Chart Sticker Shock 2018

[roland stockham]

Look at the possibility of printing your own on an A3 printer. Way cheaper if you can find the space.

[stormalong]

In this electronic age it is now far less expensive to buy two computers, download OPENCPN and NOAA charts, both for free. The computers are faster and cheaper than dedicated chart plotters plus they can be used for other purposes as well. Why two - redundancy.

As you become part of the cruising community you will find other electronic charts available for little or no cost. Maybe not the most current but many of the developing countries' charts have not been updated in decades.

[Va2shp]

Originally Posted by Benz

Chartbooks are the least expensive way to go--I found the Canadian charts to be horribly expensive, and on top of that the soundings are in meters! For what they charge they could at least do fathoms....grumble

The rest of the world is going Metric, might not be a bad idea to join the party.

[johnjuliano]

Originally Posted by ArmyDaveNY

By the way, West Marine now has a price match plan. Bring in any ad, other than clearance items (I think), and they will match it even if it is an on-line ad.

I don’t believe they match anymore, other than very local brick and mortar stores. When I recently asked for a match, here in Seattle, I was given a maximum distance of just a very few miles.

We did buy a used quite large chart plotter and an old windows machine to run the print software. We printed off full size NOAA charts for basically free and distributed them to friends far and wide. After printing all we needed and pretty much switching solely to electronic – we hadn’t planned to, but found we referred less and less to printed charts – we got rid of the entire set up.

I’m sorry the brand escapes me at the moment, but the plotters were very cheap because the manufacturer stopping writing drivers for it.

[ArmyDaveNY]

Originally Posted by johnjuliano

I don’t believe they match anymore, other than very local brick and mortar stores. When I recently asked for a match, here in Seattle, I was given a maximum distance of just a very few miles.

This used to be the case but as of a week ago it changed. They even have a huge banner on their website that says they won't be beat. They now match on-line prices.

[ArmyDaveNY]

Originally Posted by stormalong

Why two - redundancy.

This is true and also not true. The redundancy you mention is in case one of the plotters fails. it does not provide redundancy if your electrical system fails. It also does not provide redundancy if an individual component fails. For example, if you need a GPS antenna and only have one, if your antenna fails you then have to move the plotter to a position that can receive a signal.

Additionally, if the second unit doesn't have the data from the primary unit, you'll know where you are (assuming you loaded the charts on both plotters) but won't have the way points, etc.

[LeeV]

NV Charts for Chesapeake (North or South) $49.95 The previous comment about the need to replace charts on a yearly basis is a great sales tactic. Boaters can get the Mariners notices and make changes on the appropriate pages in the yearbook, but I’ve been given one and two year old chart books for free because folks wanted new and safer charts.

[Tortuga's Lie]

I am in the fortunate position where I have access to a large format printer for doing architectural blueprints so I am able to print large format NOAA charts free of charge........
An alternative to this would be a print shop like Kinko's/FedEx where you can bring in a thumb drive with your downloaded NOAA charts and have them print them off for a few dollars.

[ArmyDaveNY]

Originally Posted by LeeV

NV Charts for Chesapeake (North or South) $49.95 The previous comment about the need to replace charts on a yearly basis is a great sales tactic. Boaters can get the Mariners notices and make changes on the appropriate pages in the yearbook, but I’ve been given one and two year old chart books for free because folks wanted new and safer charts.

Spot on. It's rare to need new charts on a short but regular basis. Sandy made some drastic changes to some inlets around me (NYC) but even with those, I didn't rush out to buy new charts. The notices worked just fine. I also looked at active captain and penned in some other changes. I think I only bought one new chart. Maybe it was two, but the majority of the charts are fine even thought they are technically old.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Tortuga's Lie

I am in the fortunate position where I have access to a large format printer for doing architectural blueprints so I am able to print large format NOAA charts free of charge........
An alternative to this would be a print shop like Kinko's/FedEx where you can bring in a thumb drive with your downloaded NOAA charts and have them print them off for a few dollars.

Make sure the printer retains the proper scale. I tried that years ago and it was stretched scale in one direction!

[Tortuga's Lie]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Make sure the printer retains the proper scale. I tried that years ago and it was stretched scale in one direction!

You're right about that, There's a setting that I can adjust the print scale, but for those who may not be too familiar, you bring up a very, very good point.

[johnjuliano]

Originally Posted by ArmyDaveNY

This used to be the case but as of a week ago it changed. They even have a huge banner on their website that says they won't be beat. They now match on-line prices.

WOW!!

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by rognvald

We're planning our final escape from the Great Lakes this Summer and are amazed at the increase in price for nautical charts. It appears that it is less expensive to buy a chartbook than to buy individual NOAA charts for the Lakes and the St. Lawrence. We always plot our course on paper and only use our GPS for verifying our DR plot. Are chartbooks the way to go now until we hit the Atlantic and go offshore? $24.95 for one chart? Wow!
Thanks, Rognvald

Chart books are a lot cheaper. The only pain is going from page to page and aligning them. The problem is well worth the savings. If going well off shore a chart might be worth it.

[Maka]

It is possible to buy used charts from places that sell used boat items.
The Chandlery here has quite a few used charts.
I was reading recently about George Vancouver who charted the Pacific Northwest in the 1790s. They commented that his charts are accurate enough to still be used today.
The point is: Used charts are still good sans aids to navigation. They can be updated with current info with notes you pencil in on them.

[stormalong]

Originally Posted by ArmyDaveNY

This is true and also not true. The redundancy you mention is in case one of the plotters fails. it does not provide redundancy if your electrical system fails. It also does not provide redundancy if an individual component fails. For example, if you need a GPS antenna and only have one, if your antenna fails you then have to move the plotter to a position that can receive a signal.

Additionally, if the second unit doesn't have the data from the primary unit, you'll know where you are (assuming you loaded the charts on both plotters) but won't have the way points, etc.

I carry three GPS receivers, all capable of feeding data to a PC. And two Monitors - one is the vessels TV. After 130,000 miles I have never had an electrical failure and consider it unlikely.

The most important thing charting software does is show you where you are on the chart. Loosing waypoints would not be a serious issue if a computer died. You plotted your route once, you can do it again.

Plotting on paper charts can cause mistakes. Along time ago, before computerized navigation I was sailing through the Torres Straight - a place where a very accurate route is essential. My on watch crew woke me up and said "I think we are aground". We were sailing fine, on course. She had plotted our position wrong on the paper chart.