Acquiring charts

[sneuman]

For those of you who are either on or planning extended voyaging, do you get paper and electronic charts all in one go before departure or acquire them along your route?

I have purchased paper and digital charts for the Caribbean, but hope to sail West -- though I'm not certain that I will and hence would rather not invest heavily in charts I may never use.

Can I acquire paper charts in places such as Panama? How about electronic charts (Garmin G2, specifically). Is it going to be a pain expense and customs-wise to get those on the go?

Thanks.

[sneuman]

Nothing?

[belizesailor]

Availability of charts and cruising guides tends to be spotty outside of developed countries.

Panama specifically has some availability and its easy to ship stuff in.

Many electronic charts can of course be downloaded from anywhere with decent Internet service.

Shipping & Customs hassle and expense varies widely between countries and sometimes on different days in the same country. Panama is easy.

[sneuman]

Originally Posted by hogHunter

I downloaded the Navionics Caribbean (Bahamas, Caribbean) app and the Navionics Boating app (North America). Once you download the app you can download sections of the maps as you go (you will just need Wifi or cell signal to download the data in the map section you want to download). The government charts are free within the app and the SonarCharts are a small fee. Super detailed and the Caribbean app only cost me something like $15 for my phone and $55 for my iPad. Super cheap compared to other options and the detail is amazing.

Thanks, I have INavX, but haven't used it much because it's less convenient than my Garmin chartplotter, at least for the moment.