Route/POI exchange

[Dod42]

Is there anywhere that people can share their GPS routes or way points?

I have a friend who does lots of cross country mountain biking and they have a group that shares GPS routes and POI way points. So if someone has been somewhere interesting they will post it for anyone else interested in going there. Is there something similar for cruisers?

I have searched but cannot find what I am looking for. I can find certain fishing points posted by fishing clubs but what I am looking for is a site where fellow cruisers can lodge a file of their route from some port to another port with anchorages, descriptions etc. I am looking specifically for East Coast Australia, but I cant be the only one looking?

Not that I want to follow them, nor would I just take someone else's coordinates as gospel. It would just give me a starting point for planning. So if I wanted to sail from Brisbane to the Whitsundays I could find a route done by someone else and use that as a starting point to plan against.

Yes all the usual legal stuff, "Not to be used for navigation","just cause I don't say there is a rock there doesn't mean there isn't one" etc, etc.

I know there is lots of formats but there seems to be lots of software to convert one form to another.

Maybe this site could be a good place to host one if it doesn't exist.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Not heard of anything like that - not being funny!, but wouldn't a decent Chart pretty much cover what you are after?, at least as a good starting point. My feeling is that a boat a bit different from cross country as boat only has one possible starting point (where it is!) and after that a fairly limited number of possibilities, some based around practicalities (won't be going cross country and mostly not offshore to a new continent! - will be mostly coastal, even if that is sometimes 100 miles or more offshore) and some around choice (where do you want to go or end up?....and how long do you want to spend in one hop?).

If not always certainty, then a Chart will at least give you plenty to exclude and also to investigate further.

[Dod42]

Certainly a chart is a great place to plan against. I guess all I was looking for was to learn from others that have gone before me. If others stayed at a particular anchorage then there is probably a good reason to look at it. If previous cruisers choose a particular route between certain islands the it is worth considering. Doesn't mean they are right just a guide.

Just a way of improving on the chats around the bar with other cruisers

[dacust]

Take a look at ActiveCaptain.com. It's not routes and POIs, but it may partly give you what you are looking for.

-dan