Buy paper charts?

[Kettlewell]

For me I always have most of the paper charts, if not all, for any particular area, but for those who are relying solely on chart plotters I think 3 units is a minimum when you are off long distance cruising. It might be one chart plotter, one PC with charts, and one iPhone with charts, but then you have redundancy when one or more units fail. I see way too many boats that have no charts at all other than the main chart plotter, which leaves you with nothing when it goes out. Like I said before, I had two different PCs die on me when down in the SW Caribbean and there was nowhere within a couple of hundred miles to get anything fixed or sent in. So that wiped out all electronic charting. Had to go with just the paper charts a basic GPS giving lat/long and hand plotting for quite awhile before I could get the computers fixed. Then when we did get to Cartagena it wasn't all that easy to find the computer stuff we needed. Luckily, my father flew in with a suitcase full of stuff for the boat. While there I noted many other cruisers in similar circumstances, often working on the third backup for critical gear. Stuff just breaks, and you need backups. That's one thing nice about paper--it doesn't break.

[daddle]

Originally Posted by wolfenzee

My main concern is the relability and/or reliance on electronics in a marine enviroment

The geeks here know that paper charts are held together by electronics, right? It's just a more reliable application of electronics. Heh.

[Capt Phil]

Barnekeil's comment on the hazards of charts blowing overboard out of the cockpit brought back memories of sailing downwind down the Straits of Juan de Fuca after a perilous night trying to find Cape Beale in the fog and being up for about 36 hours. My ex and her girlfriend were on the wheel and I had just gone off watch and fallen asleep when the motion of the boat changed big time... up on deck to watch the two of them do a 360 under sail and pick up the only chart I had for entrance to Victoria with a fishnet and proudly brought the soaking mess aboard and back on the original heading. That was the in the days before GPS, plotters, etc and that chart was damned important at the time (sometime in the 70's).
Thank goodness for the younger generation who taught me how to use modern electronics on deliveries! Capt Phil

[wolfenzee]

Charts blowing over board are not so much a design flaw of charts, but rather a design flaw of the cockpit...also full sized charts are useually kept below with either "chart books" and/or 13" x 19" "pocket charts" ( which fold up to 4" x 6" in 8 panels) used topsides...secured from wind and rain.

[nigel1]

Just seen my earlier post that I must have left out a link, I was meant to be referring to.
This will be of more interest to UK/European sailors, or those visiting our waters.
Just subscribed to Free charts and pilotage
Cost of full membership was £25, thats a one off fee, no annual subscription.
For that, can print part copies of all UK admiralty charts of the UK, plus a sizabkle chunk of the Atlantic coasts and Med.
Also managed to download copies of all the UK Admiralty Tidal Atalas Charts for UK waters, and they do some neat PDF versions of pilot books/cruising guides for the UK coast.

For £20 can purchase a CD with all UK coast admiralty charts in raster form, can be used with SeaClear, but they are producing a version in BSB format for use with Open CPN. Later this year, bringing out raster charts for quite a bit of the Atlantic coast.
No affliation with this outfit, but I thought it a good deal.

[Capt Phil]

Or in my case, wolfenzee, a design flaw in my ex wife! Capt Phil