SeaNav User Guide

Using SeaNav

SeaNav lets you plan and navigate your trips in real time with the latest high resolution interactive Marine charts. Charts are stored in the app so you can use them to help navigate even when out of mobile coverage.

With SeaNav you can keep a watch on boats near you and let others keep a watch on you via our Global real time AIS system (Demo mode or IAP required).

Weather and tide forecasts are available too

SeaNav is a powerful application with a lot of exciting and useful features. As well as this user guide we have provided a built in demo mode which we hope will help bring you up to speed on using them.

Help Index

Boat and trip details

Alarms

License, Privacy and Notices

Demo Mode

Demo Mode lets you try out all of SeaNav's navigation features including charts, AIS, Weather and tides for free before you put to sea. Select Demo mode from the bottom of the routes popup menu to position you at sea ready to navigate a route and try out the features below. There are instructions in the app (tap the Demo Guide item) and also on the web at Demo Help. It may be helpful to read this page on your laptop or other device at the same time as running the demo on your ievice.

Demo routes are tailored to your locale: for US & CA it's San Francisco Bay, for the UK/IE & most of the EU the Solent, Germany Lubecker Bucht and France the Mediterranean.

Marine Charts

SeaNav's marine charts are seamless and fully interactive. Tap anywhere on the map to get information about what is on the chart; buoys, lights, pontoons, ships etc,. You can try out sample charts with the demo mode

Marine charts are available for most countries including the US, Canada, UK & Ireland, Germany, France and many more via in app purchase. Tap the Chart store button in settings to learn more. Outlines of charts that are available to purchase are shown in blue on the map. They outline in red when purchased and green when downloaded and cached in the App. See Manage charts below for more details on Chart Sets and our chart update service.

AIS Ships - see and be seen

PocketMariner's AIS system has world leading real time global coverage with over 100,000 ships visible at any moment. Ships are color coded based on their type e.g. Sailing boats are white, Pleasure Craft magenta. See the Map Legend for full details. A vector points forward showing where each boat will be in 2 minutes time based on its current Speed and Course. Ships move in real time across the map. Tap on a ship to get more information including past track and tap on the right i button to get even more including speed, course, CPA, distance, bearing etc. Ships will flash if you are on a potential collision course (CPA) with them.

If you have an MMSI number set (see My Boat Details) then your boat will also be visible on global interent AIS systems like Marine Traffic, ShipFinder and VesselTracker etc.. When "On My Boat" is set, your position will also continue to be shared when the app is closed (background). If you dont have an MMSI for your boat you can normally get one for free. In the US you can obtain one in a couple of minutes by visiting the USCG approved agent BoatUS and using their online form. In the UK visit Ofcom or we can provide a free internet only MMSI number - Internet MMSI request.

If you already have Boat Beacon AIS comes for free in SeaNav, otherwise it requires an In App Purchase.

The main tools are at the bottom of the screen. Here is what they do:-

On my Boat

Tap this to set whether you are navigating or not. When on (white boat icon), your position will show on the maps as a boat icon with heading , course (COG) and speed (SOG) showing at the top of the screen (HUD). If you have a route selected waypoint and route information like Vector Made Good (VMG), Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA), distance, bearing and Cross track error will be added to the HUD. Route tracking, Collision detection, alarms and location sharing will all be active (if enabled in settings). Route tracking, Collision detection, alarms and location sharing will continue to run in the background when the app is closed if this is on.

An audible alarm will sound as you reach a waypoint and routing automatically moves onto the next waypoint. On reaching your final waypoint a summary of the trip details is shown with distance covered, time taken etc. Route tracking and waypoint monitoring will continue to run in the background when the app is closed. You can interuppt and resume a route exactly where you left off at any time by toggling the Sailboat icon. You can skip to the next or previous Waypoint using the back and forward arrows in the extended HUD (tap on the down arrow to expand it). You can also reverse the route to go back home by tapping the double arrow symbol in the extended HUD

Off my Boat

When not set (boat with cross), your position shows as a blue dot and is only visible to you. Location sharing will be disabled and the app will not run in the background when you close it (e.g. collision detection and alarms will not be active in background and no battery power will be used).

If you have a valid MMSI set for your boat and Onboard is set on, you will also appear on internet based AIS systems like Marine Traffic and ShipFinder. When Onboard is on, SeaNav will continue to send your GPS position when the app is closed and the screen is off.

N.B. GPS uses a lot of battery. SeaNav will run for upto 5 hours on a full charge. If running on battery only, battery status reminders will be sent when the battery gets low.

Boat positions and details are refreshed automatically every minute and 3 seconds immediately after any change in map zoom or position.

(Landscape mode) You can share your position with your friends instantly via Email, X, Facebook etc. They will also be able to follow your progress if you have transmit turned on.This is available in landscape mode. In portrait mode you can use the i button to share your position.

Routes

Create new routes, edit existing ones, select which route to use or view. You can share routes with friends and other devices via email (GPX format) and also import routes from gps files (e.g. shared by friends or exported from Raymarine MFD's etc.).

Routes are entered as a series of Waypoints. Tap and hold on the Map to place waypoints. Long press on a waypoint in Route Edit mode to drag it to another position. When selected you can also delete a waypoint. When you save the route you can give it a name.

You can go back and edit routes and select which route is the currently selected one. Tap the sailboat icon to start sailing a route. The nearest waypoint to your current position will be selected as the active waypoint. Use the extended Sailing HUD (top of screen, tap down arrow) back and forward arrows if you want to manually select the next or previous waypoint.

Tap the share button to email your route as a gpx file. This can then be viewed in Google Earth, other copies of SeaNav and on many other apps and devices. If you receive a gpx file in an email on your device, tap on it to open it in SeaNav. This is a simple way of sharing routes between your devices and friends.

My location and compass

Tap to re-centre the map on your current location. The icon will go blue. Tap again to turn compass mode on with North up or Course up depending on your preference in settings. The icon will go purple and the centre of the map will track your location.

By default the compass and map display are set to North up. Use the Heading up setting if you want the compass and map to rotate with device direction to give course up or sight boats.

You can zoom the map using the pinch gesture and pan it by dragging with your finger.

Tap again to turn compass mode off.

You can tilt the map to show a 3D perspective with an upwards two finger drag. To return to flat mode then do a two finger downward drag

The accuracy of digital compass headings can be affected by magnetic or other environmental interference. The compass will need to be calibrated from time to time. Calibrate the compass (e.g. if the readings appear wrong) by moving the device in a circular figure of 8 motion."

Compass

A compass rose shows the direction your device is pointing and the map is rotated accordingly. It also displays the range in NM from your position to the compass ring under the heading reading. Useful for looking in the right direction to spot boats that appear on the map from your own boat or position and check their bearing and distance. You can lock the Compass Rose to North up ( turn off Heading up display) if you want the compass overlay and GPS info but don't want the map to rotate.

When compass is off, the map aligns to True North up.

Search

Search for boats by name, MMSI or BBSI and search for a port or place by name. Near option limits the search to your map region. Clicking on a boat or place when it is found takes you to its position on the map and highlights it.

If searching for a boat by its Boat Beacon ID (BBSI) then you need to enter the full number including the BB at the beginning.

You can also search for Places by name - add more address info, like State or Country to get better results - e.g 'Portsmouth, US'.

Ruler

Use the ruler to find or plot the distance and bearing between points on the map. Tap and hold down and drag the end points to where you want to measure. To get the reciprocal bearing, tap the 'reverse' button at the bottom left. Tap the X on the right when you are done.

Man Overboard (MOB)

Tap the lifebuoy symbol top right to set and track the location of a Man Overboard or another object (e.g. a buoy, POI). SeaNav will constantly monitor the bearing and distance plus the time in the water displaying a heading line to the MOB last known position. MOB continues to run in the background. The bottom left sailing button icon changes to a lifebuoy symbol to remind you that it is active. Tap this to clear the MOB and revert to sailing mode.

Anchor Watch

Tap the anchor icon top left to set your anchor position and guard radius. Anchor Watch will sound an alarm if your boat moves further than a set distance (50m) or moves faster than 1Kt ( see Anchor radius in "My Boat Details" to change the guard and offset distances). If you have an email address set, it will also send an email to that address with a map showing the anchor and current boat positions. Anchor Watch continues to work in the backgound if your screen is off or when you are using another app. The alarm will repeat every 5 minutes while the boat is in danger.

The anchor position is based on where you are when you tap the alarm on. More usefully, if you set Offset Anchor in "My Boat Details", an estimate of its true position is used relative to your current position assuming you tap the anchor on after you have dropped the anchor and your boat has drifted back to its maximum distance from it and is pointing towards it - i.e. when you have reversed backwards or drifted backwards after dropping and setting the anchor.

The bottom left sailing button shows an anchor symbol to remind you that you are in Anchor Watch mode.Tap this to raise the anchor and enter sailing mode. MOB can still be activated when Anchor Watch is active and takes precedence.

MOB and Anchor Watch come with a free 3 day trial and a yearly subscription that covers both. There is no charge if you want to cancel before the end of the trial period.

Tidal Stream

Where avaialable a Tidal diamond symbol is rotated to point in the flow direction. Blue means the rate is decreasing, red and it's increasing. The diamonds update in real time on the chart. For planning tap on a tidal diamond to see the rate and direction, tap i for more information and see the rate and direction for the next 3 days on a graph at the bottom of the screen. Slide the time cursor ( or just tap at the time you want ) and all the tidal diamonds in view on the chart update as you adjust it (not just the one you have selected). You can zoom in and out of the graph timeline using pinch gestures. The Tidal Stream information is cached for up to 7 days so will work when you are out of coverage as well. See Tidal Streams for more information.

Managing Charts

Charts are automatically downloaded and stored as you pan and browse the map view. You can zoom out on the map to see which charts have been installed and select new charts to download including all charts for the current view (up to 60 at a time). You can store the charts for the whole of the UK or several US States. They can then be used offline even when you have no mobile or internet coverage.

Already downloaded and installed charts are outlined in green. A solid outline shows the currently selected chart. Red outlines are charts that haven't been downloaded. Tap a chart area to select it.

You can choose what layers are displayed in the chart to help de-clutter the display. Turn soundings or contours on and off, turn on Military Practice areas etc.

Chart updates

We provide regular updates to the charts with the latest data we receive from the various Hydrographic offices. These includes corrections, changes and often new charts. You will see an alert when updates are avaialable for your charts. Typcially these updates come at least 4 times a year, in the Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.

A NOAA Paper chart overlay is available for the US. This is a one time purchase but to continue using the paper chart style you will need to maintain your US Chart subscription.

The Chart store lists all the chart sets that you have, their subscription expiry dates and Chart Sets for other areas and countries that are available via In App Purchase.

Wind, waves and tides

Tap on the info (i) button to get the current local Weather including wind and waves. An animated weather forecast overlay (Weather forecast maps ) for your location including wind and waves is available and a link to online weather services e.g. NOAA , UK Met office etc. (Detailed forecast).

Tides

Tides and tidal streams including future predictions are also available where we have coverage. Tapping on their icons onthe chart shows a graph with the next 3 days tides or tidal streams. You can also get the local tide information by tapping the i button and selecting tides. This can also show tide predictions weeks and months ahead. A current chart subscription is required for tide information.

Info and settings

App Tour: review the buttons with the on screen intro guide

Settings: see below for all the settings available like My Boat Details, Compass mode etc.

Help: this user guide, the ship legend, FAQ and email help

Charts: Manage what chart layers are displaying & get marine charts.

Weather: Weather now & in the future

Tides: Nearby tides & forecasts. Sunrise & sunset times, moon phase & times

Share: Share you current position with others

About: Info about the App & connectivity

Settings

My Boat Details

Enter your Boat details ito provide more information - e.g. its name, MMSI, length, etc. and email address for alarms.

When "On My Boat" is set SeaNav will share your current position, status and ship details for other Pocket Mariner App users to view, e.g. using BoatWatch and Boat Beacon as well as on SeaNav. If you have an MMSI number set then your boat will also be visible on global interent AIS systems like Marine Traffic, ShipFinder and VesselTracker etc. Your position will also continue to be shared when the app is closed (background)

If you dont have an MMSI for your boat you can normally get one for free. In the US you can obtain one in a couple of minutes by visiting the USCG approved agent BoatUS and using their online form. In the UK visit Ofcom or we can provide a free internet only MMSI number - Internet MMSI request.

N.B. AIS uses a restricted character set for Boat name, Destination and Group - only Capital Letters, Numbers, Space and the following punctuation @[\]^_!$%&()*+-,#.:;?'<=>" are allowed.

My Trip Details

Enter details about your status, destination, number of people on board, ETA, Group name (see below).

Status, Destination and ETA will be shared via AIS if you are transmitting your location.

Groups, Flotillas, Races and Fleets:-

Groups let you highlight all the other boats in the same group with a flag so you can easily see, follow and chat with them. You can send a message to everyone in the group using the group name. Folks back at base can also watch the Group in real time on Boat Beacon's Group web pages.

Joining or creating a group is easy, just enter its name under Trip Details. You can use any name you like, a bit like a hashtag. If you want to give it a try, join the BOATBEACON group. You can also view the boats in the BOATBEACON group on the web here. To remove yourself from a group just delete the name in Trip Details.

We have advanced group management tools available for Race and Flotilla leaders and officials, please contact us at fleets@pocketmariner.com

Display and Chart

Alarms

Collision Alarm will notify you with a loud ships horn sound if a boat is going to pass within 0.1NM of you within the next 10 minutes. The target boat will start flashing. This will continue running when the app is closed and the screen is off (background)if "On my Boat" is set. The alarm will show the CPA distance, time and relative bearing. The relative bearing lets you know if the boat is going to pass to Port, Starboard, Ahead or Astern of you. If you need a larger alarm guard you can modify the collision alarm settings, distance (CPA - default 0.1NM) and time (TCPA - default 10 min), under "My Boat Details". N.B. Setting these to zero disables the CPA Alarm.

Email Alarms If you enter an email address in Boat Details, SeaNav will also forward a copy of any alarm including a map to your email address. This is great for remote monitoring of alarms at home or even below decks and making doubly sure you get them.

Battery Reminder will remind you with a gentle notification when the battery power falls below 35% and every 10% if the App is running in the background and the Device is on battery power only. If you have set your email address in Ship Details you will also see an email alert with the current battery charge level and status. When enabled, AIS Transmit and the Alarms will continue working even when the App is closed and the screen is off (Background mode). The GPS system uses a lot of power. It will typically use about 20% of battery an hour. You can turn off the Battery Reminders in settings.

AIS Sources

About

Shows App Version, BBSI number and status of the AIS receive and transmit ( last database contact attempt etc.).

Getting Help

How do I contact you with Suggestions and Questions?

We're always happy to hear your ideas on how we should improve our products - please send an email to help@pocketmariner.com.

Third Party Licenses and Notices

NOTICE: The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) and its licensors make no warranties or representations, express or implied, with respect to this product. The UKHO and its licensors have not verified the information within this product or quality assured it.

NOTICE: US marine charts are derived from the official NOAA ENC vector chart data.

NOTICE: Canadian charts have been produced based on Canadian Hydrographic Service (“CHS”) data, following any minimum standards/guidelines that may have been established by CHS, pursuant to CHS Digital Value-Added Reseller Agreement No. 2024-0305-1260-EP. This product does not meet the requirements of the Navigation Safety Regulations, 2020 under the Canada Shipping Act, 2001. Charts and publications issued by or on the authority of CHS must be used to meet the requirements of those regulations. CHS does not endorse any derived product.

LICENSED APPLICATION END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT

SeaNav has been licensed to you under the Google PlayStore End User License Agreement (EULA)

support@pocketmariner.com. Any questions. We'll do our best to get back to you quickly!

Anything Else?

Pocket Mariner have other great apps for iPhone and Android- if you're a fan of SeaNav you are sure to enjoy apps like Compass Eye the first fully Gimballed iPhone Bearing compass with zoom and overlaid gps information.

And finally, you may like to know that Pocket Mariner can develop mobile applications for your company - if you have a project you'd like to discuss, please email us at business@pocketmariner.com

NOT FOR NAVIGATION

Please note this program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but with NO WARRANTY. It is for basic navigational purposes only and is not intended to be relied upon in situations where precise location information is needed or where erroneous, inaccurate or incomplete location data may lead to death, personal injury, property or environmental damage. Neither the Application Provider, nor any of its content providers, guarantees the availability, accuracy, completeness, reliability, or timeliness of information or location data displayed by any Services.

N.B. This is not an AIS transponder. You will not be visible to other ships on their AIS systems unless they also use data from the same land based AIS networks.

The accuracy of digital compass headings can be affected by magnetic or other environmental interference, including interference caused by proximity to the magnets contained in the earbuds. The compass may need to be calibrated from time to time. When the device displays the calibration alert, move the device in a figure 8 motion until the calibration screen disappears.