Category: seanav

SeaNav Autopilot (aka SeaNav and the autonomous boat part 2)

Automatically follow your route with SeaNav’s autopilot mode. SeaNav can control Raymarine and Navico/B&G/Simrad/Lowrance auto tillers and helms to sail a SeaNav route. You can also use SeaNav on your iPhone or Apple Watch as a remote control for your Raymarine Tiller and Wheel Pilot

Please note the SeaNav autopilot feature is currently in Beta and requires an NMEA to WIFI adapter like this NMEA3WIFI gateway . Drop us an email to help@pocketmariner.com if you would like to take part in the Beta program.

Here is a demonstration sailing a SeaNav demo route in the Pocket Mariner’s shore based lab with a Raymarine ST1000+ Tiller pilot.

SeaNav (v5.5 build 8 or later) running on an iPhone is connected to the Tiller pilot via SEATALK over Wifi using an NMEA3WIFI gateway. The current boat’s heading is 110° and we are in Auto mode on the Tiller pilot maintaining that heading.

We start sailing the route in SeaNav by tapping the sailboat icon bottom left, note the BWP (Bearing to the first Waypoint is)  at the top centre of the screen is 113°.

SeaNav tells the autopilot the course to steer to the first Waypoint from our current position. As the BWP is 113° and the boat  is currently sailing 110° the tiller pilot tells us it needs to change course (it beeps) and shows us which way it is going to turn;  to Starboard on a new course heading of 113°.

and automatically turns the boat to head in that direction. The tiller pilot shows us the distance to the 1st Waypoint is now 0.1nm using the information from SeaNav.

We reach the 1st waypoint and SeaNav tells the tiller pilot we need to change course again to Waypoint 2. The tiller pilot sounds the Waypoint changed alert and shows us the new course , the direction it is going to turn (to port) and turns to it.

The tiller pilot changes our boat’s heading ( simulated by rotating the tiller pilot on the desktop)  until we are lined up with 71° (note the t in front of the course showing it is in tracking mode). The tiller display then continually cycles through the new course information showing us the course, off track error and distance to the second waypoint (DWP) 1.2nm updated by SeaNav as we sail towards waypoint 2.

and here we are heading for Waypoint 2 in SeaNav.

SeaNav can also remotely control the Auto tiller buttons and view its status (tap the autohelm button towards the top right of the screen in SeaNav to show the remote control buttons and Autopilot status) :-

The SeaNav Apple Watch can also control the Raymarine AutoPilot. Tap the autopilot symbol (blue bottom centre) on the Waypoint watchface to view the AutoPilot status and controls:-

Setting up SeaNav to use a Raymarine AutoPilot with the NMEA3WIFI device.

Hardware setup

Raymarine ST1000+ and 2000+

Only 3 wires need to be connected, Yellow SeaTalk, 12V brown (+ve) and blue (-ve).

The Raymarine ST1000+/20000+ Tiller pilot has 5 wires in its connecting cable – brown, blue, yellow, green and white. 

Connect the yellow SeaTalk wire/terminal(4)  from the Raymarine Autohelm/tiller to the Data terminal (3rd in from the left) on the NMEA3WIFI.

Connect 12V and GND on the NMEA3WIFI to the 12V brown (+ve) and blue (-ve) auto tiller power leads or boat supply (pin 1 +and 2 -). 

Raymarine ST4000+

Connect the NMEA3WIFI to 12V and the SeaTalk bus using a SeaTalk cable from the control unit rear as above. The correct part number for the cable with a connector one end and bare wires the other is D229 (also Rul-4001-136-A). You can use a SeaTalk cable and cut a connector off one end. The SeaTalk cable data wire is yellow, the + and – 12V wires are usually red  (+ve) and black (-ve/gnd).

NMEA3WIFI configuration

You need to have Version 2.9 or later of the firmware to work correctly with iOS*. You can get the latest firmware from here:-

https://www.vela-navega.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=290&sid=20a9808ab3ef6544d96d82ff35e1b656

You can auto-configure the NMEA3WIFI with one tap directly from SeaNav. Make sure your iPhone is connected to the NMEA3WIFI network in your device Wifi Settings. Open SeaNav and go to Settings/Advanced Settings and then tap the bottom line. It will let you know if its successfully updated the NMEA3WIFI settings for you. You are then ready to start using it and can skip to the next section “iPhone and SeaNav configuration”

Screenshot

Alternatively you can configure the NMEA3WIF manually. Connect to the NMEA3WIFI by connecting to the NMEA3WIFI network and browsing to 192.168.4.1 in Safari or Chrome. On the Home page change the SSID to NMEA3WIFI:NG so that it will work correctly with iOS*. 

You can also set the NMEA3WIFI to access via your local Wifi network (External network ) but this is not a necessity.

We need to set the gateway to receive commands via TCP from SeaNav and send them out over Seatalk and receive SeaTalk messages from the AutoPilot and send them out back to SeaNav. Set the SEATALK1 PORT SETTINGS as below ( ST->TCP).

You also need to set Additional Settings for the ST out to let SeaNav see the Raymarine Autopilot status information. Change the ADDITIONAL SEATALK1 SETTINGS from 0: Default to 1: ADD SOME $STALK and then tap SAVE and RETURN. See screenshot below.

Set the WIFI PORTS SETTINGS on the HOME page to 2001 for TCP and set TCP->ST so SeaNav can send proprietary SeaTalk data to the Autopilot. 

*The :NG  suffix allows the iPhone/iPad to use cellular data for the internet at the same time as it is connected to the NMEA3WIFI network.

iPhone and SeaNav configuration

Set the iPhone to use the NMEA3WIFI:NG wifi network and connect to it. Check it is connected by browsing to 192.168.4.1 in Safari to see the NMEA3WIFI Home page. 

Now configure SeaNav to talk and listen to the AutoPilot. Go to Settings/AIS, GPS & NMEA Link .

Configure it to use TCP to IP address 192.168.4.1 , port 2001 (theTCP port number we just set on the NMEA3WIFI). Set the AutoPilot switch on. If the hardware is all connected up you can tap Start and should see live data from the AutoPilot (via the NMEA3WIFI). Blue for received messages and green for sent.

You are now ready to sail a SeaNav route automatically. Just start sailing a route or to a point by tapping the Sailboat icon. If you want to disconnect SeaNav from the Autopilot tiller/helm tap the Standby button on the autopilot. Re-connect to the SeaNav route by tapping the Auto button. To completely disconnect, turn off the Autopilot switch in SeaNav Settings/AIS, GPS & NMEA Link or stop the link.

Setting up SeaNav to use a Navico (B&G,Simrad,Lowrance) auto tiller/helm or any other NMEA compliant autopilot.

Use an N2K0183 gateway to connect SeaNav to the Autopilot via Wifi and NMEA2000 or NMEA0183.

Hardware set up.

NMEA2000

Connect the N2K0183 to your NMEA2000 bus.

NMEA0183

Use the output from P2 (A2/B2) on the N2K0183 board to connect to the RX +/- inputs on the Autopilot. Connect the autopilot TX +/- (if available) to the P1 A1/B1 port connections. 

N.B. A is equivalent to + and B to -.

N2K0183 configuration

You need to have Version 28 or later of the firmware* to work correctly with iOS. You can get the latest firmware from here:-

https://www.vela-navega.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=443

Connect to the N2K0183 by connecting to the N2K0183 network and browsing to 192.168.4.1 in Safari or Chrome. On the Home page change the SSID to N2K0183:NG so that it will work correctly with iOS and reconnect to it.

You can also set the N2K0183 to access via your local Wifi network (External network ) but this is not a necessity.

The configuration below works with NMEA2000 and NMEA0183. For NMEA0183 ensure the Serial port setting baud rates for P1 and P2 match the baud rate on your Autopilot. In the example below they are both set to 4800.

iPhone and SeaNav configuration

The same as for Raymarine above except to connect to the N2K0183:NG Wifi network.

N.B. There is no remote button control capability for Navico autopilots like there is with Raymarine.

SeaNav on the Apple Watch

Unlike other Marine Navigation apps on the AppStore, SeaNav comes with a really useful and free Apple Watch App which shows live navigation information, waypoints, compass, wind display and AIS radar. Waypoint reached and CPA (AIS collision) alerts also show up on your Apple Watch.

You can add a launch complication for SeaNav to your main Watchface, so you can tap and go straight to SeaNav.

You can also launch SeaNav by tapping its icon in the Apps view on the watch

Stop and start sailing a route by tapping the boat icon with the cross on it.

SeaNav is now Sailing the currently selected route with the boat symbol showing the heading. SeaNav on your iPhone will also now be in Sailing mode recording your track etc.

Navigation display

Swipe left to view the WayPoint display. This shows the current Waypoint number, Cross Track error (XTE) and direction to turn to get back on track , vector made good (VMG), bearing to waypoint (BWP) and distance to Waypoint (DWP). You can jump to the previous or next waypoint using the arrows at the bottom of the screen.

Waypoint display

Swipe left again to view the compass showing heading (or course over ground (cog)) with a blue line showing the route direction.

Compass display

Next up is the wind display. This shows a compass with boat heading up, true and apparent wind direction plus the port (red) and starboard (green) laylines ( for sailing). The bearing to the next waypoint is also shown in light blue. The wind display can either use NMEA wind data from a wind instrument on board via Wifi or the current local wind data from the SeaNav live internet weather service (IAP).

Wind display

Finally you can check the boats around you with the AIS Map display. CPA boats are shown with a red circle on the map and in red in the scrollable list below. Tap on an item in the list to get more info and a photo.

AIS Map display.

You can try all these features for free in simulation mode with the SeaNav app which is free to download from the AppStore.

Australian and French charts

Australian and French vector (ENC) charts are now available for SeaNav.

The French charts include live tidal stream information up to 7 days ahead, especially important for the northern coast and channel. Here is an example for the Golfe du Morbihan in Britanny where PocketMariner’s Captain has personally experienced the very fast tidal flows :-

The free version of SeaNav has demo routes which let you try all the advanced features such as AIS (collision detection), Weather, Wind and Depth displays, Tidal Streams, Augmented Reality and of course the charts for free. New demo routes have been added for France and Australia. The demo route for Australia is from Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast:-

You can get SeaNav for iPhone, iPad and Apple Silicon Macs free from the AppStore here now:-

https://apps.apple.com/app/seanav/id857841271

SeaNav – Portuguese charts

SeaNav now has vector charts available for Portugal, The Azores and the Madeira islands based on the latest official Hydrographic Office data. These work seamlessly together with the existing charts for Spain and France. The charts include the full range of scales down to harbour approaches.

You can download the new Portuguese charts now by going to Settings in SeaNav and selecting SeaNav Chart Store/Portuguese Charts.

Lisbon Harbour entrance

SeaNav – Export and import routes via email

The simplest way to share a route with one of your other devices is to export a route via email to an email address you can read on the other device. The other way is to use Dropbox if you have a Dropbox account. Dropbox is bit more “automatic” once you have logged in and lets you browse your saved routes.

This article explains how to do it via email.


Tap the “zigzag” routes icon on the bottom toolbar and select Manage routes. Select the route you want to export by tapping the i button on its right. Then tap the share icon on the left toolbar ( square with arrow pointing out of it). Select Email as kmz and then fill out the email address to send to.

Open the email on your other device. When you open the email there will be a kmz file attached at the bottom of the email. Tap the kmz file image to download it

and then tap the share button bottom left to open it (2) .

Choose what you want to open the download with – scroll along or tap more if you can’t see SeaNav in the initial list of icons – choose SeaNav and it will import it and open SeaNav on the new route.

SeaNav and an autonomous boat

Read about the latest development with SeaNav and the autonomous boat here

We have downsized the Pocket Mariner test boat from a catamaran cruiser to a catamaran dinghy (Dart 18) and are doing our bit for Net Zero and our ears with an electric outboard.

We chose the Torqeedo 1103C which has slightly more power than an e-Propulsion and also had the benefit of being available rather than on a 6 month back order. It is a revolution compared to a petrol outboard. Totally silent apart from the sound of water flowing past the hull, instant start, no oil or smelly petrol and fumes. A real joy, here is it in action on the river Wye:-

As well as using the test boat for testing our marine navigation apps we got inspired to take the boat to the next level and see if we could automate it and ultimately use SeaNav to control it to follow a SeaNav route.

Two steps:-

  1. A bluetooth LE enabled autohelm attachment to control the outboard direction
  2. Add the bluetooth driver capability to SeaNav and get it to maintain course and change course at Waypoints.

A possible 3rd step is to add a remote throttle control too so we can go fully autonomous!

This article covers step 1.

Step 1. Bluetooth iOS remote for Navico TP5000

Autohelm units are very expensive ( over £400) and none offer remote bluetooth control. We couldn’t find one that supported remote NMEA0183 control either. So we bought a second hand Navico TP5000 unit off eBay and adapted it to support Bluetooth using an Arduino BLE nano33 board and 3 relays attached inside the housing to the switches. The project design, instructions and code is here https://github.com/electricpocket/autopilot. This could also be adapted to control a Raymarine Autohelm unit.

Here is the Navico TP5000 in manual mode attached to the boat and Torqeedo outboard:-

and here is the TP50000 controlled with our iPhone autopilot app:-

Next is to test this on the water and then move on to Step 2…..here

Please contact help@pocketmariner.com if you have any questions or suggestions.

Setting up club race courses with SeaNav

You can use SeaNav to enter and edit race courses, share these with others and navigate the course. Typically a club will have several race marker buoys and on any particular day set up a course using a subset of them plus possibly other fixed buoys in a particular order to best suit the conditions. This article shows you how easy and useful it is to do this using SeaNav in three easy steps:-

  • Ready. Enter all the race markers as POIs ( and use the SeaNav yellow flag race marker style). Typically you only need to do this once a year or less.
  • Set. Create a route from the ones you want to use as the course.
  • Go. Start racing the course.

First step – Ready. Set up all the club’s race markers as POIs in SeaNav. For this example we will have 5 race marker buoys labelled A through E. Create each one by long pressing on the chart and tapping “Add POI here”

You can enter the buoy name in the edit screen that pops up and also choose the marker type (icon on left above the name field) e.g a yellow flag for a race marker). You can edit the Position Lat/Long if you want to make it more precise/accurate. You can also import the markers from kmz files.

After adding all the race markers, which you typically only need to do once a season, the next step is to set up the course for the day.

Second Step – Set: Enter the course as a New Route.

Tap the route/poi symbol on the bottom toolbar and then tap “New route”

Enter a race start Waypoint or tap the POI race marker you want to be the start of the race and select “Add Waypoint for POI”. “A” in this example. Cycle through the rest of the markers in the order you want them adding them as waypoints . Here we are adding C and D and then ending back up at A.

You can end back at the start or at a different marker. You can set a race start/end line using a start and end waypoint markers. Enter a name for the course/route now or later in Manage Routes. Tap Done when you have finished. You can now share the route with others via email or dropbox and also send it to your own email as a back up. In Route details you can see the overall route length and distances between waypoints.

Final Step – Go: To start sailing the course just tap the Sailboat icon bottom left. It will mark the first course mark of the race with a star and show you the distance, bearing and ETA to it. When you reach it, SeaNav will automatically set the next race waypoint for you. You can manually choose the next waypoint in the route using the forward and back tab arrows in the navigation HUD at the top of the screen.

Get racing and good luck!

Tidal Streams for SeaNav

You can now view the current and predicted tidal flow rates and directions live on SeaNav’s UK and IE vector charts.

We use the official chart Tidal diamond symbol, rotating it to point in the flow direction. Blue means the rate is decreasing, red and its 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 internet coverage as well.

The new Tidal Stream feature requires SeaNav 5.3 or later and uses official data from the UK Hydrographic Office, updated annually. A current UK & IE chart subscription is required to view the data. We hope to add Tidal Streams for other areas where available if they prove popular ( FR, NL & BE, DE… ). Please email us and let us know.

Entering routes and waypoints with SeaNav on a Mac

Here is how to enter routes and waypoints in SeaNav Mac
Left mouse click on the chart and select “Start new route here”
Screenshot 2019-05-21 at 12.48.31.png
A green pin will be placed on the map and the Navigation panel will display on the left with the first waypoint information.
To add the next waypoint move to another point and left mouse click and select “Add waypoint here”.

A red pin will appear with a blue line (route) from the first pin.
Screenshot 2019-05-21 at 12.48.59.png
You can add as many waypoints as you require and drag and drop the waypoint markers using a long mouse select on them.

Tap the i button on a Waypoint to give it a name ( optional) and view the full lat and long position ( including when you drag and drop it) so you can set its location precisely.

Screenshot 2019-05-21 at 12.53.03.png
Click on Done when finished and you can then sail the route at any time by pressing Sail. You can also select a previously saved route, Sail it , edit it or export it.
You can add a set of existing waypoints from a spreadsheet following this blog article:-
Here’s our guide on iPhone which also has some relevance to Mac. You can also export/import routes between the iOS SeaNav and Mac SeaNav app and also view them in Google Earth.
You can view the routes at any time by tapping the Navigation tab – there is a Demo route in the Solent included with the app that you can use to play with (tap the i button to view the route details and select Edit Route) :-
Screenshot 2019-05-21 at 12.58.45.png