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1.  Overview
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a.  Opencpn was built with the following objectives in mind.

    i.   Intended use as primary navigation interface for vessels
         with full-time helm-visible navigational suites.
         Other tools may be better for offline route planning, tide
         and current prediction, online logging, etc.
    ii.  Quick startup and shutdown.
    iii. Those and only those toolbar buttons really needed for
         daily operation.
    iv.  Portability, thus wxWidgets core components.  Currently
         tested and in production use on W98, XP, OS X, and Linux.
    v.   Conventional ( i.e. popular and modern ) chart format
         support.  In the real world, this means BSB format raster
         charts, and S57ENC format vector charts.



        And, of course, opencpn is all GPL'ed (or equivalent)
                        Open Source code.


    Personal Note:
    Opencpn is in primary daily use as the navigation package aboard
    M/V Dyad, a 48 ft trawler yacht cruising from Newfoundland to the
    Bahamas yearly.