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Sailing and Boating the Maine Coast

Blackberry Cell Phones and Google Maps - A Great Tool for Maine Boaters

Above: My Blackberry. This happens to be an 8820, but this article pertains to any GPS enabled Blackberry.

Above: The Basin, on the New Meadows River. Dark areas show deeper water; you can see some evidence of current patterns as well. The red rectangle was added by me in photoshop; below the Blackberry has zoomed into that location.

Above: close in at the entrance to the Basin. The narrow inlet is probably 50' at low tide, +/-. The quality of the photo (taken with a camera I held over the Blackberry) does not do this justice. Click here to view the same view in your web browser. You can see the shallow area, a fact that my depth sounder confirms.

As a boater I'm always armed to the teeth with charts, guide books and GPS coordinates when I venture onto the water. The Maine coast is especially unfriendly to those who loose track where they are. But this year I have a new tool (eh, toy?) in my arsenal called a Blackberry Cell Phone. What makes this phone attractive to Boaters is Google Maps combined with the Blackberry's built-in GPS.

In the palm of your hand you can carry satellite images of the Maine coast which show inlets, coves, islands, rivers and more in stunning detail. And because the water color changes in the more shallower areas, you can zoom in and get a good sense of contour and currents. And, the MAPS AND PICTURES ARE FREE.

[I should mention that not all areas have high resolution images; some still use lower resolution images. It appears that the Mid Coast area is all high resolution. With high resolution Google Maps, I could zoom into my house and easily see a pile of firewood in the driveway!]

Using Google maps on a Blackberry really couldn't be simpler once you get the hang of it. You can toggle between satellite maps and a traditional street map - especially handy when going ashore. You can ask it to do trip routing, as well as search for specific locations - even restaurants, marinas and just about anything else of interest on shore!

The Google Maps used by the Blackberry appear to be the same ones used on the Google website.

The Blackberry shows you where you are at with a flashing dot, as well as a directional arrow to show which way you are going as long as you are moving.

No Internet Needed

The Google Maps system works off your Blackberry cellphone service as long as you have the $30/month data package. (Note: I am referring to ATT&T version. Verizon and other carriers have their own packages). You do not need a separate Internet source. As long as you are in range of a data carrying cell tower, you should be golden. So, ocean crossing boaters may not benefit, but those of us who sail the coast of Maine will.

Using Google Maps on the Blackberry will not break any speed records because the cell phone service isn't as fast as high speed Internet. The maps and data (marinas, etc) are not really stored on the Blackberry, but are downloaded as needed automatically. But I have found the speed good enough for highway travel, so boaters shouldn't have an issue.

There is one Blackberry under the AT&T plan called the 8820 that does make use of wireless Internet when available - say when you are in a coffee shop ashore. But it's a speed benefit only; you can do anything on a non-wireless enabled Blackberry as you can on my 8820.

And speaking of what else you can do on a Blackberry, you can browse web sites and send email as long as you have the $30/month data service and are close enough to a data enabled cell tower. So if you want to check out a town as you approach for overnight, you can. One thing though: The small screen makes normal "web surfing" difficult at best. Don't expect for it to be as easy as sitting at your home computer.

In Conclusion, I am Google-Eyed about my Blackberry

Well, as far as I am concerned, my Blackberry with Built-In GPS - combined with the Free Google Map service - has earned its place next to my charts, guide books and GPS coordinates (on my regular boat GPS) as a great new portable tool (toy :)) for boating in Maine. I recommend you consider one when upgrading your cell phone.

Disclaimers and Notes:

a. I do not claim to be a Blackberry or Cell phone expert. I only know what I know from using mine. We are a 3 Blackberry home! I have zippo knowledge of Iphones and Pocket PC's. To work well with Google Maps, they need the built-in GPS.

b. Once you get a Blackberry, go to Google and install the free Google Maps for Blackberry. Go to http://www.google.com/mobile/ and select Blackberry.

c. If in Mid Coast Maine, go to the ATT&T store at Cooks Corner in Brunswick and talk to a salesmen named Erik. He is the best there is, and knows his stuff. Well worth specifically asking for.

Rick Dieffenbach
Contact Rick

Terms and conditions: BoatMaine.us gathers information from public sources. No representation is made as to the accuracy of information provided. Always verify depth, tide and obstacle information from the most up-to-date official US government or other authoritative sources.

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