New Process for CSIG Charts Authorisation
As most of you are aware the CSIG has been operational now since 2012, and are collecting an enormous amount of data, produce pretty good charts, manage a very active website, run training courses, give presentations, update content on the website, produce special charts for surveyors and the first responders, and are now working closely with the new Tranquillity Special Interest Group (TSIG). Maintaining this large amount of data, backing it up, and protecting it has become even more important than ever, and in view of that, the CSIG is introducing a new process for registration and download of the charts.
The CSIG charts are free to all IWAI members, and some specialist groups, and it is incumbent on the CSIG to protect that data and also the CSIG members. In view of that the CSIG has to make sure that all end users of the charts are indeed IWAI members.
The new process has been advised by email to all existing CSIG charts users, so this information will not be new to them. Every January, all CSIG users will be reset to ‘not authorised’. On a monthly basis the data base of users will be compared to the IWAI membership database, and those members who have paid their fee will be automatically reauthorized. This will ensure that only paid up IWAI members will have access to the charts. On an exceptional basis, if a paid up member requires access within the month period, please send an email to me at barge41m@yahoo.co.uk and I will endeavour to have the access authorised and checked against the membership database. Could I suggest here the easiest way to keep your access authorised is to use the Direct Debit process for membership fees, I have been using it for years and it really works well.
New Google Streetview Map of the Shannon
Over the last 18 months Google have loaned their 360-degree mapping camera to a crew from Waterways Ireland with a view to producing Streetview like maps for the River Shannon. These were released last month and they are really excellent. They work on Google maps on a laptop by selecting the area you wish to see and moving the little man to the area and dropping him there. Unfortunately they do not work on smartphones and tablets like that, instead you need to go to Google Earth and do the operation from there. This is a small inconvenience but definitely worth downloading Google Earth to have the access.
Where the CSIG charts come in, is that if you are using the MemoryMap version of the charts, then at the top of the page there is a tab called ‘web’. If you select that followed by ‘View online Photo’, this will open up in a browser page exactly where the CSIG chart is, and at the same zoom level, and you are directly into the new Streetview page. It is possible to see vessels and harbours you may know or not know, and exactly how they look. This is a really nice addition to the CSIG charts.
Meet Anton Wigley
Anton is relatively new to Ireland, but he has settled in really well, and has been a great addition to the CSIG team. Anton, under the guidance of Beth O’Loughlin and Brian Willson, has been actively surveying and mapping the Grand Canal, the Royal Canal and the River Barrow, and the Three Sisters. These surveys and maps are still being developed and we can be sure they will be really good for the users in those areas. Many thanks Anton for all your hard work and the help you have given the CSIG. Anton sent me his bio, and this is what he says.
I am electronic/Telecoms engineer and studied Electronic engineering at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa. I started career with Telkom, a semi state owned telecommunications provider in South Africa (Think Eircom, but in SA). After ten years, getting a thorough grounding in telecoms, particularly testing of Data network equipment deployment of Data networks, the travel bug hit. I threw everything in and moved across to the UK. For the first six months or so, I got by on odd gardening and construction labour jobs around London. I eventually found a position in a Telco in South Wales for a few months before moving up to Birmingham as a data networks Field service engineer. After about six months in Birmingham, I made another step change in my life and moved to Dublin. I eventually got a job with Ericsson, testing software for their 3G cellular network equipment. After the section I was working in wit Ericson left the country, I moved through 4 jobs in the electronics and Telco sector over the last 6 years, spending the bulk of this time, testing and completing design verification of data acquisition equipment for the aerospace industry. My latest role is working with a small team of hardware engineers to maintain and develop the in-vehicle hardware for the European market, for a multinational company that supplies vehicle tracking and fleet management systems.
From a young age I have always enjoyed being around water, starting off body boarding in the waves during the Summer months, and as I grew, I moving up to paddle/wave skiing. At university I found rowing and many a happy hour rowing in Durban harbour and hanging around the Boathouse, with many a good evening. Once I had graduated, the love affair with rowing continued and for the next ten years or so, my life seems to revolve around the boat and club houses of Zwartkops Rowing Club in Port Elizabeth and Roodeplaat Rowing Club in Pretoria. As I never quite settled down in the UK, I never joined a rowing club. This lack of rowing continued when I moved across to Ireland, mainly thanks to a new baby girl and starting a new life in Ireland. Unfortunately I never got back into rowing, but the water bug never left me. For a few years I did get into sea kayaking in Dublin and ended up building my own wooden sea kayak.
A few years after moving to Ireland, I discovered the joys of boating on the inland waterways, when we won a 5-day cruise with Emerald Star on one of their big 6-berth cruisers and spent a glorious few days cruising from Portumna, through Lough Ree and back. Once the bug had bit, I had to find a boat, which came along as a late 1970’s 25 foot Albin-25 cruiser. It was in quite a bad state and was showing her age and having being briefly partially sunk, did not help. I got it trucked to my house in Kilternan, where I spent the better part of a year, doing a complete refit and adding a hard top. When I had eventually finished, it was placed into the Grand Canal and I have spent most of my time cruising the eastern portion of the Grand Canal. Recently I have just finished a multi-year trip down to Graiguenamanagh and back. My plans for this year are to extend my boundaries and get back to the Shannon again.
I have always been fascinated with maps and dabbled with GIS. On reading about the CSIG work, I volunteered my services. At the time I was slowly making my way down the Barrow and offered to gather data while cruising. This turned out to be a lot more than simply gathering Points of Interest on the way down and morphed into completely redrawing the map for the Barrow line and navigation, including the estuary of the three sisters down to the sea. I then moved onto updating the map for the Royal canal and now am working on the Grand Canal, which I hope to have finished before the boating season starts.
Summary
Please contact me at barge41m@yahoo.co.uk if you would like a presentation on the charts at any of your branch meetings, or if you would like to contribute in any way to the CSIG group. You know, it is a very friendly group and we do have great fun doing what we do. Until next time, safe cruising.