Passage planner
Plan a trip by boat. Choose where you leave from and where you are going, add stops if you like, and set your speed and departure time. You get each leg’s distance and timing, and the tides, tidal currents and buoy readings near every stop around the time you will be there.
Information only — not for navigation. Never use these results to plan or conduct a passage.
Position 38.976° N, 76.483° W to Position 38.787° N, 76.222° W: about 23 nautical miles (43 km) in 1 leg.
Leaving Oct 20, 2026, 02:45 UTC at 6 knots, you would arrive around Oct 20, 2026, 06:35 UTC. 3 hours 50 min under way.
Free. You sign in or create an account, then land on the Helm form already filled in. Nothing is saved until you confirm it.
Legs
| Leg | Distance | Departs (UTC) | Arrives (UTC) | Time | Route |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position 38.976° N, 76.483° W → Position 38.787° N, 76.222° W | 23 nm | Oct 20, 2026, 02:45 | Oct 20, 2026, 06:35 | 3 hours 50 min | Along lanes |
| Total | 23 nm | Oct 20, 2026, 02:45 | Oct 20, 2026, 06:35 | 3 hours 50 min |
23 nm of this passage follows lanes learned from ship traffic (AISstream.io global terrestrial AIS, NOAA Marine Cadastre historical AIS).
AIS data: AISstream.io
Conditions along the way
Near each stop, within 6 hours of when you would be there: NOAA tide and tidal current predictions, and the latest reading of the nearest weather buoy. Predictions and observations, not a weather forecast.
- Low water Oct 19, 2026, 22:04 UTC, 0.16 m
- High water Oct 20, 2026, 04:58 UTC, 0.44 m
- Max ebb 0.6 kn at Oct 19, 2026, 23:03 UTC
- Slack water at Oct 20, 2026, 01:43 UTC
- Max flood 0.5 kn at Oct 20, 2026, 04:34 UTC
- Slack water at Oct 20, 2026, 07:03 UTC
Wind 6 kn · waves — · water 18.7 °C
- High water Oct 20, 2026, 03:48 UTC, 0.61 m
- Low water Oct 20, 2026, 10:26 UTC, 0.24 m
- Slack water at Oct 20, 2026, 01:43 UTC
- Max flood 0.5 kn at Oct 20, 2026, 04:34 UTC
- Slack water at Oct 20, 2026, 07:03 UTC
- Max ebb 0.9 kn at Oct 20, 2026, 11:49 UTC
Wind 1 kn · waves — · water —
Tide and current predictions: NOAA CO-OPS Tides & Currents. Buoy readings: NOAA National Data Buoy Center. US public domain.
Keep it in Voydar Helm
Helm is Voydar’s free boating workspace: save passages, keep your boat’s records and invite your crew. Helm Free includes 1 boat, 3 crew and 5 journeys.
Free. You sign in or create an account, then land on the Helm form already filled in. Nothing is saved until you confirm it.
Example passages: Boston to Provincetown · Annapolis to St. Michaels · Miami to Bimini · San Diego to Avalon
Plan a boat trip in a minute
Start with where you are and where you want to be: a harbour, a marina or a waypoint. Add up to five stops for fuel, lunch or the night. Set your cruising speed and the time you plan to leave.
The plan gives you each leg’s distance in nautical miles, the time it takes and when you would leave and arrive. Near every stop you see the tide times, the tidal current and the latest buoy reading for around the time you get there, so you can see whether you would arrive on a rising tide or into a foul current.
When the plan looks right, save it in Voydar Helm, the free boating workspace. Helm keeps the route as a journey for your boat, shares it with your crew and checks the weather along it before you go.
Questions
How is the distance calculated?
Along shipping lanes learned from AIS ship tracks where they serve your leg, otherwise as the straight great-circle line. Both are measured in nautical miles. A direct line may cross land or shallows: it is a distance, not a route to steer.
Where do the tides and currents come from?
From NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS): high and low water predictions and tidal current predictions for its stations, and the latest readings of NOAA National Data Buoy Center buoys. They cover US waters and a few nearby areas.
Can I save the passage?
Yes. “Save this passage in Helm” opens Voydar Helm with the route filled in. Helm Free includes 1 boat, 3 crew and 5 journeys, with no card needed.
How this works
- Points: a port is placed at its charted position (UN/LOCODE register), a marina at its position from the marina directory, and coordinates exactly where you type them.
- Legs: where both ends of a leg are within 20 nm of the lanes we have learned from ship traffic, and the lanes connect them, the leg follows the lanes. Otherwise it is the straight great-circle line between the two points, marked “direct line”.
- Timing: each leg takes its distance divided by your speed. Stops add the hours you choose before the next leg. Nothing allows for current, wind, sea state or traffic.
- Conditions: for each stop, the nearest NOAA tide station (within 100 km) with predictions inside the window, the nearest tidal current station (within 30 km), and the nearest buoy that reported in the last 24 hours. Only sources whose licence lets us display them are used.
This planner knows nothing about charted depths, bridges, hazards, traffic separation schemes, restricted areas, weather forecasts or your boat. Check official charts, notices and forecasts before you go.