Here is an interesting program from cruiser Bill Stockton that takes screen shots of Google Earth images and facilitates using them with a variety of charting programs.
We have not had a chance to test this ourselves, and in the interim asked Bill to put together a short blurb which you can access here. Let us know what you think.
Posted by Steve Dashew (June 12, 2011)
June 14th, 2011 at 5:09 am
Somewhat useful but WAY overpriced!
June 14th, 2011 at 11:50 pm
Hi Terry:
We are not sure how one values software. However our feeling is t hat the US$99. price f or Chart Aid is worth paying if you need the ability to integrate satellite images with your charts, in which case it is a bargain.
June 16th, 2011 at 7:46 pm
I have been using the free program GEKAP to create BSB files from Google Earth.
There is a thread at the cruisers forum with lots of detail http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f121/google-earth-to-bsb-kap-43680.html.
Simple automated use allows the user to create a library of images/”charts” when online. Comparison of the locations of numerous features, headlands, markers, etc, with the same locations on electronic charts is spot on in the Bay of Islands. I have used two different nav programs on my laptop and both are compatible with these images ( Maxsea and OpenCPN ). I plan to use this type of image (with extreme caution) in areas where charts are older and not accurately located eg Pacific Islands.