If you already own cartography or don't want C–Map charts, a software–only edition of BoatCruiser ($399) may be purchased online through NavSim. If you already own C–Map MAX cartridges, these can be read only with a C–Map USB 1.0 multimedia reader, available directly from C–Map. The newer USB 2.0 multimedia reader offered by C–Map is currently not supported by NavSim; you must buy a dated PC–Planner kit containing the older reader and software for $179.
If you choose a C–Map option, the North America BoatCruiser package includes three C–Map discs and one unlock code. (All three regions are provided in advance for convenience, in anticipation that you will later purchase additional unlock codes.) Although NavSim promotes this as a "free unlock code for new users," it's a bit misleading. You have paid more than the retail C–Map price to receive that code. You do not receive an additional unlock code. Additional unlock codes, through C–Map, cost $199 for a Wide Chart Area, such as the U.S. East Coast and the Bahamas. A Megawide Chart Area, for an additional $249 per unlock code, covers an area such as The North American Atlantic Coast, Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean.
NavSim is a company that makes frequent updates to its software. The application automatically checks for updates and downloads the latest changes. Our package, shipped directly from NavSim, updated from version 2.0.1 to 2.0.17 upon installation.
Unfortunately, plan to spend quite a bit of time getting BoatCruiser installed and running. It literally took us eight hours–including multiple calls and emails to NavSim and C–Map–to get BoatCruiser and our C–Map charts installed. Our attempt to load the Maptech region 69 DVD did not go much better. After an hour of watching the green installation bar, we finally aborted with only 330 of the 645 NavPhotos loaded. Additionally, while using the program, we experienced several lock–ups that prompted us to "terminate the application." Connecting the GPS was a better experience–relatively speaking. However, BoatCruiser's installation "wizards" are anything but wizards. For example, the Device Finding Wizard does not scan the ports for a NEMA device. You must figure out and enter your own port and baud rate using the Window's Device Manager.
Most marketing teams are compelled to use terms like "quick installation," "highly intuitive," and "easy to use." These have become buzz–words in the e–charting arena. However, this series has highlighted that no e–charting package is so simple to use that it doesn't benefit from documentation.
BoatCruiser is not easy to get started and it fails to provide appropriate documentation to help the user through this learning process. A thin User Manual with eight pages of content is a poor introduction to a software package that purports to be "the world's first intelligent marine navigation system," bringing "aerospace style and predictive autopilot technology to the recreational boating market." Indeed, we found it ironic that a 12–page document with so little content contained a table of contents.
Understandably, many vendors are looking to eliminate documentation, claiming printing costs and rapidly changing features and functionality make them obsolete. But the fact remains that a retail software application, as opposed to a software utility, requires documentation. How can one work with a program that is doing parallel line indexing, AIS connection and display, or intelligent autopilot control without a manual?
One excellent solution many other e–charting vendors employ is a downloadable PDF manual that a user can choose to print on his or her own dime. Electronic documents let the vendor easily update and post the latest version while detailing new features and saving printing costs.
Unfortunately, printing BoatCruiser's Help Handbook is not an acceptable substitute for a User Manual. Instead, the document is an amalgam of discrete help menus with no index, table of contents, or identifiable sequence. Although the PDF is 265 pages–taking 10 minutes to download with a cable modem Internet connection–most pages consist of only a large screen shot with very little text. It was also riddled with typographic errors and inaccurate descriptions of the program's features and use.
