Getting to grips with Waterway Routes

I'll be completely honest. First, Paul Balmer of Waterway Routes gave me a review copy of his waterways mapping program back in May at the Crick Boat Show. Second, I struggled. For a start, it comes on a DVD and our new laptop doesn't have a DVD drive. I got round that one by loading the disc onto the old laptop, copying the files onto a memory stick and copying them from there onto the new laptop. (I surprised myself that I could do that.) Then I tried to open the pdf maps and managed to do that in a browser (don't ask me how). And that was when things got a bit sticky. How would I find the section of map I wanted out of more than 1000 pages? They seemed to be in a sort of alphabetical order of waterway, but I couldn't find a contents page to help me. I resorted to scrolling through at high speed, stopping randomly and seeing where I was. When I did manage to hit upon a useful page I found the detail excellent, especially as we are currently on the mysterious river system of the Nene, Middle Level and Great Ouse and we needed to know (among other things) where we could moor.

I was sure this was not how it was meant to be, and I felt stupid and frustrated. It was also quite a long time since Paul had given me the DVD and he might - rightly - be wondering how I was getting on with it. I knew there was an alternative way of accessing the maps not involving pdf files, something called Memory-Map, but I had the misconception that I needed a tablet device to use it. Also it needed a more complicated installation exercise than simply clicking on a pdf.

I suppose I was putting off the time when I would have to contact Paul and admit defeat. But then, a few days ago, Paul made the first move. He got in touch and offered to come to where we were to help me. It turned out that our couple of days in Ely coincided perfectly with Paul's arrangements, so yesterday afternoon Paul appeared at the boat like a knight in shining armour bearing not arms but all sorts of computery devices. Including a tablet.

Halfie and Paul Balmer

The first thing Paul did was install Adobe Acrobat on the laptop. This appears to be a better way to access the pdf maps, especially as there is a (clickable) contents list down the left hand side.

Clicking on GO River Great Ouse (GO stands for Great Ouse, it's not a command) brings up the front page of the Great Ouse section; from there it's easy to scroll through and find what you want. Here is the section covering Ely. (Please excuse the photos of the screen rather than computer-generated screenshots, by the way. I have temporarily forgotten how to do them.)

Looking more closely, the overlap is marked by dashed red lines; the next page required is given in the corner. GO 16 in this case.

But hang on a second, you say. This all seems quite clunky. Isn't there a better way?

Well, yes there is. This is where the Memory-Map thing comes in. Paul went through the installation with me (I pressed the buttons) which is not much more than following the instructions on screen - and sometimes knowing which option to click.

BUT ... when it's up and running you won't want to go back to the pdf version. Using the Memory-Map is a joy. The whole of the map is there; to navigate round it you zoom in or out and move it around the screen using the track pad or mouse. Or on a touch screen device it's just like Google Maps (but quicker).

And that's not all. If you use it on a device which has GPS enabled it will track your position in real time and show where you are on the waterway, as well as giving your speed and location coordinates (which can be hidden from the display if you want). To use this function you have to sign up for a free 30 day trial with Memory-Map (you don't have to give your bank details) after which - if you want to continue using it - you make a one-off payment of £15. As I understand it.

The photo above is of the Memory-Map version of Waterway Routes. The mapping, detail and symbols are all the same as on the pdf version.

We had a spare Android mobile phone with us, so Paul installed the Memory-Map program on that. We have yet to try the position tracking element as we are still in Ely. (Our time here is up tomorrow, so we should see it working on the next leg of our journey.)

Why have the pdf maps at all, you might ask. The answer must be that if you want a printed version of any of the maps the pdfs are all designed to print on A4 (portrait). Mike of nb Alchemy uses the maps in that way, the pages in document wallets; and there is much to be said for being able to have a physical map at the steering position. Especially if it rains. (Will it ever rain again?)

So that's my experience so far with the Waterway Routes maps. There is a lot more I could write (I haven't compared them with Nicholson's or Canal Plan, neither have I talked about the symbols or how they are kept up-to-date), but this post is long enough and it's my bed time. I shall endeavour to give an update at a later date. If I have got any facts wrong here I'm sure Paul will correct me.

Meanwhile here is our lovely mooring in Ely with a large boat going past.