Nobeltec is the big daddy of computer-based navigation software, and all the more so now that they’re owned by Jeppesen Marine, a Boeing subsidiary. They’ve been an important innovator in the field, and continue to bring interesting new capabilities to their product line, although at prices that would make some cruisers cringe.
Recently I saw a press release on the Tender Tracker, a $1,500 addin for the Nobeltec Admiral navigation suite. This price does not include the hardware that makes it work, an interesting bit of technology from Seetrac. Basically it’s a proprietary AIS-like technology, so that a tender or jet ski carrying the Seetrac transmitter sends position and other navigation data back to the mother ship. This would, for instance, allow a yacht captain to keep track of a his guests as they explore. Another possibility is sending out a tender with a depth sounder that electronically reports back its data to the mother ship’s navigation software.
The Nobeltec/Seetrac solution seems primarily aimed at high-end yachts who want to keep track of their guests, and doesn’t seem quite so useful for smaller boats. And while the Tender Tracker is a proprietary system, it strikes me that there are interesting prospects for developing open standards that would make remotely transmitting and receiving data more widely available and usable. Imagine a little radio box that would wirelessly bridge NMEA 2000 networks, i.e. between boats, so that you could see not only your buddy boat’s position information, but any data available on the network. You might notice that your friend’s fuel tank is getting low, or that he’s found a better depth for anchoring. And, ideally, the data layer and transmission method would be independent, so that different communications technology could be used. E.g. with cellular data services, boats in coastal areas could share data completely privately. Or, an AIS/DSC-like protocol could share data over VHF.
What are the interesting scenarios for this kind of technology? It certainly would be handy for buddy boating. And there could be useful commercial scenarios in fishing and charter boat operations. What would you imagine?
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LOL. I’ve retrieved a number of dinks in five seasons with vessel assist. It’s usually a matter of calculating set and drift based on the mother ship’s route and last sighting, then compensating for leeway.
Tender Tracker would take all of the fun out of a search.
Hi Richard…great new name for your blog by the way. The Bitter End is about the most accurately descriptive sea-fairing term I can think of!
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