I teach a variety of ASA classes. I begin showing Aqua Map to students in ASA 103. It’s an introduction to coastal cruising. I work with them to help them understand distances, track our sailing days and understand coastal topography. In ASA 104 I ask the students to dive in and plan a route before the class starts. This pushes them to create routes and think about distances. When the class begins, we share our routes, come up with a common plan then export the routes and work from a common plan. We use Aqua Map to do running fixes, headings and bearings to waypoints and coastal objects. In ASA 106 we do all the above plus run the routes watching VMG and picking best points of tack and such. We review weather for the voyage. We also use Aqua Map for night bearings and Man Overboard training.
It’s very handy for trip planning and individual chart work. The boats I usually work on have a single chartplotter at the helm. This limits the time and scope of what students can accomplish during our course time. Having Aqua Map on their phone/tablet expands this time and helps my students get a grasp of real world navigation situations and trip planning more quickly.
Sam Moore, ASA Instructor
