C-MAP TO THE RESCUE

Nobeltec includes all the major supplemental data expected from a high-end charting and navigation package, including tide and current prediction, weather downloads, satellite images, Coast Pilot documents, points-of-interest, and street data. Although there is a Toolbar button for topographic data, it is a legacy feature for users who have their own topographic maps. According to Jeppesen, it will likely be dropped in future versions.

We have to confess that we were shocked at the poor quality of much of this supplemental data. The satellite view of Tampa Bay was so pixelized it was unrecognizable. We then tried Ports and Services, pitching it a softball: services in the busy sailing port of Coconut Grove, Florida. Of the seven known marine facilities, the Nobeltec Port and Services database only showed Dinner Key Marina. Similarly, the Streets and Roads data was thin and incorrectly correlated to chart data, sometimes placing streets on the water (see photo).

JEPPESEN MARINEYou'll need an amphibious vehicle to use Nobeltec Streets and Roads Data. Even in major metropolitan areas, roads such as the Venetian and MacArthur Causeways did not align with charted land objects.

At this point we called Jeppesen, wondering what was wrong. Yes, the data is poor-and Jeppesen is well aware of the problem. During the recent 19-month C-Map acquisition process, Jeppesen halted all work on supplemental data. Understandably, all this data-including satellite images, aerial photos, and ports and services information-is anticipated as part of the newly-acquired C-Map treasure trove. Weather data, tides and current prediction, and Coast Pilot information are independent of the C-Map deal.

Nobeltec VNS includes the capability to read GRIB weather files, but you must manually retrieve the .GRB file yourself, typically through an email query. The GRIB overlay worked smoothly and displayed the weather information on the chart, but VNS doesn't use this data to its fullest. Not all data options available in a GRIB download are viewable through VNS. More robust weather reporting and display require additional purchases, such as the XM Weather Plus Pack or OCENS WeatherNet Service, both requiring additional hardware and a subscription.

VNS has several options to display tide and current data, including an overlay on a Passport vector chart or a separate tidal data window. As we noted above, the overlay option hampered performance. In addition, tides are only displayed for that day and cannot be advanced (or viewed in previous days), an odd restriction as one typically checks tides for future transit days, such as a next-day departure. We preferred the more information-rich and flexible window display of the standalone linked application, Tides & Currents Pro (see photo).

JEPPESEN MARINEVNS's tidal information can be overlaid directly on a chart, summarized through a tabbed window, or viewed graphically using the separate Tides & Currents Pro program.

If you use VNS with Passport Deluxe charts, the supplemental Data Pack contains Coast Pilot data for your unlocked region. However, this information is not accessed directly from the charts, as in Coastal Explorer or Chart Navigator Pro. In VNS, you select Coast Pilot from the menu, which opens a large PDF document in Adobe Acrobat. You can then use Acrobat's search engine to locate your topic.