New plugin "Passage Planner" in v50
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@brodiej would you consider adding gusts to the mix. We tend to always plan our passages on gusts, not wind. Great plugin btw :)
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Hi,
i have a question.. You talk about remove the routes, but with two routes i can change them but not removing. So, is it not possibile to remove them for starting new ones for example kinds in the Pacific Ocean without move the existing ones?thanks
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New version now live.
@j-ayr great suggestion, now captured and displayed. I have wound back how much data we show here by default, but you can turn the layers/metrics back on as you wish.
@godie - Import / Export is now available. Let me know if that helps!
@tirili75 - Please give it another go when you have some time. I have added some more robust mechanisms to fetch - and will strike up a conversation in paralell with the Windy team to see if they can assist in providing an alternate route.
@idefix37 - Routing has increased in its accuracy greatly. I'm seeing it navigate very tight complex routes, with waypoints now. Very keen to hear your feedback though. As always, this is no replacement for good seamanship and navigation. It has no knowledge of depths, and navigation.
@roberto-portoni - when scrubbing through your timeline you'll now see a indication if your sailing or motoring. Route details chart (as before) still has its indication.
Wind direction also now visible in the route details!
Other comments:
- Mobile apps didnt support the export GPX - fixed.
- The amount of weather is fetched based on a estimated VMG through waypoints + a buffer now.
- @roberto-portoni You can now 'remove' start/finish points rather than having to drag them across your map.
A bit of work left to optimise the iPad / Mobile view (make it actually useable) - so ill come back to you with that soon. Welcome any more feedback and comments.
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@brodiej Thank you so much for ongoing work to elevate the effectiveness and usefulness of this function within Windy. In some cursory scrolling through community.windy it looks like you’re a coder from Australia who’s developed this independently for the benefit of the community? Released it last month? Major kudos and gratitude if my take here is correct.
- Passage Planner works on my iPad but not on the iPhone. Is this intentional?
- Passage Planner is unable to import a simple GPX with a direct nav route that crosses land. The plugin seems confused with creating an intermediary waypoint and rounding land obstacles.
- When planning for a future date (like 5 days out, ECMWF) the wind modeling shown in the scrolling seems to be for time now. The wind graphic displayed doesn't alter to adjust for the future sail time in Passage Planner.
- When a new version of Passage Planner goes live, do we get that automatically updated (push) from within Windy, or do we need to actively pull down and install the update?
We've all experienced the myriad of apps, particularly for mariners, attempting to become the de facto Google Maps of navigable waters. If Passage Planner can continue to incorporate everyone’s helpful comments herein then it can help many of us trying to synthesize active passage planning amidst all our competing sources, subscriptions, and screens.
Captain Sammy G
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@SamGraber kinds words, thanks! Really was built just to help my passage planning, but has had significant uptake from the community which is great.
- Not intentional that its not working for you on iPad. Have a large number of improvements coming that will resolve these quirks.
- Do you mind pinging me directly an example of this just to ensure iv handled this in the latest versions.
- Can I confirm your talking about the wind animation in windy itself? Be great if you can capture a bit of a screenshot or similar and share.
- Yes indeed, Windy will auto update the plugin for you on your next run.
Bit of a re-development coming that addresses the issues people have raised, also includes some new features that I am keen for myself, such as 'Arrive By' etc.
Very much appreciate all the feedback, keep it coming. Looking for a small group of testers that can help test and validate the next version prior to public release - ping me directly if your at all interested.
Cheers!
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@brodiej Hi
could i suggest for example to add in the column current the reference about the sea current against or in favor of the course? in the graphic label i can see the waves meters and current size.
Also could be good to add the SWELL direction and the period?The plugin now is fantastic, i want only suggest what i could see in some free applications like Qtvlm web free edition...
Good job guys! compliments
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@brodiej @roberto-portoni
Further to my previous post for which went unanswered, I personally consider that SWELL is not a relevant parameter for choosing the route, but WAVES (the addition of swell and wind waves) is much more useful. -
@brodiej
Passage Planner is working on the iPad, not working well on the iPhone. :)
I tried to message you direct but my internet skills are failing me.
Would love to send a screen shot. Basically, the wind animation being shown stays the current time wind animation regardless of scrolling forward in the passage planning timeline.
Great!I am actively using this widget for nearshore route planning on Lake Superior.
My continued appreciation for your work.
Sam
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@idefix37 sorry I missed that thread. I'd love to hear your thoughts on that. I have always just considered wave/fetch a output of wind, one that im already routing for, i.e comfort for example.
I have personally considered Swell the leading factor - however believe that perhaps we should be calculating a combined wave/swell (sea) forecast and use that? Very keen to hear if you believe otherwise.
@samgraber ill ping you a message to try respond to with that screenshot.
Thanks!
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@brodiej
The WAVES LAYER in Windy is not the wind waves resulting from the local wind and the fetch. WAVES is the total sea i.e. “the addition / the combination” of the wind waves and the swells.
The SWELL layer shows the waves resulting only from a strong distant wind.
See more about it and what WAVES means according to ECMWF WAM.
You can check that the significant height of WAVES is always more important than the significant height of SWELL. So you can have no SWELL but tough WAVES.
For me WAVES data is more significant for sailing than SWELL data.
Swells are more dangerous in shallow waters near the shore because of their high energy.
But from experience, in anticyclonic conditions, on the open sea with light winds, a long swell (period of more than 10 seconds) of 4 m height has absolutely no effect on a 10-meter sailboat. -
@idefix37 - I 100% agree, what a great write up - that is our combined param I was seeking. Ill make that change - great suggestion! Thankyou.
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@brodiej Sometimes the swell comes from a different direction than the waves generated by the wind, and they may also differ in height. In these situations, which one is more important for navigation?If the wind is not so strong... thanks
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@idefix37 You're right, but on a sailboat with novice sailors, I'd rather not be there when the seasickness sets in and people start vomiting around you! :D
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@Roberto-Portoni
In any case Waves include the Swells. You can check that easily: If there is no wind, only swells from 2 different directions, Waves will show the sea state in terms of significant height and period. You can check it in different part of the world to get several examples.
Of course, after checking Waves, you can look at Swell, Swell 2 and 3 and Wind waves to see if the sea will be a cross sea, or if the Wind waves are predicted to be opposite to the Swell… Offering the toughest sea for stomachs. -
Windy Route Planner – GPX Import Bug Report (Navionics GPX → “Invalid Coordinates”)
Summary:
Windy’s Route Planner rejects GPX files exported from the Navionics Boating app with the error “Invalid coordinates,” even though the GPX is valid and loads correctly in other tools. The issue is caused by Windy’s GPX parser not supporting degrees + decimal minutes (DMM) coordinate format used by Navionics.- Problem Description
Navionics exports GPX waypoint and trackpoint coordinates in DMM format, for example:
lat="48 07.407" lon="-122 59.259"
Windy’s GPX importer expects decimal degrees (DD) only, for example:
lat="48.12345" lon="-122.98765"Windy’s parser interprets the space between degrees and minutes as an invalid numeric value and rejects the file. This is a Windy-side parsing limitation, not a Navionics GPX error.
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Steps to Reproduce
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Create any route in Navionics Boating
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Export as GPX
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Open Windy → Route Planner → Import GPX
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Windy displays: “Invalid coordinates”
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Minimal Failing GPX Example
This GPX snippet is valid per GPX 1.1 schema and loads correctly in other tools:TEST
Windy rejects this with “Invalid coordinates.”
- Expected Behavior
Windy should accept GPX files that use any valid GPX-schema coordinate format, including:
- Decimal degrees (DD)
- Degrees + decimal minutes (DMM)
- Degrees, minutes, seconds (DMS)
At minimum, Windy should support DMM, which is widely used by marine navigation apps.
- Suggested Fix
When parsing lat and lon attributes:
- Detect the presence of a space (e.g., "48 07.407")
- Interpret the first token as degrees
- Interpret the second token as minutes
- Convert to decimal degrees internally:
DD = Degrees + (Minutes / 60)
This would make Windy compatible with Navionics, Garmin, Raymarine, and many other marine GPX sources.
- Why This Matters
Navionics is the dominant marine charting app. Many boaters plan routes in Navionics and want to analyze weather along the route in Windy. Currently, this workflow is broken unless users manually convert GPX files. Supporting DMM would significantly improve Windy’s usability for marine navigation.
- Problem Description
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@jkross thankyou - well detailed report. This will be supported in the next version. Appreciated.
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@brodiej Great plug in. Keep up the good work. Thanks!
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@brodiej I am getting some odd results plotting an upwind course. I have a polar that starts at 35 degrees TWA and its routing me as close as 16 degrees TWA at 8kts of wind. It looks like its interpolating the data between 0 and 35 degrees but in such light winds, I expect the best VMG would be around 40-45 degrees TWA.
I tried the Bavaria 46 polar and my own polar, both give these types of TWA's of between 15 and 25 degrees.
