Your licence becomes a zone on the map.
Cap Calme starts from your licence and your equipment, draws how far you may go, plans the route within that limit and warns you if it leaves it.
Plan your boat trip around your licence and the weather.
The right day, the right route, back on time.
Cap Calme starts from your licence and your safety equipment. It draws your zone and your route, checks the weather for your boat and tells you whether now is the time to go. If not, it tells you when.
Free, no ads, no account needed to plan. Mainland French coasts and Corsica.
Where do you start?
Cap Calme in a few words
Cap Calme helps you plan, ashore, a trip by motorboat or sailing boat. It starts from your licence and your boat's safety kit, draws your limit on the map, plans a route that takes coastal rules into account and tells you whether the weather suits your boat and your level, and if not, when.
It is made first for beginners and renters, on the coasts of mainland France and Corsica.
Free, no ads, no account needed to plan.
It is not a navigation instrument: at sea, keep charts, compass and VHF.
First steps:How far with my licence?Mandatory equipmentFirst trip300 m strip
How it works
Four steps, in the order of your trip.
- My profile
Your boat and your licence.
Length, propulsion, licence and equipment: Cap Calme works out your limit, in nautical miles from a shelter (2, 6 or more depending on your licence and safety kit), drawn on the map.
- Plan
Your destination.
Search for a harbour, a town or a lighthouse, or click the map. No idea? Ask for trips that fit the daylight you have left (Explore tab, “Trip ideas” view).
- The verdict
Go or not.
Favourable, caution or not advised, for this boat and your experience, over the whole trip, with the reason in one sentence. If it's a no, Cap Calme suggests another time, up to the next morning, and never a return after dark if you're a beginner.
- Aboard
Ready to go.
The mandatory equipment for your category and a "boat ready" list to tick. Then let someone ashore know with a simple link, and export the route as a GPX file, to check against the nautical chart before using it on board.
What Cap Calme does for you
A verdict for this boat and for you, with its reason.
Not just the weather: what it means for your boat and your experience, wind, gusts and waves included. If it's a no, Cap Calme tells you when. For free.
A route that takes the coastal rules into account.
It is planned to avoid land, shallows for your draught and prohibited areas, it passes between channel buoys and allows for the 300 m strip at 5 knots. At harbour entrances the depth is not always known: always check the route on the nautical chart.
And also
Fuel or battery. Enough for out, back and a third more. Electric boat: 30% reserve.
Sheltered on arrival? Cap Calme flags an arrival exposed to the forecast wind and suggests a fallback shelter.
The coast explained. Click a buoy or a light: what it means, with the light's rhythm drawn.
An alert if the weather changes. An email if the forecast changes in the 36 hours before you leave (free account).
Your trip log. Note how the sea felt against the forecast, see your miles and trips.
Several base maps. Street map, night mode and IGN aerial photos.
What Cap Calme is not
Cap Calme is a planning aid, to use ashore, the evening before or in the morning. It is not a navigation instrument. It does not replace SHOM charts, notices to mariners or the marine weather bulletin. It does not compute water depth from tides: for tides, check the official SHOM times. Cap Calme does not alert anyone and does not monitor your trip. At sea, keep charts, compass and VHF radio. The decision to go is the skipper's.
Planning your trip is free
Your limit, the route, the weather view, another departure time, the safety kit list and the trip plan for someone ashore are free and will stay free. No ads. No account needed to plan a trip; a free account keeps your routes, your boat and your log on all your devices.
Your boat, your harbour, your trips
In your profile, set up your boat once: type, length, licence, equipment and home harbour. Find your favourite harbours, your recent trips, your default contact ashore and your ranks, from Ship's boy to Captain.
Frequently asked questions
What is Cap Calme?
A free app to plan a boat trip ashore on the French coast: your limit from your licence and kit, a route that takes coastal rules into account, a weather view for your boat. In the browser, installable on your phone.
How far can I go with the French coastal licence?
On a motorboat, up to 6 nm from a shelter, if the boat's safety kit allows: 2 nm with basic kit, 6 nm with coastal kit. The stricter rule applies.
What safety equipment do I need?
It depends on the kit level set by Division 240. Cap Calme lists it for your boat, with a link to the official sheet.
I'm a beginner or I'm renting: is it for me?
Yes. Beginner thresholds are lower and a return after dark is never suggested. For a rental: boat type, the company's kit level and your licence.
Is it free? Do I need an account?
The weather view, your limit, the route, the safety kit list and the trip plan for someone ashore are free and will stay free, with no ads. No account is needed to plan; a free optional account keeps your routes, your boat and your log on all your devices.
Does Cap Calme tell me whether I can get into the harbour?
Partly. Cap Calme compares the depth on SHOM charts, at low tide, with your boat's draught plus 50 cm. If it finds no deep enough way into the harbour, it flags it: access then depends on the tide. If it does not know the depth (basin, lock, narrow entrance), it says so, without changing the verdict. Its data date from 2015 and have a grid of about 100 m: a sill or a narrow bank may be missed, and it does not compute today's height of tide. Always check the entrance on the nautical chart, the SHOM tide times and, for a lock, with the harbour office. The decision is the skipper's.
Does Cap Calme replace charts, marine weather or VHF?
No. It is a planning aid, not a navigation instrument. It does not compute tides: use the official SHOM tide times.