I think I understand it now. The red line is always shown and infinite length, and it is based on boat heading adjusted by current - or more probably recent - set and drift. If your destination or the next turn is off the edge of the display, you zoom out to bring it onto the screen and steer to keep the boat moving to that desired point. And I presume you reduce detail, depth markers, etc. when you zoom out.
In the eastern NC area where I mostly sail, but also in Chesapeake Bay and along the ICW and coast going south, my target is usually in the 10 to 30 NM range in front of me. With the plotter and IPad I usually scroll over to the target, tap the screen, and then select "Go To". That puts a line on the chart display from my starting point to the destination. Then I can scroll back (or press stop scrolling on the menu) to recenter on the boat and see the nearby detail (depths around here are frequently 10 feet or less, and the ICW has a lot of twists and turns), see the boat position and heading in relation to the course line on the chart, and make steering and trim adjustments accordingly. I wonder if the displays would work the same on Active Captain, my IPad that I use on deliveries, or my laptop had I chosen the Navionics charts instead of Bluecharts when I bought my Garmin chart plotter? Rick Brass Washington, NC -----Original Message----- From: Stus-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Sent: Oct 28, 2022 2:24 PM To: 'Stus-List' <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Cc: <wolf...@erie.net> Subject: Stus-List Re: Navionics Thanks, Rick. The red line is not a route. The red line is always visible and shows your projected course an unlimited distance ahead. If I change course, the red line changes as well. It’s like an on-screen laser pointer. You point the boat in the general direction and adjust steering until the red line goes to where you want to go. That’s your course. Miss Connie from Romper Room could navigate a boat this way.
