Maptech US Boating Charts

[u079721]

I was reading about downloading free US nautical charts the other day, and came across this link to a Maptech site: http://www.freeboatingcharts.com/ . It is basically a service where they help you download the free US charts, but can bundle them to speed up the process. You can get all of these charts directly from NOAA, but only one at a time, which can take forever.

But then I noticed a product they sell further down the page that really caught my imagination. For $50 they will sell you a DVD that contains raster scans ALL of the NOAA US coastal and river nautical charts. Included is a "lite" version of their Offshore Navigator software with some of the features locked out.

Well the thought of being able to view any US chart on my computer was a bit too much to resist, so I ordered it, and just received it today. Wow. The software will interface with a GPS unit hooked up to your computer, so if you had this DVD and a laptop aboard it would probably be all you need for electronic navigation. But for me the attraction was just to be able to view harbor charts of all those places that I read about but never get the chance to visit.

All in all a pretty cool nautical toy that could actually be useful too.

 

[footrope]

Harbor Charts!

Now you have piqued my interest about electronic charts in a serious way. A couple of weeks ago, after returning from our 2 week trip, I was browsing the chart drawers at a chandlery and found a few of these harbor charts. I love the detail. The problem is, these charts add up ($) if you try to carry them for every tight area, or desirable anchorage in your cruising grounds. Not to mention storing them without destructive folds.

I suppose you can print sections or entire charts? The limitations of 8.5 x 11 paper might not be too serious for that scale of chart.

Guess I'll go check them out. Thanks for the post. This might fit in well with that laptop purchase I'm being herded towards.

 

[u079721]

Yup, you can print out what you want. I haven't tried it yet, but you could probably print a larger chart in sections and tape it together if you really needed to. But the best use would probably be what I friend of mine crusing along the Atlantic US has in mind - which is a back up source of all those harbor and river charts that you never spent the big bucks to buy paper copies of.

Of course you would need a PC onboard - something that up to now I have resisted.

 

[footrope]

Tried it Like it so far

I downloaded the program and the charts for the Northwest and have been playing with it off and on this weekend. Tried some printing, too. The trick with printing either a chart packet or an NTM packet and getting just the chart, (minus all the title pages and notes and other blather) is to uncheck all the little boxes in the dialog that pops up. The area you want to print can be selected on the larger charts, using the dialog box.

Clicking the print button in the toolbar just prints the current screen display and it doesn't stop to ask permission. Not bad at all.

I tried with a B&W Laserjet and a color inkjet printer. The color is slightly more readable, but both are sufficient.

I may just print what I need to take with me when we go, just to avoid taking a PC. This year, with the plan to go to Canada, we bought a tide and current book that covers Puget Sound and most of the Canadian waters between Victoria and Port Hardy. It also has some pretty useful information about many of the harbors, marinas, and their services, all along the way. This was the same price as the Captain Jack's we usually buy but it didn't have the graphic tide displays that we like. So, I've taken to printing tide graphs off one of the websites for the departure and arrival days so that it is easier to estimate the tide heights for deciding to go under (or swing) the Spokane Street swing bridge. We also print current and tide graphs for planned stops or passes along the way.

Anyway, thanks for the tip, Steve.

 

[evm]

for $50...

...; Download them for you. Wait a minute, I am an official chart distributor, I better get those DVD ready.

--Ethan

 

[Chris Miller]

Google earth

I've started using Google Earth to help with my trip planning as well. Pretty cool to have both good charts and satelite imagery to go with it. Or maybe I'm just a :nerd:
Chris