my anchor starts dragging, Aqua Map will notify me by Telegram or email.

A number of ways to access useful information

The best safety features are the one you actually use. Aqua Map gives me affordable, instant access to information like charts, navigation hazards, weather, and interesting places. And I can easily and quickly share information about my boat and me. That gives peace of mind to me and those around me. Aqua Map lets me use the built-in flexibility of my mobile devices to stay connected and explore more while staying safe.

Article and photos by

Marc Paquette

My name is Marc Paquette. As a technical writer, I show people how to use big, complex systems. When I’m not doing that, I’m usually sailing on Lake Ontario, one of the Great Lakes in Canada. I sail a Tanzer 29, which is a French-designed, Canadian-built fiberglass monohull.