User Testimony of MaxSea Time Zero Explorer
By Keith Johnson, Game Fisherman, Port Stephens
JN Taylor the Australian distributor for Furuno, Maxsea and other leading brands of marine electronics was once again in 2009 the major sponsor for the largest offshore game fishing tournament in the southern hemisphere – the 2009 NSW Riviera Interclub . The Interclub event runs over 10 days at the end of February each year and is as much a festival for life around the water as a fishing tournament. Hosted at the picturesque coastal holiday town of Port Stephens on the Central coast of New South Wales two hours drive North of Sydney, the local fishing grounds are world renowned for proving one of the most consistent fisheries for all species of Marlin.
As part of the JN Taylor sponsorship package the recently released Maxsea Time Zero Explorer software was offered as the major prize for the mid week Australian International Bill Fishing Tournament (AIBT).
The winner of this event and the very happy new owner of a Maxsea navigation system was Keith Johnson. Keith is an avid boater who actually resides in Port Stephens. Having owned many boats Keith had used many brands of navigation equipment although he had not previously used PC based navigation software. He was apprehensive initially of such products, believing it may be more complicated than traditional electronics – his experience once using the Maxsea Time Zero system on board his brand new 48’ Riviera luxury sports fisher proved to him this perception could hardly be further from the truth, his comment when asked on the user interface with Time Zero was “the MaxSea Time Zero is so simple to use. Everything is at your fingertips on the screen. Rarely do I need to go through menus even to plan a trip. It’s pretty much point and click.”
Keith is currently travelling on board his vessel with his family through the Whitsunday Islands, a group of some 70 isolated islands located off the Central Queensland coast. Navigating in this area requires careful planning and Keith now uses his Maxsea software every day. “The ability to enter waypoints, routes and even turn the navigation chart into 3D couldn’t be easier. The route planning is the easiest I’ve ever seen” Keith also mentioned the redraw speed, called Time Zero Chart Redraw, was super smooth and incredibly responsive. “I now use the MaxSea Software above my current electronics. The ability to change the course of a route planned is so simple I can do it while underway.”
Keith also uses the weather download feature finding it simple to use. “The weather? Easy. I use it all the time, almost every day in fact. I just connect to the internet which we do most days for email via our mobile connection. Then, start the MaxSea Software, click the Update tab, Weather Update and the software pretty much does the rest. I can select a time and date, by simply sliding the time and date bar on the bottom of the screen and see it play live across my screen overlaid on the chart. We now even plan day trips using it, deciding which side of islands would be more protected from prevailing winds before we go.”
Keith is looking forward to the 2010 sports fishing season kicking off in his home town when he returns from their current trip, intending to put to the test some of the more advanced features of his Time Zero software utilizing the current and sea surface downloads to further enhance his catch strike rate.
So whether cruising or sports fishing Maxsea Time Zero definitely adds another dimension to your boating experience and you don’t have to take our word for that – simply ask Keith should you see him on the water, in his words “It’s brilliant!”
