Black and White Repro Charts?

[SV Demeter]

Im looking for paper charts for the caribbean and found Bellingham who sells black and white reproductions here:

Discounted Nautical Chart Portfolios, Nautical Chart Copies and Reproductions | Bellingham Chart Printers

Do any of you have experience with these charts? Is the paper they are printed on any good? Is getting used to black and white charts difficult? Any other suggestions for affordable paper charts?

[holmek]

I have sailed with Mahina chart packs, - ( reduced size and photocopied) and Charlies charts of the Pacific. The paper is photocopy paper and as such does not like getting wet. The legibility was good,(even the reduced size) although as the years progress I find a magnifying glass becoming more essential. Black and white is no problem. I used a yellow highlighter to mark dangers when trip planning, and one could use different colors to mark depth contours.

[HopCar]

If you want a very high quality chart you should consider those made by Ocean Grafix. They are higher quality than government printed charts and all corrections are made up to the day you order them. I'm an Ocean Grafix dealer and would love the chance to quote you on them. They won't be as cheap as black and white photo copies but they are much higher quality. They are printed on high quality water resistant paper.

[bobconnie]

When we lived on the west coast we tried some of the Bellingham charts for harbors in the BC area. They were ok but not near as nice as the Ocean Grafics HopCar is talking about! just sayin better is better!!

[DeepFrz]

By the way, those charts are illegal in Canada. Slim chance you will be caught but if you ever had a problem and CG or RCMP boarded your boat you could be fined. By the way they are a poor choice, IMHO.

[Jim Cate]

Before the days of ubiquitous e-charts, most of us wide-ranging cruisers utilized copied charts. The cost of new charts coupled with frequently changing plans and the scarcity of chart agents in the third world lead us to copy ANYTHING that looked helpful. I'm sure that we stepped on copyright laws in some countries, but we were desperate at times. And of course, none of these copies were ever up to date, the early copiers were not "high fidelity" and the toners often were water soluble. Some of us used Bellingham charts which were mostly 2/3 size, but the shrinkage often made detail unreadable and most tended to use full size copies of BA, US or whatever hydrographic office was applicable. Occasionally one could borrow charts from a friendly merchant ship for copying, or even be gifted with their out of date versions. Hell, we're still carrying some we were given by a cable layer in Suva harbour in 1990!

Not the best situation, but we did the best we could, and ya know what? Those blurry out of date copies were a hell of a lot more reassuring than no chart at all. We quickly learned to use highlighters or colored pencil to add emphasis in important areas, and more importantly, in really critical situations, not to trust them at all!

So nowadays should you use Bellingham copies? I do not believe they sell copies of copyrighted material (like Canadian Gov charts), but rather copies of US versions of those charts, so I don't think you need worry about being locked away for your "crime" if apprehended with their products. If your budget doesn't stretch to new charts, either Gov or aftermarket (HopCar's versions sound nice) then by all means try the copies. And keep your eyes open for opportunities to copy or trade with other yotties. Once you get out cruising you will find that the community is a generous one.

Sorry for the long windedness, BTW... I got carried away reminiscing !

Cheers,

Jim

[maxingout]

The main advantage of the copied charts is that you need to use colored pencils to color in the depths associated with the depth contour lines. When you color in the copied chart, it forces you to seriously get familiar ahead of time with what is on the chart. It's not a bad idea to figure out your options and potential challenges ahead of time by coloring in the charts.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by maxingout

The main advantage of the copied charts is that you need to use colored pencils to color in the depths associated with the depth contour lines. When you color in the copied chart, it forces you to seriously get familiar ahead of time with what is on the chart. It's not a bad idea to figure out your options and potential challenges ahead of time by coloring in the charts.

Hi Dave!... and here I thought the main advantage was the low cost! Silly me!

But your point about detailed checking of depths is a good one!

Cheers,

Jim

[maxingout]

I never used them unless I colored them in. Without that exercise, I missed a lot of critical information when navigating. I even ran aground in Suva harbor using a copied chart I had not bothered to color. I learned my lesson.

[SV Demeter]

Originally Posted by HopCar

If you want a very high quality chart you should consider those made by Ocean Grafix. They are higher quality than government printed charts and all corrections are made up to the day you order them. I'm an Ocean Grafix dealer and would love the chance to quote you on them. They won't be as cheap as black and white photo copies but they are much higher quality. They are printed on high quality water resistant paper.

Thanks Hop. Heres where I am right now. We are in Annapolis till the end of summer with plans this fall to head offshore to the Virgins, then spend next winter cruising the eastern carib. Not sure how far south we will get but guessing to ABC's. Then working our way back north and west through DR, PR, and the bahamas. From the bahamas in the spring we will either coast hop north or go up the ditch.

I would like a decent paper chart(s) for the offshore passage from Chesapeake to Virgins. I have 2 of the 3 Explorer books for the bahamas and will buy the 3rd, but am thinking maybe a paper chart or 2 of the important east coast areas in case we need to bail out on our passage south. If we cant get a decent window early we will likely head to Beaufort NC to wait.

I have ordered some Imray charts already and have the following:

A, B, A2,A3,A4, B5.

Your suggestions for Ocean Grafix charts to supplement this list would be great! I have a good collection of electronic charts for my intended crusing areas so its really the paper back ups Im trying amass at this point.

Thank you to everyone who replied on this thread. Im thinking I may have used these BW repro charts before and recall the paper not being all that good. They served the purpose but were less than ideal.

[HopCar]

SV Demeter, Here is a link to the Ocean Grafix website: OceanGrafix
They are just high quality versions of US Government charts and use the same numbering system.

There is a pretty good search function on the website and you can see what each chart looks like.

In fact the US government has stopped printing paper charts of foreign waters. They supply the information and Ocean Grafix prints them.

If you email me a list of the chart numbers you are interested in and your shipping address I'll be glad to give you a good quote.

You can email me through my website: www.hopkins-carter.com

I also have a bunch of government printed charts that may or may not be the latest edition that I'm trying to get rid of. I'll be selling these for $5.00 each. If you send me the list of numbers, I'll check my stock of government charts as well as quote on the Ocean Grafix.

[Sailmonkey]

We used the Bellingham charts (2/3 b&w) across the western caribbean and found them to be invaluable.
The price is right, and they fit on the midget chart table when folded in half. Like others, I used a highlighter to go over any real hazards so they stood out from the rest, but even without the markup they're still easy to read (but my eyes are not as old as others)

[holmek]

Buenos Dias senior Henry the Navigator, este Christos aqui, Yo gosto discover los Americas e indios eustos, porque become mucho famous, sadly yo necesidad el chartos muchos grande and very explicito. Por favor send me faultless instrucios other wise I'm not frikkin' going and los americanos can bloody well stay undiscovered.

[SV Demeter]

Originally Posted by HopCar

SV Demeter, Here is a link to the Ocean Grafix website: OceanGrafix
They are just high quality versions of US Government charts and use the same numbering system.

There is a pretty good search function on the website and you can see what each chart looks like.

In fact the US government has stopped printing paper charts of foreign waters. They supply the information and Ocean Grafix prints them.

If you email me a list of the chart numbers you are interested in and your shipping address I'll be glad to give you a good quote.

You can email me through my website: www.hopkins-carter.com

I also have a bunch of government printed charts that may or may not be the latest edition that I'm trying to get rid of. I'll be selling these for $5.00 each. If you send me the list of numbers, I'll check my stock of government charts as well as quote on the Ocean Grafix.

Thanks Hop. In you inbox now.

[HopCar]

SV Demiter, Got it. Thanks for the opportunity to quote on these.