Coastal Explorer™ is a sophisticated and full-featured, yet very easy to use navigation software package designed specifically for the pleasure boater.
With support for official raster and vector charts from almost every major hydrographic agency in the world, route planning features with multi-level undo capability, integrated gazetteer and Coast Pilot™ books, virtual instrument display, and obstacle alerts, Coastal Explorer will help you make your next cruise safer and more enjoyable.
"Stable, well-crafted, and loaded with fresh ideas."
-- Ben Ellison, Power & Motoryacht
Key Features
Superior Charting
Includes a Complete Set of US Charts
Fast and Clear Raster Chart Drawing
Elegant Vector Chart Presentation
Integrated Gazetteer, Coast Pilot® and Sailing Directions
Compatible with Many Electronic Chart Formats
Quilt Vector, Raster, and Photo Charts Together Seamlessly
Coastal Explorer let you choose the types of charts you want to use. You can even quilt several types of charts together!
VECTOR CHARTS
 Coastal Explorer uses S-57 ENC vector charts which are the only official vector charts produced by NOAA and the hydrographic offices in most of the rest of the world. Charts for most US waters are available free of charge from the NOAA and US Army Corps of Engineers websites and Coastal Explorer makes it very easy to download and install these charts.
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RASTER CHARTS
 If you prefer to use the older "raster" charts, or vector charts are not yet available for some of your favorite cruising spots, Coastal Explorer will also let you use raster charts in most popular formats, including the new BSB4 format from Maptech and NDI. Coastal Explorer includes Chart Kit / MAPTECH Region 1 - United States Planning Charts - a $199.95 value!
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PHOTO CHARTS
 Photo charts are not intended for navigation, but can be a very handy to supplement your charts. Coastal Explorer supports photo charts from Maptech, SoftChart International, and even GeoTIFF format images you can download from the Internet.
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TOPOGRAPHIC MAPS
 Topographic maps are not suitable for navigation either, but are very handy for hiking around that island you just anchored near! Coastal Explorer can use the topographic maps that are included in many of Maptech's ChartKits as well as the original USGS DRG files which are found in the GeoTIFF format.
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Superior Planning
Multi-level Undo and Redo
Powerful Searching
ETA Calculator
Route Obstacle Checking
Integrated Weather Forecasts
Tide Level and Tidal Current Predictions
Import Routes Created with Other Programs
Coastal Explorer makes it easy to plan your next cruising adventure with features like chart quilting, multi-level undo, a super-integrated gazetteer, a completly geo-referenced Coast Pilot, and route obstacle detection.
With chart quilting, there's no need to figure out which charts to open. Just zoom in and out and scroll around and the right charts will appear seamlessly quilted together.
Don't worry about making mistakes as you modify your route plan since you can always undo!
The gazetteer includes millions of places in the US, Canada, and Mexico and more countries are available. You can find any of these places by simply entering a name in the box on the toolbar!
The US Coast Pilot is tightly integrated into Coastal Explorer's charts. Just click somewhere and find out what the Coast Pilot has to say!
Obstacles along your route are pointed out to you as you are planning to help you plan a safe trip.
You can also maintain a separate collection of waypoints, routes, tracks, and boundaries for each trip (if you like). Coastal Explorer uses documents instead of a hidden database to keep track of all of your Navigation Objects so you can organize them however you want. You can even share them with your friends using e-mail, floppy disks, or USB Flash Drives!
Superior Navigation
Compatible with most GPS Receivers and Auto Pilots
Full-Screen Cruising Mode
Virtual Instrument Displays
Voice Alerts
Charted Obstacle Detection
AIS and MARPA Target Display
Day, Twilight, and Night Modes
Cruising is made easier with Coastal Explorer's full-screen Cruise Mode which replaces the standard Windows menus and toolbars with big fat buttons that are much easier to use while underway.
Choose from the usual automatic scrolling modes such as Follow Boat and Look Ahead, or use Coastal Explorer's exclusive Follow Leg-Line mode which will fill the screen with your boat and the active leg-line automatically scrolling and zooming as necessary.
Split the screen into two or three charts with a single key or button press. There's no need to resize or rearrange windows; Coastal Explorer takes care of it for you!
Orient the chart with North Up, Heading Up, or Course Up.
Voice Alerts are used to warn you of waypoint arrivals, depths out of range, and even charted obstacles along your path!
Virtual Instrument panels show you information from your instruments in large, easy to see displays. Coastal Explorer includes an analog compass with waypoint arrow, analog wind, cross track error, and rudder angle displays, depth and temperature graphs, and many digital display options.
Coatal Explorer can use and display information from your GPS, heading sensor, depth sounder, autopilot, water speed and temperature sensors, wind speed and direction instruments, RADAR, and AIS receiver.
To Use Coastal Explorer, you need:
A PC with Pentium 350 MHz or higher processor, Pentium III or higher recommended.
Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP or higher operating system.
128 MB of RAM or above. More is recommended, especially when using raster charts.
500 MB of available hard-disk space (requirements depend on installation options).
Super VGA (800x600) or higher resolution monitor. 1024x768 or higher is recommended.
A GPS with appropriate PC interface required for some features.