Linux GPS

As I eluded to in my last post the Linux GPS software OpenCPN is working great! It accurately plots the course and works with my DeLorme LT-40. All I had to do was install the GPS daemon. In Ubuntu all you need to do is enter the following at the terminal:
sudo apt-get install gpsd
Then I added this script to my box and run it when I run OpenCPN:

#!/bin/sh
sudo killall gpsd
sudo gpsd -n -D 2 /dev/ttyUSB0
xgps -speedunits knots -l

Many thanks to Thomas, user cagney over on the Cruiser Forums, he wrote the code. Just save it as a text file and make it executable. I named mine startgps and run it like this:
./startgps

I'm excited by the options to include AIS and autopilot functionality with OpenCPN but don't have the hardware to try and integrate.

Sailing to Langley

Last weekend Natalie and I made our first overnight trip out to Langley. The town of Langley is located 9 miles away from Everett on Whidbey Island. We set out on Saturday morning at about 11 am with winds forecast at 6 to 11 knots. As we left port the visibility was great, able to see all the way to Mt. Baker. With the great visibility there was no wind. We motored out towards Gedney Island, in the middle of Posession Sound on our course for Langley. There we found wind and made 4 knots in the general direction we wanted to go.

On the way over I got to use my Netbook with OpenCPN and it performed well, plotting our position and changing charts automatically. I will buy paper charts to compliment the areas we'll be sailing for future adventures.

Pulling in to Langley was easy but I was nervous because the guide book said "approach the entrance from the South" and all I could see was island. We actually approach from the West, then turn North. Too far south and there might not have been enough water. I'd arranged mooring before by emailing the harbormaster at PortofSouthWhidbey dot com. Harbormaster Rick assigned us berth B-7 and it was easy to find. When we came in he met us at the slip to help us tie up along with a friendly dog. The cost for overnight moorage was $28 including electric hookup.

From there we explored Langley on foot, our dog Koku in tow. From the statue of the boy and his dog overlooking the Sound to the many shops lining the streets Langley made a great first "Liberty Port" for Airborne's crew.

Later that night we put the in port systems through their paces, cooking dinner on the stove, steam setting off the smoke detector. Lighting the kerosene stove for heat, augmented by the electric heater brought the temperature inside up to a comfortable 67 degrees. I even shed my sweatshirt it felt that good!

The next morning with the boat still covered in frost we cast off our lines and motored back to Everett. We used the Tillermaster for most of the trip and it operated flawlessly. All in all it was a great shakedown trip. All our systems worked well and now we're ready to go further, Kingston, here we come!

About my boat

She's a Catalina 27, made in 1973. Yes, I know that she's old but in very good shape. I took a look at boats from the 80's that weren't cared for as meticulously as she was and I'm very impressed. Here are her characteristics:

Leading Particulars:
LOA: 28 ft
LOD: 26.8 ft
LWL: 21.8 ft
Beam: 8.8 ft
Draft: 4.0 ft
DraftMin: 3.0 ft
Displacement: 7,300 lbs
Ballast: 3,150 lbs

Major Systems:
Kerosene Heat
Marine Head
Potable Water
Propane Stove
12V Power (Shore and Ship's)
115 Shore Power
Atomic 4 Engine
Electronics

I bought Airborne as the third owner since her initial commissioning in 1973. She was held by a gentleman who moored her in Friday Harbor until 2009 when I became the lucky owner. She was surveyed in Fall 2009 by Stephen from Global Marine Surveyors, Inc and given a clean bill of health. Later I will go by each major system to give a better idea of the overall boat makeup.

Installing a free chart plotter

Since I began boating I've wanted to know where I am at all times. It's important so I know the depth of water around me so there's no embarrassment of running aground. I've been using computers for a while and prefer using my Mac or Linux computer and thought it would be a great idea to use my Asus Netbook as a chart plotter. After much searching on the web I found OpenCPN. I initially found good info about it on the Sailnet and Cruisers Forum. The project is Open Source and seems well supported and is under development.

Installation:
To install I went to the SourceForge Website and downloaded the .deb file since I'm running Ubuntu on my Netbook. Note that this method of installation works only for Ubuntu.
I opened the terminal and tried to install the package:
sudo dpkg -i opencpn_1.3.4_i386.deb
An error was returned saying an unmet dependancy needed installation so then I installed libwtxgtk2.8-0:
sudo apt-get install libwtxgtk2.8-0
Then I tried installing the package again:
sudo dpkg -i opencpn_1.3.4_i386.deb
Success!

Then I opened the program and it didn't have any charts loaded so I downloaded them from the NOAA website. I navigated to the west coast and chose "Download RNC" from the right side and then chose "OK" on the next website. I unzipped the files to my home folder.



Next, I opened the "Toolbox" by clicking on the wrench icon. At first I found it tricky to get the "Charts" tab to open. It requires a quick double click action. Then I selected the charts directory and it sucked all the charts up and I was ready to go!

It took about a half hour to get everything installed and I'm happy it's working now!

Next I have to get back home to my boat and plug in my GPS Receiver, a DeLorme Earthmate GPS LT-40. I've researched online and there is kernel support so all I should need to do is plug it in, start the computer, check dmesg and find the line about which device I should tell OpenCPN to look for the GPS input on. It'll probably be something like /dev/ttyUSB0. More on that later!

Online Sailing Log

For anyone who's interested in sailing from Everett, WA this is the blog for you! I've recently purchased a 27' Catalina and you can follow my wife, Natalie, my dog, Koku and I sailing around Everett, Washington.