paper vs electronic charts

[japarker11]

Wolverine,
As described by others, there is a wealth of information contained in the archives relative to paper vs electronic. And, Canada has distinct requirements for territorial waters you will be plying.
From our experience last fall, RT from Bellingham to Ketchikan, inside, the navigational requirements dictate reliance on electronic positional awareness. In consideration of bottom, currents, traffic and course keeping, monitoring multiple electronic surveliance equipment was a full time effort. Corroborating with paper was a luxury reserved for planning the next day's course. We were also fortunate in not having to include radar, as we were so late, fog was not encountered.

In our conversations with very experienced cruisers coming down from DH, electronic navigation was the norm. Both boats, one from Japan and one from an east to west Northwest Passage, were more concerned with obtaining current weather data reliably.

With your early departure date, I would surmise you will be staying inside for much of the way. As we will be returning to SE Alaska this year, would be interested in your potential routing across the Gulf of Alaska?

BTW, get a Bad Elf for the I-Pad/Navionics package. Don't ask!

[Lepke]

Both. When running offshore, often in fog or too far out for landmarks, I keep a hourly log of my GPS positions in case of a power/computer failure. That log along with a paper chart and I can plot a course. I have a power boat and run 2 electronic chart programs and have a 2nd stand alone GPS for a check. Along with traditional methods.
Remember how mercator projection distorts charts at northern latitudes and many places in Alaska have "Local Magnetic Disturbances". Watch the weather.
Lepke