FYI... Free Up to date electronic charts and software

I found this post in the seven seas cruising association website for the Maptech free downloadable electronic charts. I believe they are the latest NOAA charts and they have them divided up into regions with just about the entire coastal US available.

You can download all the charts for your area in one shot and they even have a scaled down version of their software to view the charts and plot routes, set waypoints, make annotations etc. It is pretty slick and worth taking a look at if you dont have electronic charting capability already.

The software is called "Chart Navigator" and is available for download on their website. There is a procedure to follow for downloading the charts and you have to register with Maptech to get the free stuff. (Name, Address, Email, Phone etc.) Once you register then you select the charts you would like to download and submit the request. They send you an email with the PIN number and you log back in and download the charts. It really doesnt take long, about 15 to 20 minutes for the whole process.

Check it out at http://www.freeboatingcharts.com/

Add to this post as you find any other information that others may find useful about software or the downloading process.

NOAA has now updated their web site at: http://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/ and you can download the raster charts directly without having to go through the log in drill at Maptech.

Ray Rhode
S/Y Journey
E35-III, #189