R/V PELICAN NAVIGATION- CAP’N VOYAGER

Importing Waypoints and Routes

The navigation software used onboard the PELICAN allows for the downloading of waypoints and routes from an external source (for example, an emailed file or floppy disk brought onboard by the scientific crew). The crew of the PELICAN encourages the use of this feature for its simplicity and also to help reduce the possibility for errors when manually entering multiple waypoints. If received ahead of time (i.e. with the cruise plan), the crew can better prepare for your upcoming cruise (possible port of entries, fuel consumption, etc.).

Importing Waypoints:

Your text must be formatted such that a comma separates each piece of information. The first field must be the mark’s name, followed by the latitude, then the longitude. Any extra fields will be combined into the notes for the mark. Hemispheres are recognized by negative or positive latitude and longitudes. Since the PELICAN works primarily in the Gulf of Mexico, your waypoints will have a positive value for the latitude, and a negative value for the longitude. Values must be given in decimal degrees.

Example: Mark Name, 30.12345, -80.12345, CTD#1, Water Samples

Importing Routes:

The text for the importing of routes is much like that of waypoints. A comma must again separate each piece of information. However, the first field must contain the characters “$XXWPL” (allows the software to recognize the text as a route). This field is then followed by the latitude, the latitude hemisphere, longitude, longitude hemisphere, and the waypoint name.

Example: $XXWPL,4030.0000,N,06045.0000,W,WaypointName

** Using Microsoft Excel is a simple way to format waypoints in this way. Simply assign a column for each field and then saving it as a text file.