MaxSea: Software Review

September 4 , 2007
By David Bryant

About 5 or 6 years ago when GPS plotter systems where in the thousands and I had a spare Macintosh PowerPC (75 mhz) I decided to try and integrate my Macintosh computer with my GPS. The thought was that not only would I be able to save some cash but I would also be able to use a 15" monitor for displaying charts rather than a 7" LCD screen on a GPS unit. The program I used to handle the communication between the Garmin GPS, the Macintosh computer and the charts was MaxSea. Flash forward to 2007 and GPS plotter prices have come down dramatically, but the screens are still tiny and they still don't include some of the nifty features of MaxSea's software.

MaxSea is a marine navigation program developed in France (but their main customers are Americans). It runs on your Windows or, for you Apple lovers, Macintosh computers. This means you’ll need to have a full fledged computer available on your boat so for the day-cruisers with smaller boats, this program probably isn’t for you. For the boaters with larger boats who go away for multiple nights, this can be the ultimate gizmo in your navigation arsenal.

Screenshot taken from MaxSea

The program hosts a variety of features, with the most important of these features being the ability to support the most common types of charts (both raster and vector) including those from Mapmedia, Maptech, C-MAP, ARCS, Softcharts and NDI. Basically it’ll support almost any kind of digital chart. Maxsea can do all of the things you could do in a standalone GPS unit such as waypoint and route plotting. It can also integrate with your fuel gauges (prepare to fork over big bucks though) and depth sounders. Check out their website for all the features. However, by far, the best feature is the ability to use a huge screen for viewing your charts. With most computer LCD monitors now being 17” and over, this is nearly 3 times the size of GPS Plotter screens which are normally around 6”. Browsing the charts and menu system is also a lot more fluent with a keyboard and mouse rather than using the tiny buttons located on GPS’.

Once the program is installed and running, it runs flawlessly. Unfortunately, installing the program can be a bit of the pain. The main obstacle is getting the program to recognize your GPS. This isn’t a huge ordeal for the tech savvy, but for technology illiterates, it could be frustrating. There can also be some minor issues with viewing charts. Thankfully, MaxSea’s techsupport is solid, and has customer service reps in the U.S. so you don’t have to worry about calling France. However, the biggest drawback is the price. It’s around $1300. Ouch! But for the boater who has all the toys, what’s another $1300, right?

Website: www.maxsea.com