Shelter — Route to the Nearest Safe Harbour
Monitors the weather ahead on your active route and, when conditions worsen, ranks the nearest shelters (ports, marinas, anchorages) by distance, ETA and protection, then builds a route to the chosen shelter in one click.
Where to find it
Sidebar › Shelter tab (shield-alert icon).
Hierarchy
Shelter (Shelter Route)
├── Status banner (depends on your situation)
│ ├── No route — prompts you to create a route
│ ├── No position — prompts you to connect instruments / enable GPS
│ ├── Active monitoring — no alerts on route
│ ├── Searching for shelter... (in progress)
│ └── Search error (with Retry button)
├── "Danger ahead" / "Warning ahead" card
├── Ranked shelter list (candidate cards)
│ └── "Route to shelter" button (on selection)
├── Header button: Refresh
├── Header button: Dismiss
└── Panel footer button: Debug Bandol → Minorca
Monitoring and triggering
Status banner
What it's for: always shows what the tab is doing based on your situation. Shelter analysis only works when a route is active and your boat position is known.
How to use it: 1. Activate a route in the planner (the tab automatically monitors the active route). 2. Connect your instruments or enable GPS to provide a boat position. 3. Keep the tab open: it monitors a corridor along the route in the background (20 NM by default). 4. While no weather degradation is detected, the banner shows No weather alerts on route with the monitored corridor width. 5. As soon as heavy weather is spotted ahead, the tab switches to Searching for shelter... then shows the ranking.
Options & settings:
| Message | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Create a route to enable weather monitoring | No active route: nothing to monitor. |
| Connect instruments or enable GPS to monitor the route | Route active but boat position unknown. |
| No weather alerts on route | Monitoring is running, conditions are clean in the corridor. |
| Searching for shelter... | A danger zone was detected, shelter search in progress. |
| Search error | The search failed; a Retry link is offered. |
Tips & limits: - Two hard requirements: an active route and a boat position (instruments/GPS, or debug mode). - Monitoring is passive: keep the app open while sailing to benefit from alerts.
Reading the analysis
"Danger ahead" / "Warning ahead" card
What it's for: summarises the bad-weather zone detected on the route, upstream of the proposed shelters.
How to use it: 1. Read the heading: Danger ahead (high severity, red) or Warning ahead (moderate, orange). 2. On the right, note the distance of the zone from your boat (in NM). 3. Below the title, identify the affected waypoint and the day of the forecast. 4. Check the expected conditions: wind (with G gust if it clearly exceeds the mean wind), wave height, and the main reason for the alert.
Options & settings:
| Element | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Distance (NM) | How far the danger zone is from the boat. |
| Waypoint name + day | Where and when the alert occurs on the route. |
| Wind (kn) + G | Forecast wind, gust shown in red if clearly higher. |
| Waves (m) | Forecast wave height. |
| Reason | First reason for the alert (e.g. squall, strong wind…). |
Ranked shelter list
What it's for: lists the shelters in the corridor, ranked from most to least relevant (composite of type + distance + ETA + protection).
How to use it: 1. Below the header, read the counter: N shelters — X NM corridor. 2. Scan the cards, already sorted by relevance (best on top). 3. On each card, read the shelter name and its source guide subtitle. 4. On the right, note the distance (NM) and the bearing to the shelter in cardinal and degrees (e.g. NW (315°)). 5. Compare the stats row: ETA, arrival wind, arrival waves, protection score.
Options & settings:
| Card element | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Icon + colour | Shelter type: port (orange), marina (blue), anchorage (green). |
| Name + source guide | Place name and the guide the point comes from. |
| Distance (NM) | How far from the boat. |
| Cardinal bearing (degrees) | Bearing to the shelter (e.g. SE (135°)). |
| ETA (clock) | Estimated time to reach the shelter (from polars + wind); shown in minutes if < 1 h. |
| Arrival wind (kn) + G | Forecast wind at arrival, gust in red if clearly higher. |
| Arrival waves (m) | Forecast wave height at arrival. |
| Protection score (%) | For anchorages: 0–100. Green ≥ 80, yellow ≥ 50, orange ≥ 25, red below. Absent for ports/marinas. |
Tips & limits: - The shelter counter shows the corridor width actually used for the search. - The ETA depends on your polars and the wind: an ETA of "—" means it could not be estimated. - The protection score appears only for anchorages; ports and marinas have none.
Choosing a shelter and building the route
Manual selection and "Route to shelter"
What it's for: lets you manually pick a shelter from the list and generate a direct route to it.
How to use it: 1. Click a candidate card to select it (it highlights with a cyan border). 2. The Route to shelter button appears at the bottom of the selected card. 3. Click Route to shelter: the shelter route is created and imported as the active route. 4. The Shelter Route map layer turns on automatically to display the track. 5. To deselect, click the same card again.
Options & settings: - Click a card: selects / deselects the candidate (toggle). - Route to shelter (visible only when a shelter is selected): builds the route and imports it.
Tips & limits: - The new route replaces the active route with the track to the shelter; your original route remains saved elsewhere. - Only one shelter can be selected at a time.
Header buttons and debug
Refresh / Dismiss
What it's for: re-run the analysis on demand or hide the current result.
Options & settings: - Refresh (circular-arrows icon): immediately re-runs the shelter search. - Dismiss (cross icon, visible when a result is ready): hides the current analysis. - Retry: appears on a search error to re-run.
Debug: Bandol → Minorca
What it's for: simulates a mid-crossing heavy-weather scenario to test the tab without a real route or position.
How to use it: 1. At the bottom of the panel, click Debug: Bandol → Minorca. 2. A purple banner confirms: Debug: Bandol → Minorca · Simulated storm mid-crossing. 3. The analysis runs with a fictitious position and route; the Shelter Route layer turns on. 4. Click Disable debug to return to normal operation.
Tips & limits: - Debug mode bypasses the route + position requirements: handy for exploring the tab at the dock. - Remember to disable it before sailing for real.