charts

Poll of the Week: Electronic vs Paper Charts

Tags: · ais, boating, chartroom, charts, ecdis, electronic_charts, electronic_navigation, gps, marine_avigation, marine_electronics, Navigation, poll

Antique Chart Overlays – Google Mashup

Ever wonder how your voyage plan would look to Gerardus Mercator, John Speed or even Captain Cook? Laying out voyage plans has gotten easier in the past decade. From excel spreadsheets to nautical calculators and ECDIS programs, every Second Mate has a tool that assists him in laying out the best route to get his vessel from point A to point B. For a recent project here at gCaptain I laid out a voyage from Singapore to Europe with the exclusive use of Google Earth. This was, of course, not for navigational use but I was able to identify hazards I might not have caught on a paper chart or even an ECDIS. This got me thinking… how different would my voyage look 100 years ago using the charts and tools of the day.

Today’s find comes from the Google Latitude Blog and the David Rumsey Map Collection… historic chart overlays for google maps!

The above image shows small scale chart from 1790 depicting discoveries in the Pacific as well as the routes of three of Captain James Cook’s voyages. Using the overlay tool we are able to lay it over a self created google map and compare the results. While I’m still not sure the practical use for this technology it sure get’s the mind thinking.

Click Here to try it out.

Free Ship Simulator Games

Tags: · charts, google_maps, History, mashup, mashups

The 2008 Submarine Cable Map

.Telegeography.com is selling one of the most interesting world maps I’ve seen to date. The map depicts the over 120 subsea cables including detailed information on the major systems. You can get the free desktop wallpaper or purchase a poster version by clicking HERE.

Tags: · charts, undersea cable

Antipode Maps: The Far Side of the World

This map shows the antipodes of each point on the Earth’s surface – the points where the blue and pink overlap are land antipodes. Notice that most land has an antipode in the ocean. This map uses the Lambert azimuthal equal-area projection.

This map shows the antipodes of each point on the Earth’s surface – the points where the blue and pink overlap are land antipodes. Darker shades indicate areas of higher population density. This map uses the Equirectangular projection.

As a kid I wondered where I’d end up if I could drill a hole all the way through the earth. The answer was always China. That was before I knew the concept of Latitude and Longitude.

Thanks to the net, it’s much easier to make the calculation today. It is interesting to note that very little of the earths land mass overlaps.

Any number of Anitpode map links can make the calculation for you.
Wikipedia info here. You can create your own.

For the hooked on trivia buffs, here’s Wendy Carols’ Map Page.
(Ed. note: If you’re of my vintage you may remember Wendy’s (aka Walter) 1968 synthesizer classic Hooked on Bach.

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bitterend Antipode Maps: The Far Side of the World This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd of the net.