e-Pilot online cruising guides – that’s E for Electronic and Easy!

When DSNM asked for my feedback on using its e-Pilot cruising guide service my first response was “Well, why is there only one E in its name?”

Apparently those ten words weren’t quite enough to make a blog post so here I am attempting to explain my response and why, although it seemed flippant at the time, it did have some merit.

We’re all familiar with the E prefix that over recent decades has come to instantly inform us that we’re dealing with an electronic form of whatever it precedes – think Email, E-cigarettes, E-banking and E-books. But in the case of e-Pilot, it could easily have another E, one which stands for easy as well as electronic because this really is the easiest, most convenient and most sensible way of accessing, annotating and sharing cruising guides I’ve ever known.

So, there it is, in a nutshell - my succinct feedback on e-Pilot. However, I should say more about this innovative tool to do it proper justice. My thoughts on e-Pilot need to be more comprehensive, although probably not as detailed as the information which the relatively new website places directly at your fingertips.

Gone are my days of searching out the paper guides to prepare and plan for short trips or grand voyages. Easy e-Pilot, as I’m calling it, lets me login securely from any web-enabled device whether on board or not. Once I’ve selected the area guide I need, I can leaf through it virtually for essential and comprehensive pilotage information as well as pointers on local amenities, history and tourist highlights. From safe navigation into port through to finding just what you need on dry land, e-Pilot can help.

“But,” I hear you cry “my printed guides do that.” Almost, perhaps, but do they take up absolutely no room on the bridge? Do they stay in the same place you left them without great organisation and discipline from yourself, fellow crew members and owners? Can you easily access them if you’re on shore without having lugged them everywhere? Are they miraculously the most up-to-date issues whenever you pick them up? Can you forget the photocopier and highlight and print out just the information you need at that time? Can you add your own notes to particular sections and know that everyone who needs access can read your writing?

In summary, do your printed guides deserve an ‘E for Easy’ in their name?

So, finally, I have hopefully given a full explanation of what I think is great about e-Pilot. But if you don’t want to take my word for it, I believe you can find out more at www.e-Pilot.co.uk