How to Download Tracks and Routes

How to Download GPX Tracks and Routes 

Click (PC) or tap (iPad) on the link below to play the video on how to download tracks to your iPad. instructions are also provided in text for a wider range of products that include Aqua Map, Navionics, Garmin Active Captain, and chartplotters. The use of both the Safari and Chrome browsers are covered for GPX file download. There is a video for Apple devices for those interested. The same steps are covered in the detailed text that follows. 

VIDEO ON HOW TO DOWNLOAD TRACKs for Apple Devices

Text on How to Download Tracks and Routes (PDF File available for download)

When you’re going down the Atlantic ICW, it’s a great help to have a dotted line (a Bob423 Track) to follow along the ICW in finding the deepest water in the many shallow areas along the way such as Little Mud River, Lockwoods Folly, Ashepoo-Coosaw Cutoff, Watts Cut, and many others. The deep-water path changes from season to season through these areas and some resources are available, namely Bob423 Tracks and Routes, which are available for download for free at http://bobicw.blogspot.com/. Be sure to join the only Facebook page devoted exclusively to the Atlantic ICW at https://www.facebook.com/groups/ICWCruisingGuide/.

There are many devices used for navigation on the water, such as Apple’s iPads, Samsung’s tablets, and the traditional chartplotters from Garmin, Raymarine, and others. The Bob423 Tracks and Routes are in GPX format which is a universal file type accepted by all marine navigation devices. The problem is in knowing the exact steps required to get the GPX file into your particular device. Apart from having many different devices, each device may also have several ways of doing a download. For Apple products, you may use Apple’s Safari browser or Google’s Chrome browser – or some other browser. For Android products, there’s Chrome and other choices. For chartplotters, you have to deal with each manufacturer’s propriety software to get a GPX file loaded on your chartplotter, ready for use on the water.

The purpose of this article is to provide a step by step guide on how to download and use the Bob423 Tracks and Routes across many devices and browsers. The basis for which devices to cover was a survey in the ICW Cruising Guide Facebook page which highlighted which devices and browsers were the most popular, so I will cover them first. Instructions for various combinations of devices and apps are given. Select the section applying to your use and follow the step by step directions to download tracks and routes.

Part 1: Before You Begin

First, you need to know which track or route you want to download so the first step is to go to http://bobicw.blogspot.com/. Under the title, you will see categories for additional information:

Home: (to return to the first page of the webpage from tabs below). This page gives access to the daily tracks, both current and historical.

Bob423 Long Tracks:  If all you want are the most recent tracks, go no further and tap or click on this tab. The entire trip from Norfolk, VA to Ft Lauderdale, FL is contained in only four GPX tracks. Each of the four tracks can be downloaded individually or as part of a GPX package file, “B423 Norfolk to Ft Lauderdale” that contains all four, see downloading instructions starting in Part 2 below for details. They will appear as a blue dotted line in Aqua Map or a yellow line in Navionics.

How to Download Tracks: This page of instructions resides here.

Waterway Guide Alerts: A list of Waterway Guide Alerts ordered from north to south. Just click through the list to see all the alerts for the mile markers you plan to cover in one day’s run.

GPX Routes: A list of GPX routes for the shallow spots with a direct link for download. Each one has a time stamp in the name, be sure you have the latest one.

2020 Cruising Guide Links: All hyperlinks in the 2020 ICW Cruising Guide are active here. They are order in the sequence they appear in the Guide.

How to Record and Share Tracks: Be a contributor and record a track and share with your friends or on the ICW Facebook Page.

If you’re concerned about having too many tracks visible, Aqua Map lets you hide tracks until you want to use them. You can put a search term in the spyglass icon such as “Bob423” to bring up all the Bob423 Tracks all at once – and nothing else. You can then make them all not visible or delete them all in one step. The delete step is handy when I issue a new Bob423 Long Track GPX file update to reflect new shoaling. Get rid of the old and load the new.

If you’re interested in downloading routes, then click on “GPX Routes” which describes each route available with a page number reference in the 2020 ICW Cruising Guide paperback for further details, the paperback can be purchased from Amazon.com at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08D4F8NT3. An eBook version is also available at the same link.

Look in the title for each section to find the combination of the device (Apple, Android, Chartplotter) that you use along with the browser you favor – each browser is somewhat different in the details of the download. In the description of the steps, I use the word, “Tapping” to indicate a finger tap as used on Apple and Android devices. For PCs, the action word, “Clicking” is more appropriate as with a mouse. Both actions are equivalent for the device they are used on, they are interchangeable.

Part 2: For Apple iPad Users with a Safari Browser

Step 1: Go to http://bobicw.blogspot.com/
Step 2: Tap on Bob423 Long Tracks
Step 3: Tap once on the track you want to download. You will see a text box appear with the question, “Do you want to download xxx track”? Tap on “Download” which will then disappear.
Step 4:  Look for a down-arrow in a circle at the upper right part of the screen. Tap on the down arrow. A text box will appear with a list of downloads available. Tap on the download you want.
Step 5: The next screen shows a page of text, ignore it and tap on the square with an up arrow in the upper right corner which brings up a menu with a list of apps that will accept the track. Look for the app you want to use and tap on it.

If you don’t see your app listed (and you know it’s on your device), then use your finger to scroll the choices to the left and tap on “More” for additional choices. In rare cases, you may still not see your app which means it’s being blocked by a misbehaving app. If so, delete the offending app, usually navigation apps other than Aqua Map, Navionics, or Garmin Active Captain (they all behave well) – other apps may not. One app that has a history of blocking navigation apps in the past was Dropbox.

For Aqua Map Users
Step 6: Tap on the Aqua Map icon and Aqua Map will be started with a text box, “Found: 1 track. Do you want to import them in your archive”? Tap on “Import”.
Step 7: Aqua Map will then display the new track on its chart, ready for navigation. It will also appear in a list when the Spyglass (upper right corner) is tapped and “User Data” is selected along with “Tracks”.

For Navionics Users
Step 6: Tap on the Navionics icon. Navionics will be started and a text box will appear, “You’re Importing 1 Track, Go to Menu > Tracks”. Tap on “Import”. Nothing happens on the screen; you’re not automatically taken to the track like in Aqua Map. Be patient, Navionics, for some reason, may take several minutes to import a GPX file.
Step 7: Tap on “Menu” at the bottom of the screen.
Step 8: Tap on “Tracks” and find the track you just downloaded, there’s a search box to help at the top.
Step 9: Tap on the track you want to activate and it is displayed on the chart. Tap on “Close” to start navigation.
Navionics does not automatically show all tracks at once. Each track has to be activated (selected as in Step 9) for it to appear on a chart. In Aqua Map, all tracks are automatically visible when loaded. Each track or all tracks can be made not visible if desired in Aqua Map in the Spyglass menu. If you download the GPX file containing all the tracks (2020FtLaudtoHampton.gpx), then in Aqua Map they will all be loaded as separate tracks and the text box asking if you want to import them will tell you how many tracks in are in the download.  Navionics will also import the same file (2020FtLaudtoHampton.gpx) but it takes a full two minutes to complete compared to Aqua Map in 10 seconds, be patient – it’s working in the background. Finally, a text box will appear as in Step 7 with how many tracks are to be downloaded, tap on “Import”. Just like in Aqua Map, all the tracks are imported as separate tracks but for Navionics, each one has to be individually activated as in Step 9.

For Garmin Active Captain Users
Step 6: Tap on the Garmin Active Captain icon (this sometimes requires two taps for some reason) and the app will be started with the text box, “Importing User Data, Import the user data from the GPX file”? Tap on “Import”. You will get another text box, “Imported User Data, Waypoints: Complete, Routes: Complete, Tracks: Complete”. There are only tracks in the track file, no waypoints, and no routes. Tap, “Ok”.
Step 7: Tap on the hamburger icon at upper right (three horizontal lines) and tap on,” User Data”.
Step 8: Tap on “Tracks” and find the track you want to follow and tap on it.
Step 9: Tap on “View on Chart” and it’s ready for navigation.
After a second try, I was able to import the GPX file with all the tracks in one download. If your Garmin chartplotter has WiFi integration with their Active Captain app, then you will be able to send routes and waypoints from your Active Captain app directly to your Garmin Chartplotter. According to their webpage, the Garmin app will not transfer tracks but I would give it a try first. The Garmin Active Captain app did not used to support the import of GPX tracks and now it does – they may have changed their software. Each track has to be activated one at a time to see it on the charts. When one track is activated, the others are not visible.

Part 3: For Apple iPad Users with a Chrome Browser

The Google Chrome browser is the most popular browser in the world with versions for all platforms (Apple, Android, and PC). The download procedure is well thought out with the result that the steps required are fewer than with Apple’s Safari browser. First, complete the “Before You Begin” section so you know which tracks you want to download.

Step 1: Go to http://bobicw.blogspot.com/
Step 2: Tap on Bob423 Long Tracks
Step 3: Tap once on the track you want to download. You will see a text box appear at the bottom of the page with the name of the track. Tap on “Download” and then “Open In”.
Step 4: Choose the app you want to download to from the list with one tap.

For Aqua Map Users
Step 5: After tapping the Aqua Map icon, Aqua Map will open with a text box saying, “Found: 1 Track. Do you want to import them in your archive?”. Tap on “Import”. The track will then be shown on a chart ready for navigation.
All of your tracks are accessible by tapping on the spyglass icon in the upper right corner and then tapping on “User data” and then “Tracks”.

For Navionics Users
Step 5: After tapping on the Navionics icon, Navionics will open with the text box, “You’re importing 1 Track, Go to Menu > Tracks.” Tap on “Import”.
Step 6: Tap on “Menu” at the bottom of the screen and then tap on “Tracks”.
Step 7: Find your track in the list and tap on it to activate it, A chart will be displayed with the track visible. Tap on “Close” to start navigating to the track. To change to a different track, tap on “Menu” and then “Tracks” to bring up a list of all stored tracks.

For Garmin Active Captain Users
Step 5: After tapping on the Garmin Active Captain icon (sometimes requires two taps), the app opens with a text box, “Importing User Data, Import the user data from the GPX file?” Tap on “Import”. Another text box appears, “Importing User Data, Waypoints: Complete, Routes: Complete, Tracks: Complete”. No waypoints or routes are being imported but I guess Garmin is saving programming effort here with a universal text message.
Step 6: Tap on the hamburger icon (three horizontal lines in the upper right) and then tap on, “User Data”.
Step 7: List of Waypoints, Routes, and Tracks are shown, tap on “Tracks” if it is not already displayed, and choose the track you just downloaded with one tap.
Step 8: Tap on “View on Chart” to see your route display on a chart ready for navigation.

Part 4: For Chartplotter Users with a Chrome Browser on a PC (Win10)

The procedure will depend on the manufacturer but first, you must download the track you want.
Step 1: On your PC (laptop), go to http://bobicw.blogspot.com/ with your Chrome browser.
Step 2: Tap on Bob423 Long Tracks
Step 3: Click once on the track you want to download. It will automatically download to your “Download” folder. Remember that folder, you will need to access it when you want to load the file into your PC navigation program.

All the manufacturers support importing of GPX files but the details are different between manufacturers. However, they all accept the loading of GPX files from your PC into their proprietary programs and from there into their chartplotters via some medium like an SD card or a USB connection. Some can use WiFi for the transfer like Garmin for some products.

Part 5: For Android Users with a Chrome Browser

Android devices are coming on strong for marine navigation. For these instructions, I used a Samsung Tab A 10.1 (2019) with 32 GB of memory and a Chrome browser.
Step 1: Go to http://bobicw.blogspot.com/
Step 2: Tap on Bob423 Long Tracks
Step 3: Tap once on the track you want to download
Step 4: A text box appears at the bottom of the page asking if you want to download the file, tap on “Download” and then “Open”  
Step 5: A text box pops up showing a list of apps that accept GPX files. Choose one.

For Aqua Map Users
Step 6: Aqua Map will open with the text box, “Data Import, Found 1 Track. Do you want to import them in your archive”? Two choices are given, “Cancel” or “Import”. Tap on “Import”. Sometimes you may also get a text box with the question on whether to allow the download, tap on “Allow”.
Step 7: The track is shown on a chart, ready for navigation. To find other tracks, tap on the spyglass icon in the upper right corner and tap on, “Userdata” and “Tracks”.
The same steps work in downloading the GPX file containing all the tracks at once. Once downloaded, Aqua Map shows all the tracks as visible so as you proceed down the ICW. You don’t have to “Activate” each track individually to see them on your charts. They can individually or in mass be set to not visible as desired in the spyglass icon at upper right. The same steps work for importing GPX routes from the “GPX Routes” tab in
http://bobicw.blogspot.com/. The routes can be imported individually or all at once by tapping on “2020 Spring Routes”.

For Navionics Users
Step 6: Navionics will open with the text box question, “You’re importing 1 Track, Go to Menu > Tracks”. Tap on “Import”. Be patient, Navionics takes up to a minute for the file to be downloaded.
Step 7: Tap on “Menu” at the bottom of the screen and then “Tracks”. Find the track you just downloaded and tap on it.
Step 8: Tap on “Close” and the track is ready for navigation.
The same steps work for downloading routes from the “GPX Routes” tab at http://bobicw.blogspot.com/.

For Garmin Active Captain Users
Step 6: The Garmin Active Captain app will open with the text box, “Import user data? Import the user data from the GPX file”? Tap on “Import”. You’ll get a brief message that the import was successful.
Step 7: Tap the hamburger icon (three horizontal lines at upper right) and then tap “User Data” and then “Tracks”.
Step 8: The track is displayed in a small window. Tap “View on Chart” for a full display and it’s ready for navigation. The Garmin Active Captain app can also download all the track at once from the 2020FtLaudtoHampton.gpx file.
Downloading of GPX routes follows the same steps except the starting point is the GPX Routes tab of http://bobicw.blogspot.com/. You can also download all the GPX routes at once by tapping on the “2020 Spring Routes” GPX file.

Part 6: Comments on Downloading Routes

Routes are found under the GPX Routes tab on http://bobicw.blogspot.com/. The dialog with the various combinations of apps and browsers are identical once you get to the app interface. Just tap on the download link for each route and follow the same instructions as for tracks. There is also one GPX file containing all the spring 2020 routes, “2020 Spring Routes”.

A reminder, when tracks are loaded into Aqua Map, the default is that all are visible. This is handy for following a series of tracks since you don’t have to keep “activating” tracks from day to day, likewise for following a series of short routes for shallow areas. For Navionics and Garmin Active Captain, each track and route have to be “activated” (selected) before it will be visible on the chart. If you load the four Bob423 Long Tracks, then activating each track is easier in Navionics since each track covers more than just a day’s run.

Closing Comments

If the instructions are not clear or need improvement, please let me know so everyone that uses the instructions can benefit from your experience and subsequent revisions. Just post your comments on the ICW Cruising Guide Facebook page.