Boat relying upon an iPad for navigation crashes into a ferry

[tdcooper99]

Sucks to be this guy, but at least he didn't hurt anyone!

Boat relying upon an iPad for navigation crashes into a ferry after Wi-Fi goes out

[Shawnh]

The last sentence in the article says even more than using a WiFi only iPad for navigation

'Both vessels were under the command of experienced professional captains who should have known better.'

I can see why the guy got fired from his job.

[Guest]

gee

That's not being informed

Once out of cell service you have no aprox GPS because the phone has no GPS it just takes it from triangulation of phone signals

when riding in the bush its useless all dirt bike riders know that

I hope

[Pcpete]

Where is Darwin when he's so needed?

[green650]

I wonder how they avoided hitting ferries before the iPad was invented?

Trying to sell his boat...bet he had insurance.

[SomeSailor]

"Sea Q" post=795938 wrote:
Once out of cell service you have no aprox GPS because the phone has no GPS it just takes it from triangulation of phone signals

Actually, That's incorrect. You still have GPS without cell service. Assisted GPS is not available, and you cannot download maps (obviously) but teh GPS function works just fine.

[builderdude]

"SomeSailor" post=795958 wrote:

"Sea Q" post=795938 wrote:
Once out of cell service you have no aprox GPS because the phone has no GPS it just takes it from triangulation of phone signals

Actually, That's incorrect. You still have GPS without cell service. Assisted GPS is not available, and you cannot download maps (obviously) but teh GPS function works just fine.

Yep, if your iPad is cellular capable, sounds like the fella had a wifi only model. Oops inch:

[Guest]

Here's my two cents.

1. If the guy had a wi-fi only iPad he was beyond stupid. Why? No GPS without a good wi-fi connection.

2. If the guy had a cellular-capable iPad he was just stupid. Why? GPS works super-great with or without a cellular signal. The iPad's GPS antenna is on the chipset that provides the cellular antenna.

3. iPads don't have radar! So the only way to avoid the bigger boat is if he had AIS installed on the boat. And if he was using an iPad for navigation on a WWII boat he most likely did not have AIS or radar. Oh, and if he had a wi-fi only iPad with an AIS receiver (like ShipFree or lots of other AIS apps) as soon as he was out of wi-fi service he would have had no clue of other vessels.

It was a foggy day, but if he had been at the helm he would have seen the other boat in time to avoid the collision. Bad captaining...

[boatworkfl]

"Sea Q" post=795938 wrote:
gee

That's not being informed

Once out of cell service you have no aprox GPS because the phone has no GPS it just takes it from triangulation of phone signals

when riding in the bush its useless all dirt bike riders know that

I hope

I use my Samsung 10" Tablet 44 miles from Seward AK and into a cove and I have GPS working, I do not need cell phone service.

[SomeSailor]

Yep... bad all around.

I keep an iPad running (and two chartplotters) just in case I lost all power or something strange (and to keep up with IBNW/BOC)

[driz]

All I ever use is my smart phone and it always works fine. Of course being a little chicken I do keep looking outa that windshield cross referencing the sonar and slow down if it's dark or bad visibility.. Especially so if I am getting near potentially ugly things.

If you think that this guys problem is bad just wait till they get approval to run cargo ships across oceans with nobody on board. I saw something on the capability years ago on Popular Mechanics or some such place. Nothing to go wrong there :unsure:

[Ssjustaddwater]

Used with Bad Elf GPS unit and never a issue with losing GPS signal... have been using this system for Year around the Channel Islands off SoCal coast.

Easy to read and move around the boat. Best part is at night I can wake up and check drift on the hook with out getting up

[MonteVista]

Even though I admit cruising with just an iPAD guidance may be a bad idea, this guy's mistake was being in a shipping lane during fog and, apparently, going so fast that the crash sunk his boat. At the point when he lost his Wi-Fi (that point may have been) unknown to him, he should have known that he is near a shipping lane under fog. Wi-Fi working or not, his iPAD was not going to warn him about an oncoming ship. He should have taken sufficient precautions (reduced speed, lookout, running lights, blowing the horn, ...) so when he saw the ship he could take evasive maneuver. As it is, his boat would have sunk even if his iPAD was functioning but the other ship had veered off course.

My 2 cents.

[Metrodriver]

I just see this now, but there seems to be a misunderstanding about how gps works on some devices.
There is satellite gps and a-gps (assisted gps) that works with cell tower triangulation. In many devices you can turn off the a-gps and revert to pure satellite gps, but it takes a bit more battery power and does not work inside when the device can't find satellites.
Many generations of Samsung phones I have used I always turned the a-gps off to prevent data roaming overseas. I use OSMAND (using Open Street Maps, which are superior to google or apple maps when away from paved roads) as my navigation system, download the maps for country / area over wifi, turn on airplane mode (conserve battery and prevent data roaming) and go hiking or exploring. I have acurate position info even in cell tower-less areas. This program is available for android and ios, and has since a year or so a nautical function via a couple-of-dollars plug-in feature. Besides the automobile /walking / biking functions it comes with standard the nautical function has sea depth and other data. I am experimenting with it now.
I have stuck my phone in the window of plane, and the data it receives with the OSMAND program and phone in airplane mode is very acurate. Altitude within a few feet, airspeed spot-on.

For my work (pilot) we have been using pads for many years for navigation, using a program from Jeppesen. With cell data off, wifi off, airplane mode on it gets satellite gps data on the ground, and 2000 miles from the nearest piece of land, showing exactly where I am. Some coworkers use a stand-alone gps receiver (like Bad Elf) and link that via blue-tooth to the ipad. The heating elements in the windshield can block gps signals so when you pick up the ipad from its mount the signal disappears.

On the ipad under Privacy is Location Services: "which uses GPS, bluetooth, crowd-sourced wifi hotspot and cell tower locations to determine your approximate position".

My boat came with nothing but a brick-sized Magellan gps receiver that I intend to replace with an ipad, and use my phone as back-up. Aqua Map or Navionics...... that I don't know yet.

For the guy in the story, him running out of wifi or cell data coverage had nothing to do with his location. If he had AIS updates than he would lose those.
What I do wonder is why the bigger boat's radar did not pick him up?
I agree with Monte Vista on this.

[simo]

My old tablet picks up GPS satellites just fine without wifi. Not all do. Personally, I see nothing wrong with using an app like Navionics. Seems to me the app mirrors my Garmin GPS and as a bonus, the touch screen is easier than fiddling around with hard keys.

If your device doesn't have a built in GPS sensor, a gizmo like this can connect with bluetooth and deliver high accuracy:

https://gps.dualav.com/explore-by-product/xgps150a