In March 2015 a MaxSea technical training session was given to resellers in the MaxSea International Headquarters in Bidart, south of France.
The MaxSea Regional Sales Manager for France, Sandrine Abadie attended the event, as well as the MaxSea Technical Trainer Thierry Callède.
Thierry Callède (centre back) with MaxSea resellers who attended the training
Thierry Callède, longtime MaxSea technical trainer, led a technical presentation of MaxSea products, focusing in particular on the Professional TimeZero range of software products: MaxSea TimeZero ECS and PLOT.
Regional Sales Manager for France, Sandrine Abadie, with attendees of the MaxSea Technical Training
This was a good opportunity for our distribution network to learn about the new features available in the software and of course, to brush up on their understanding of how to integrate TimeZero software with compatible FURUNO hardware, such as the NavNet 3D, NavNet TZtouch and a range of their radars and sounders.
We would like to thank our partner network, which throughout the years has succeeded in making our software the leading solution on the boating and fishing markets.
To stay safe onboard, it helps to know what the most common causes of boat accidents actually are. Here, we list 4 of them so you can make sure to avoid them happening to you!
1. Not being prepared for the weather
Poor visibility can make boating extremely difficult – and sometimes very dangerous. It is indispensable to check the marine weather forecast before leaving port. Be sure that you and your boat are able to handle the weather that is forecast. Boaters can face problems such as lightning or waterspouts if they do not keep informed of the weather.
Luckily, this is easy to do in MaxSea TimeZero, which includes free and unlimited GRIB file weather forecast downloads. Simply use an Internet connection to download marine weather forecast for the area of your choice. This information can be overlaid on your chart and you can animate the weather to see how it will progress for the next 16 days.
2. Not keeping lookout
When boats experience collisions, the most common reason given is failing to keep a lookout. Objects in the sea and other boats can approach extremely quickly, and it’s important to always be aware of your surroundings.
An effective way to do this in MaxSea TimeZero is to to use the built-in AIS target overlay. You just need to connect an AIS-receiver to view the position, speed and direction of each AIS target near your boat. You can easily set up a guard zone around your vessel. If a target enters this zone, an alarm will sound from your computer to warn you of a nearby boat. If you use radar onboard, even better. This will allow you to view ARPA targets on your MaxSea TimeZero chart. Display radar overlay on MaxSea TimeZero Explorer if you are using a natively-compatible radar.
3. Falling over board
This is an obvious one. It can easily happen and will usually just cause some embarrassment but nothing more. However, if you knock your head when falling, it is very dangerous. If the passenger loses consciousness, it is imperative that they are wearing a life jacket.
Always wear your life jack when on board! According to US Coast Guard statistics, around half of the drowning fatalities in boating involve boaters without life jackets.
Also, try to always wear the emergency engine cut-off switch lanyard so that you can cut the boat’s engine. This prevents the boat from riding away from you and also prevents you getting run over by the boat if it turns in hard circles.
Hopefully, you never need it, but just in case, remember that there is a MOB tool (Man Over Board) in MaxSea TimeZero to mark the exact position of the fall. Then use the Go-To tool to send your boat back to position.
4. Running Out of Gas
If you are in a calm area, this is usually not a huge problem. Just call a towing agency and they can bring you enough fuel to return to port. However, there are many areas with strong currents, or approaching waterfalls where you definitely don’t want to run out.
In this case, prevention is definitely better than cure. Use the 1/3 rule. One third of your fuel going out, 1/3 coming home and 1/3 for what you didn’t expect. Next, always leave with a full tank and know your fuel consumption rate.
If you have a fuel gauge on board, connect it to MaxSea TimeZero so that you can constantly monitor your fuel rate and level.
Unfortunately, these are just a few of the causes of boat accidents. Boating can be dangerous, so please follow this advice and always think safety first!
We just wanted to let you know we have fresh new NOAA charts for both Raster and Vector format. There is also Block charts update only available for TZ Professional v3. Please consult the list to see which charts are involved.
Check out our Facebook page to find examples of the improvements to the charts and find out about big changes in an area near you that you may not have been aware of: Vector | Raster
Updated NOAA Vector Charts (S57): This Edition adds 71 new Vector Charts to the library as well as many other chart updates.
Updated NOAA Raster Charts: This new edition includes the latest chart updates that can be found on the NOAA paper charts.
Read full information about these chart updates in this PDF file.
Example of improvement to the NOAA vector charts: now buoys are numbered (right)
NOAA charts are totally free of charge so you can download them right now, to make sure that you’re using the most up-to-date chart data available for US waters.
This week, MaxSea partner Olivier Journaux, A.K.A. Cpt. OJ, gives his advice on how to find the best fishing spots. He does this both by using the right onboard equiment, and by understanding the types of areas that certain fish like to be found. Cpt. OJ is an accomplished athlete who now provides sport fishing lessons in France.
When fishing with a line, jigging or vertical bait fishing, it has become essential to be extremely precise. In my line of work, I coach recreational sport fishing.
For this, it is important for me to position the boat as close as possible to the fish so that my customers can enjoy close contact with the beautiful fish.
It is also essential to constantly discover new fishing areas, which allow me to manage the amount of fishing in each spot. In this way, I take one or two fish per area out of the water and practice the “catch and release” technique that I described in this earlier MaxSea blog post here.
Then I move on to another area before returning again several days later.
Finding predator fish
To catch a predator fish, first we must find the place it is most likely to be. This is obviously the biggest job, the hardest and longest one to master.
Where are the fish
95% of the time, bars, shade-fish and saithe can generally be found near the water surface. They position themselves above their prey and upstream of the current. The pout, their main food source, usually hides in hollows. As a result, it is very common to catch bars and lean on rock surfaces as this is where the pouts can be found.
Onboard equipment
To be able to localise the fish, it is essential to have a sounder and GPS system with nautical charts. Unfortunately electronic charts are never 100% accurate. Maxsea TimeZero PLOT or MaxSea TimeZero SportFishing are perfectly suited to fishing as it allows the user to record the sea floor and generate their own, extremely accurate chart of their favourite fishing grounds.
Useful features within MaxSea TimeZero
A computer with MaxSea TimeZero connected to the GPS and sounder can store unlimited depth points, and adjusts for the current water level depending on the time and date (integrated tide information).
This means that by simply navigating in your fishing spot, you are simultaneously saving thousands of contour lines and the precision of your seabed data becomes increasingly sharp.
Thus, in places where all charts tell you that the bottom is flat, you discover hidden contours, sometimes more than 10m high over distances of 500m long. All you need to do is to explore the area with your sounder.
MaxSea offers the ability to create whatever you want, ideal routes, specific marks that can represent fish, rocky peaks , buoys, wrecks etc.
Then you can also add comments to each mark. In TimeZero software, you can consult classic hydrographic office charts, and add your own bathy data, and even record a bottom classification to view the type of sediment in each area
Types of spots favoured by fish
Depending on the direction of the current, we can have a good idea of where fish are most likely to be found.
They are usually
upstream of the current and
above the rocks (the highest point)
just below the first step of a rocky “staircase” if there is one in the area. They like these spots because it means that they are high up yet sheltered from the current. It is often a favourite spot for saithe when the current exceeds 1.5 knots.
By following these steps, I personally found wonderful fishing areas in the rocky waters of Antioch and Breton in France where I came across beautiful fish that had never previously been disturbed by humans.
Read more about Cpt. OJ on his website (in French) by clicking here.
We are pleased to announce a new free update for our MaxSea TimeZero Software. MaxSea TimeZero v1.9.8 (Navigator and Explorer versions) includes several bug corrections and new features such as:
Route planning function improvement: TimeZero is the only software that takes tidal current into account in the Route Detail list. With the new feature, the leg of a route is highlighted when the currents are too strong.
Routing new features: Also, this version introduces the possibility to re-launch a second routing from the same departure, a feature that can be very useful if you want to change some of the routing parameters while keeping the same start and end position.
NavNet TZtouch compatibility: With this version of MaxSea TimeZero you will be able to exchange Routes & Waypoints through SD Card, share nautical charts and navigation data from the TZtouch network.
We’re happy to share with you this great testimonial from Brimrun, our national distributor in Iceland. They explain how they designed a MaxSea TimeZero training course in order to face the complexity of MaxSea user profiles in this country.
Icelandic skippers have been using MaxSea navigation systems since the early days of the MaxSea company. The latest product, MaxSea TimeZero, comes with great many new features and opens up a whole range of new possibilities, aiming at more efficiency and productivity. The captains are as well able to adjust the system to their own preferences and needs, to a much greater extent than is generally expected of navigation systems of this kind on the market.
Demand for the TimeZero system in Iceland is high and such is the enthusiasm by the captains for learning to utilise and take advantage of this new ground breaking system, that Brimrun, Furuno and MaxSea’s national distributor in Iceland, has created for them a special MaxSea TimeZero training course.
It runs for 8 hours, takes place at Brimrun´s premises in Reykjavik. Most skippers enlist for the course when purchasing the TimeZero system. The outcome has been very positive and it can be said without any exaggeration that everyone who has attended the course so far appreciates it and has found it well worth the while. Brimrun is scheduling courses for several months ahead to meet the wishes of the many individuals, who come from various places all around the country.
The training course is a “basic” TimeZero course and therefor a mixture of captains from the very different ships can attend it together. Next to each other may be sitting the captain of a purse seiner and the owner of the smallest small boat or the captain on a long liner etc., without any conflicting wishes and expectations.
Brimrun believes that the overall investment taken in the training course is worth the efforts, including the establishing of the class room, purchase of computers and preparing extensive training material. This can be concluded by the high number of participants attending the course and their appreciation of it.
The company: Brimrún
Brimrun was established in the year 1992. Since the beginning the main purpose of the company has been to be The National Distributor for Furuno in Iceland. As such, the company operates mainly in the maritime market, more precisely the sector for navigational, fish finding and communicational equipment. Brimrun´s customers have all kinds of vessels, from the conventional small fishing and pleasure boats to the biggest of modern multipurpose fishing vessels and cargo ships. The company’s location is in Reykjavík, the capital city of Iceland. At the beginning, there were 5 people working for Brimrun, today they are 12. Several years ago, Brimrun established an outlet in the town of Akureyri, in the north of the country.
The number of ships and boats in Iceland has decreased considerably over these 20 years as a consequence of fishing quotas being cut by the Icelandic Ministry of Fisheries. This has been considered necessary to prevent overfishing. However, for the last two years, the situation has changed and the most important fish stock, cod, is gaining strength and the quotas are growing back. This trend will eventually result in an increase in investments and a growing number of ships and boats in Iceland.
A couple of years ago, Brimrun became the National Distributor for MaxSea in Iceland. The MaxSea name is very well known and established in the country. For navigational and chart systems, MaxSea holds the biggest market share by far. A skipper will not be found in the country who does not know what MaxSea is and what it stands for. Brimrun is very proud to be an agent for MaxSea and a part of its global network.
Several Icelandic fishing companies have expanded their business and established outlets and daughter companies overseas. For them it is important to have, not only reliable equipment but also service for it. Such service is now available to Brimrun´s customers through the MaxSea network.
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Thank you very much for this enthousiastic testimonial, all our distributors are more than welcome to send theirs to info@maxsea.fr, we look forward to hearing from you!
Here are some reasons worth considering if you want to know what differentiates MaxSea v12 from MaxSea TimeZero even if you’re a happy MaxSea v12 (and previous versions) customer. Just consider these few reasons to upgrade your software and move to TimeZero technology.
It’s easier to use
Intuitive user interface developed thanks to our 25 years of experience
Routes and waypoints management simplified without any loss of “power” (unlimited routes and waypoints)
No more dongle but a software license which allows two installations and offers much more flexibility
TimeZero raster charts catalog is constantly updated
When you purchase a Raster chart with MaxSea TimeZero, you can be sure that you benefit from the latest version available. The charts you currently hold are probably out of date…
Additional modules are now supplied in standard package
Weather module is now included offering a download in one click!
AIS and AIS online modules are included (299€ before). An Internet connection allows you to see AIS world traffic!
Enhanced Routing Module is transferred automatically if already installed on your previous version.
Last but not least…we will stop the distribution as well as technical support of MaxSea v12 products during 2014.
TimeZero technology is, without any doubt, the future of our range of products. Our previous version won’t be updated anymore, neither software nor Charts. All our technical resources are now oriented towards TimeZero technology.
If you want to see MaxSea TimeZero in action, watch this rolling demo:
From April 16th to June 30th 2012, upgrade from MaxSea v12 to MaxSea TimeZero Navigator from 199€ instead of 375€
If you need more details, feel free to contact us at info@maxsea.fr
Ready to upgrade your software? Go to www.maxsea.com and benefit from this outstanding offer.
On the night of April 14th 1912, after a successful sea trial, the RMS Titanic sank during its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. The ship hit an iceberg right before midnight and was engulfed by the waters of the Atlantic Ocean by 2.20 on April 15, becoming the deadliest maritime disaster of all time.
Nowadays, onboard electronic equipments make this kind of accident almost impossible. New radars, such as Furuno FAR 2xx7 series, offer an ultra-high definition of surroundings. MaxSea TimeZero paired to a Furuno FAR Radar offers a great overlay feature which allows easily displaying and understanding of radar information.
If Titanic was equipped with MaxSea TimeZero and a Furuno FAR radar, the iceberg would have appeared on screen for sure.
Here is the display of the exact sinking position, according to coordinates found on the internet:
After the death of more than 1500 people, some safety practices were modified or adopted such as:
Enough lifeboats for everyone: Many of the recommendations pronounced by both the British and American Boards of Inquiry were included into the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) passed in 1914. They stated that ships had to carry enough lifeboats for those aboard, mandated lifeboat drills would be implemented and lifeboat inspections would be conducted.
Radio watch 24/7: the US Radio Act of 1912, along with the SOLAS, required ships to maintain contact with close vessels and coastal onshore radio stations, and that radio communications on passenger ships would be operated 24 hours along with a secondary power supply.
Unequivocal Distress Rockets: the SOLAS stated that the firing of red rockets at sea must be interpreted as distress signal only.
International Ice Patrol’s threat monitoring: the SOLAS led to the creation of an US Coast Guard agency in charge of monitoring and reporting on the location of North Atlantic Ocean icebergs that could be threatening to transatlantic sea traffic.
Safer Ship design: double hulls and higher bulkheads were among the changes implemented in ship design for increased safety.
If you want to know more about MaxSea TimeZero’s radar overlay and radar compatibility please refer to our MaxSea TimeZero range page.
We are pleased to announce a free update for our revolutionary MaxSea TimeZero Software. MaxSea TimeZero Navigator and Explorer v1.9.7 include improvements that were collected from enthusiastic suggestions and feedback received from dealers and customers during the past year.
Here is a quick overview of our new features:
– A better integration of Furuno radars and sounders (Explorer Only)
