---
id: cursor-eta
title: Live ETA at Cursor
category: Display
---

![Fig 1. The Status Bar Options settings, and the resulting Brg/Dist/ETA readout in the status bar](cursor-eta-1.jpg)

Get a quick bearing, distance, and time estimate to any point on the chart —
without setting a destination first.

**To turn it on**, go to **Settings → Display → Status Bar Options** and check
**Live ETA at cursor**. It's off by default. Once on, the status bar adds the
bearing, distance, and ETA from your boat to the point you're pointing at,
alongside the existing latitude/longitude readout.

**With a mouse**, the readout follows the pointer as you move it over the chart.

**Click or tap the chart** and the readout locks onto that point, with a marker
showing which point it refers to. The marker fades away and the readout is
released with it, so the numbers are never left on screen with nothing
identifying what they describe. Tap somewhere else to measure to the new point.
This gives a touchscreen at the helm the same "how far is that?" gesture a mouse
user gets — dragging the chart still just pans it, and a press-and-hold still
opens the chart menu.

**Tap Fade Speed** sets how long the marker takes to fade, in seconds (minimum
1, default 1.5). Raise it to give yourself longer to read the numbers; lower it
if the marker sits over something on the chart you want to see or grab.

The ETA uses your boat's current speed over ground. If you're stopped — at
anchor, hove to — there's no speed to estimate from, so Freeboard falls back to
a **Reference Boat Speed** you set alongside the checkbox, keeping the ETA
useful even when you're not moving.
