My Google Map Blog

Tag: Sailing

Tahina Circumnavigates the Earth

by Frank Taylor on Jun.16, 2015, under 3D Models, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, California, Denmark, England, Germany, Google Earth News, Google Earth Tips, Google Sky, Google maps, Hawaii, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Natural Landmarks, Netherlands, Sightseeing, Street Views, USA

My name is Frank Taylor, and I am the founder and publisher of Google Earth Blog. I also recently completed an expedition to sail around the world. One of the many reasons I was immediately attracted to Google Earth in 2005 was that my wife Karen and I had for many years planned to circumnavigate the real Earth by sailboat. Google Earth provided a fantastic way to explore the places we planned to visit. We finally departed in 2009, and we have just completed (on June 11, 2015) our journey after sailing for over 5 years, more than 44,000 nautical miles, and visiting more than 30 countries. We used Google Earth to help share our experiences, and plan further explorations.

Frank and Karen Taylor and Tahina

We spent years preparing for the trip, and in 2008 bought a beautiful catamaran we named Tahina, sold our house and cars and many other belongings, got our kids started in universities, and prepared to depart in November 2009. You can see the route of our circumnavigation in the screenshot of a map below. If you click this link, you can use Google Earth to zoom in to parts of the route in the Atlantic and Pacific and it will load detailed GPS tracks and maps of significant places, and geo-tagged photos of the places we visited (zoom in to New Zealand for example). You can also see many of the 360 panoramas I photographed along the way (a sort of mini-Street View of exotic places). The detailed maps have so far only been completed through the Pacific to New Caledonia, but I will update the rest later.

Tahina Full route

We thoroughly documented our adventures, with our TahinaExpedition.com web site and blog. We took nearly 100,000 photos and videos along the way, the best of which were shared on our site, Panoramio and Google Earth, and Google Picasa Web Albums. Google Earth and Maps were used extensively to map and show the places we visited including GPS tracks of our passages over water, and sometimes our trips on land. And the locations where our photographs were taken were mapped as well. We even used Google Earth on numerous occasions to help guide us to some of the more dangerous approaches to passes and bays where we visited. The satellite and aerial imagery of these locations proved invaluable to improving our situational awareness to both the land, the waters, and other hazards (sunken ships, reefs, and more) of the areas. [Read tips for sailors using Google Earth]

I have to thank many businesses who partnered with us to help share our experiences using many devices along the way. In particular, I want to give special thanks to Google who was very supportive in my crazy schemes to use Google Earth to share the places we visited. For example, I would sometimes fly a kite with a special camera rig (this was before drones became popular) to capture aerial photography of unique places and then Google would process and include the imagery in Google Earth (see example). The 360 photography I took sometimes involved setting up with a tripod on the edges of cliffs or buildings while turning around in circles to capture full spherical imagery. We also took video with an underwater remote operated vehicle (ROV – or drone in today’s terminology) of many places we visited (the ROV was made by our partner VideoRay).

Kite Aerial Photography

We tried to raise awareness of many issues we saw facing our oceans and the marine life we witnessed along the way. Everything from trash in the oceans, overfishing, and many dying coral reefs were experienced by us on numerous occasions throughout our travels. We are greatly worried that our own children will find environmental devastation if they visit these same places in just a few years from now, or even worse when our grandchildren attempt it.

We stayed in contact with family and friends, and shared our experiences through a variety of means – primarily the Internet of course. On long passages we had both long-range radio communications (which we could use E-mail to get weather and share position reports over the Internet), and we also could use onboard satellite communications to do more Internet when needed (although quite expensive). When near land, we could sometimes get SIM cards for unlocked phones and use shore-based cell service for Internet. Other times we could find WIFI to use from our boat, other times we would have to find hotels or restaurants with WIFI service. In some locations there was no Internet, or even people, to be found at all.

Although our boat was far from home for many years, we would sometimes fly home to visit with family and friends back in the United States, usually once a year. And some friends and family would fly out to join us for a few days or weeks along the way. Even so, we missed many events in the lives of our friends and families, and sadly even the loss of a few. But, our lives were forever enriched by the the amazing experiences we had on this trip of a lifetime. We saw so many places, met so many wonderful people from the countries we visited, and shared our travels with many new and old friends along the way. There are a vast number of stories told of some of the more exciting or even terrifying moments on the Tahina site. We hope you’ll spend some time and explore our experiences some day.

Although our trip is now over, we plan to still share a few of the continuing experiences as we try to figure out what we are going to do next with our lives. We have a lot of reconnecting to do, and a lot of work unloading our boat and reorganizing our lives again. And, of course, I plan to update our maps with even more details of the entire trip and share them with Google Earth in the coming months. But, the real question we are asking ourselves is what will we do next? The answer to that question right now is that we will decide that when the time is right. Right now, we’re just going to enjoy being back home and we’ll decide when its time to pull the anchor up and move on to our next destination.

The post Tahina Circumnavigates the Earth appeared first on Google Earth Blog.

Comments Off :, more...

Could a conman get false information into Google Maps or Google Earth?

by Timothy Whitehead on Sep.08, 2014, under 3D Models, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, California, Denmark, England, Germany, Google Earth News, Google Earth Tips, Google Sky, Google maps, Hawaii, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Natural Landmarks, Netherlands, Sightseeing, Street Views, USA

We recently got a query by a reader asking whether or not it is possible for a conman to put a fake address into Google Earth. The short answer is yes.

Google gets its information from a large number of sources. The Earth is a very big place, so the amount of data involved is simply staggering. Errors, of course, do exist. These come in many forms, such as an island that didn’t exist, or the time that Google lost a city in Florida. When Google once removed the name “Persian Gulf”, Iran threatened to sue because the name is a very sensitive issue in the region.

Borders are often a contentious issue. It may be simply a case of borders being in the wrong place due to errors in the data supplied to Google, or border disputes, where two countries disagree about where their shared border is. Google method for the latter is to share data based on international mapping standards data – which they illustrate by showing disputed borders in red, or showing different borders depending on which country you are using the product from. Also, when new countries are formed, it may take Google (and all other mapping companies) a little while to update their maps.

One of Google’s sources of information is the general public via three main routes: the ‘report a problem’ feature in Google maps, the more sophisticated Google Mapmaker that Google released in 2008, and Google My Business (formerly Google Places). The last one is primarily for business address listings, whereas the first two deal with more general mapping information.
The processes for changing mapping data have a number of verification systems in place. However, since it is often impossible to verify the validity of all updates. Google mapmaker works on a system of reputation whereby your edits require less verification as you gain reputation. Google My Business encourages you to verify your address or phone number. None of the systems are totally fool proof, but the same system can be used to correct inaccurate data that works its way into the system.

map of fake street
An example of information that really shouldn’t have been allowed into Google Maps.

map of conman road
This appears to be a genuine road.

So why would people want to put false information into Google Maps? Here is a story of a restaurant which closed down because, the owner claims, its listing on Google Maps showed that they were closed on what were formerly its most popular days. His lawyer thinks that a competing restaurant sabotaged the listing. Earlier this year Bryan Seely went public, saying that he used to do ‘map jacking’ for profit but decided to go public in the hopes of getting a job at Google. As a publicity stunt, he managed to intercept calls to the FBI and Secret service by placing false contact information for them on Google Maps.

It is important to keep in mind that, for example, in the vacation rentals business where scams are quite common, the information in Google Maps may be correct, but when you arrive at your destination and knock on the door, you could discover that the person you wired your down-payment to does not own the property. No one wants that kind of thing to happen.

map of imaginary road
Imaginary road really exists!

Google Maps and Google Earth mapping data should always be treated like Wikipedia: an extremely useful resource, but not guaranteed to be correct.

The post Could a conman get false information into Google Maps or Google Earth? appeared first on Google Earth Blog.

Comments Off :, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , more...

Planning your cruise with Google Earth

by Mickey Mellen on Aug.15, 2014, under 3D Models, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, California, Denmark, England, Germany, Google Earth News, Google Earth Tips, Google Sky, Google maps, Hawaii, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Natural Landmarks, Netherlands, Sightseeing, Street Views, USA

Google Earth can be great for planning trips of any kind, including those by boat. More than seven years ago Frank was showing us 3D cruise ship tracking, and there have been other great cruising resources over the years. Of course, there is also the great tools that Frank is using as he sails around the world aboard the Tahina.

Doug Logan recently wrote an article on Boat Trader that shows some great ways to use Google Earth to help plan your next trip. As Doug says:

…it’s hard to beat sitting at my desk with a big monitor, loading up Google Earth, and plotting a complete cruise with the best satellite imagery in the civilian world and really simple, intuitive screen tools. For free.

boating with Google Earth

The techniques that Doug uses aren’t overly complex or unique, but they’re a solid example of how you can use the native tools in Google Earth to help plan what you need to do.

Be sure to check out this full article on Boat Trader. Good work Doug!

The post Planning your cruise with Google Earth appeared first on Google Earth Blog.

Comments Off :, , , more...

Viewing the GEBCO Global Ocean Map in Google Earth

by Mickey Mellen on Mar.13, 2014, under 3D Models, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, California, Denmark, England, Germany, Google Earth News, Google Earth Tips, Google Sky, Google maps, Hawaii, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Natural Landmarks, Netherlands, Sightseeing, Street Views, USA

The bathymetry in Google Earth (the topography of the ocean floor) is something that has been gradually improving for years. Not counting the 3D ocean released in 2009, the bathymetry imagery has been improved a few times as well including an upgrade in 2009, and then again in 2012.

While the Google Earth bathymetry is quite solid, there are other sources that do an excellent job of presenting it as well. One of the best is GEBCO (General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans), who just released the third version of their map in a variety of formats.

gebco bathymetry

They offer massive PDF and GeoTIFF downloads of the map on their world map page, but they also offer it in a few formats that are preferable to people like us — Google Maps and a great downloadable KML file.

For more check out the full details and information on their website.

(via +Jenifer Austin)

The post Viewing the GEBCO Global Ocean Map in Google Earth appeared first on Google Earth Blog.

Comments Off :, , , more...

The South Pacific Island that doesn’t exist

by Google Earth Blog on Nov.26, 2012, under 3D Models, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, California, Denmark, England, Germany, Google Earth News, Google Earth Tips, Google Sky, Google maps, Hawaii, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Natural Landmarks, Netherlands, Sightseeing, Street Views, USA

For years, "Sandy Island" has shown up in various maps and marine charts, including Google Earth and Google Maps. Scientists were confused, because their records showed a water depth of 1400m at that location, so they went to check it out. As they suspected, the island doesn't exist.

There's no telling how the island first appeared on maps, but it's apparently been on scientific maps (and subsequently Google Earth) for many years. Here's how the island currently appears in Google Earth:

sandy-island.jpg

It will likely be fixed in Google Earth very soon, but in the meantime you can view it by using
this KML file.

For more, check out the full story on the BBC website.

Comments Off : more...

Tracking the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race in Google Earth

by Google Earth Blog on Dec.27, 2011, under 3D Models, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, California, Denmark, England, Germany, Google Earth News, Google Earth Tips, Google Sky, Google maps, Hawaii, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Natural Landmarks, Netherlands, Sightseeing, Street Views, USA

The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht race, now in its 66th year, is underway off the coast of Australia. The 628 nautical mile race, in which racers travel from from Sydney Harbor to the historical port city of Hobart, is a very popular event in Australia. Event organizers have provided Google Earth tracking of the race for a few years now, and it's a great way to follow the race.

hobart.jpg

Along with the course line and locations of each boat, as seen above, you can click on any of the boat icons for more information; details on the boat, a photo, description, precise location, etc. It's quite a comprehensive file. The file is built as a network link, so it automatically updates itself with new information every 10 minutes.

boat.jpg

To get the KML file for the race, simply visit this page on their site. Along with instructions, they also have a couple of KML files available to download. One is the main racing KML, the other is a CSIRO file that shows sea surface temperature and current directions, which is a great supplement to the main file. Head over there and follow the race right now!


Comments Off : more...

Geospatial Revolution: Episode Three Released

by Google Earth Blog on Mar.02, 2011, under 3D Models, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, California, Denmark, England, Germany, Google Earth News, Google Earth Tips, Google Sky, Google maps, Hawaii, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Natural Landmarks, Netherlands, Sightseeing, Street Views, USA

Once again, right on time, Penn State Public Broadcasting has released Episode Three of their excellent "Geospatial Revolution" project.

If you've missed either of the first two episodes, I strongly suggest you go back and watch them. Episode One covered a wide overview of "how" and "why" questions regarding geospatial technologies, and Episode Two dug into more specific examples including the City of Portland and the well-known shipping company UPS.

Episode Three covers a variety of safety and war-related topics, such as:

• "Mapping the Road to Peace"
• "Waging Modern War"
• "Serving and Protecting"
• "Staying Safe"

You can watch each segment individually on their site, or watch the full 15 minute video below:

I hope you enjoy the video, and be watching for their fourth and final episode on May 3, 2011.


Comments Off : more...

Following the Plastiki

by Google Earth Blog on May.18, 2010, under 3D Models, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, California, Denmark, England, Germany, Google Earth News, Google Earth Tips, Google Sky, Google maps, Hawaii, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Natural Landmarks, Netherlands, Sightseeing, Street Views, USA

The "Plastiki" is a pretty cool boat. It's a catamaran that was constructed using 12,000 plastic two-liter bottles, and it uses solar and wind energy to help power the boat. Their goal with the boat is to raise awareness of plastic waste and to encourage recycling. Case in point, the 12,500 bottles used to help construct the Plastiki is the same amount that is consumed in the United States every 8.3 seconds! You can learn a lot more about the vessel on their website.

Zach Moore, with some help from Peter Rubin, constructed a high-quality 3D model of the boat and he's been updating its location each week.

plastiki.jpg

You can currently find the boat at 1N, 159W in Google Earth, though it won't be there for long. Your best bet is to download the model from the 3D Warehouse so you can quickly find the current location.

The Plastiki is in the same general area as Frank right now (he's currently at Hiva Oa, French Polynesia), though it's unlikely they'll bump into each other. While there aren't many people between them, they're nearly 1500 miles apart. They're both heading toward Australia, but it seems that Plastiki will get their first (Frank has a number of other stops before he gets there). I'm sure Frank will cover it in-depth on his blog if he ever crosses paths with them.

plastiki-and-frank.jpg

The Plastiki is a creative way to raise awareness about recycling, and Zach's excellent 3D model gives us a great way to track the journey.


Comments Off : more...

Looking for something?

Use the form below to search the site:

Still not finding what you're looking for? Drop a comment on a post or contact us so we can take care of it!

Visit our friends!

A few highly recommended friends...