Lake Geneva navigation guide
Everything you need to know to navigate Lake Geneva, under sail or under power: the rules, the winds and the weather, harbours and stopovers, racing, nature and fishing. Each guide links to the official texts, and every place mentioned opens on the Navleman map.
- Navigating Lake GenevaLicence, 300 m shore zone, speeds, right of way, storm lights, anchoring: the rules to know.
- Lake Geneva winds and weatherBise, joran, vaudaire, séchard, thunderstorms: recognising the winds and reading the lake weather.
- Harbours, stopovers and anchoragesVisitor berths, fuel, pump-out, slipways, cranes and anchorages: sector by sector.
- Sailing and racing on Lake GenevaClubs, rules, start, major races: preparing for and sailing a regatta.
- Nature, fishing and divingReserves, birds, fish, fishing permits, dive sites.
App user guide
One page per menu: what it's for, how to use it, and for each map layer what it shows, its legend, its source and what it doesn't tell you. Each menu in the app links to its page.
How the menus work
- Open a menu. Tap Menu at the bottom right, then the menu's tile. “‹ Themes” takes you back to the tiles.
- Show a map. Each row has a box: tick it to lay the map (the “layer”) over the base map, untick it to remove it. The tile counts what's displayed (“2 shown”), and the “Shown on the map” list, on the menu's home screen, lets you find everything again.
- Loading. While a map is loading, a small ring spins at the end of its line and at the top right of the map. If it disappears without anything being shown, the section's status line says why (service not responding, no network).
- Read the info note. The arrow at the right of a row opens its info note: what the map shows, its colour legend, its source and date, and what it doesn't tell you.
- Tap a point. On the map, tap a marker: a pop-up opens with the essentials, links (website, Google Maps) and two buttons, Set course (it becomes your destination) and Start from here (your starting point). The source and position are tucked into the expandable “Sources and position” section.
- No signal. A row marked offline comes from a file built into the app: it works without signal. The others load on demand, then stay in memory.
- Find a map. The “Search for a map” field finds a map layer by name across all menus; “All layers” gives the full list.
- Switch everything off. “↺ Reset maps”, on the menu's home screen, removes all map layers at once.
- Where to?You choose where you're going; the app tells you which way to go, how long it takes and, once under way, the course to steer and the time remaining. This guide follows a real outing, from Rolle to Yvoire harbour, screen by screen.
- RacingA race dashboard on your phone: the line, the marks, the countdown, then during the race the next mark, the course to steer and when to tack. This guide follows an example regatta off Rolle, screen by screen.
- Base mapThe background everything else sits on. Five choices, one tap.
- Harbours and safetyWhere to stop, where to launch, where you're not allowed to go, and who to call if something goes wrong.
- Wind and weatherThe wind blowing now, the wind to come, rain and thunderstorms, and what the water is doing.
- DiscoverWhere to stop to eat, sleep, swim or visit, by boat or on foot from the lake.
- Sports outingKite, wing, windsurf, wake, paddle, jet ski: the right water at the right time, and where to hire or learn.
- DivingPlanning a dive: where to get in, what's down there, what's regulated, and the temperature at depth.
- ServicesRefuel, pump out, repair, maintain, equip or haul the boat out of the water.
- Lake infoThe state of the lake itself: today's level, its bottom, the water temperature, its currents and waves.
- Fish and fishingOne map per species, showing where the depth, water temperature and season suit it; then where to buy a permit, gear or fish from the lake, and who to go out with.
- Lake birdsLake Geneva's waterbird reserves, what is restricted there, and where you must keep well clear.
- Natural habitatsThe fragile habitats along the shore: you skirt them, you don't cross them.
- My accountOptional and free: a 20-character code, with no email or name, to get your data back on another phone.
- Settings and dataAdjust the screen, prepare to navigate without signal, and manage your tracks, places and data.