Charts for the ABCs to Panamá

[gainza]

Hi mates!!! We are now in Curaçao (ABC Islands) and planning to go soon to Aruba for waiting for a window to cross Cabo de la Vela to Cartagena (Colombia). Do you know where can I find some charts for this zone? I have some charts but it has not any detail... Thanks again!!!

[bcn]

Some charts from the new oeSENC Caribbean Collection might help you. Details at o-charts.org and in a thread from some days ago:
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...on-209920.html

Next you might find other charts for your route from NV at Fugawi.com
Hurry up for those, as Fugawi will go out of the chart business from December, 1st on. Service will be available for 12 months still.

Hubert

[Paul L]

Try and get a copy of the Colombian gov updated chart book. It is a large download, but you might be able to get it from another cruiser or a hardcopy in one of the Curacao chandleries.

Cruising Guide to Colombia (2012)
Researched, written, and assembled by Omar Bechara and his daughter Samantha Bechara.
mfranco@procolombia.co
Produced by the government and distributed free via marinas, bookstores and other nautical venues. Contains nautical charts of most Colombian waters, including San Andres and Providencia. Includes information regarding new marinas in Santa Marta and Barranquilla, as well as information on other marinas like Club Nautico and Club de Pesca in Cartagena. 271 page guide in Spanish and English.
This guide is not available to download as it is so large. A more permanent solution as to where to host the guide online is being investigated, however in the meantime contact Miguel Angel Franco Hossain of the Tourism office for a copy.

[belizesailor]

Ive got a full copy of the Colombian cruising guide at the link below. Its over 300mb. That not only can make it trouble prone to down load, but to browse as well. So, Ive also broken it onto smaller chunks. Both the full guide and the smaller chunks are in the folder below:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/r39jgo5gk...co_jbDN-a?dl=0

[belizesailor]

Ive also made this run using Navionics and as I recall the accuracy and detail were OK. We sailed Curaçao to Santa Marta, Santa Marta to Puerto Velero/Ensenada Trebal, Puerto Velero to Cartagena. We used the stop in Puerto Velero to time our arrival into Cartagena in the day time...and to time our crossing of the mouth of the Rio Magdelena for day time too. There is a thread on this route already on CF.

We sailed this route and on to Panama in the Summer so the conditions were very settled and it was a super easy run...not always so other times of the year. Just dodged a few squalls using RADAR.

[LeaseOnLife]

the guide book is available in Spanish or English from the official webpage, no need to mirror things elsewhere...


https://www.cioh.org.co/guia-nautica...-colombia.html


about two thirds down the page are the download links.


The charts for Colombia (many are in the book) can also be looked at or downloaded as jpgs here:


Dirección General Marítima - Mapas DIMAR

[Tupaia]

Originally Posted by gainza

Hi mates!!! We are now in Curaçao (ABC Islands) and planning to go soon to Aruba for waiting for a window to cross Cabo de la Vela to Cartagena (Colombia). Do you know where can I find some charts for this zone? I have some charts but it has not any detail... Thanks again!!!

I sent you a PM with some info that might be useful. Beware the coast of Columbia, it can get very very windy this time of year. Excellent fun if you are well prepared.

[Hobie_ind]

For Panama, I don't think you'll find much for good charts in a lot of areas, however Eric Bauhas Panama guide is invaluable.

For the Columbia coast there's another thread that you might find helpful:

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ml#post2562571

In that thread I had also posted some links as below to some cruising guide information we found helpful (as well as few cautions):
We did the coastal route in 2014 when we went from Bonaire to Columbia and had a much more pleasant ride than friends who went offshore at the same time. The seas and winds we experienced were much less than they reported. We had mid 20's to high 30's for most of the trip with a few gusts around 45 just north of Santa Marta (5 Bays).

I'm not sure which guide you have, but be sure to look up cruising notes from Pizzaz on the area. There's some on Noonsite, but a Google search will also turn up a few others they've published in a few spots. Here's a couple of links referencing their notes:

Sailing the Caribbean Coast of Colombia - Part 2

http://www.noonsite.com/Noonsite/PDF...ColombiaGuide/

https://www.medelhav.se/file/article...20Colombia.pdf

One note though, the waypoints they list are getting dated. Of particular note is the sandbar at Punta Hermosa. We found the bar extended over a mile out past their 'safe waypoint', and that was only 3 or 4 years after they'd published it. Now it could even be worse.... or better, depending on how the bar shifted. The water was pretty silty, so you couldn't actually see the bottom, just the breakers where they reported safe passage into Punta Hermosa.......

Have fun.
Mark

[hpeer]

Bumping the thread to see if there is any new news?

Above when you say the Columbia charts are available a .jpg to me it looks they are available but only at a low resolution, the soundings are unreadable.

Am I missing something there?

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by Hobie_ind

For Panama, I don't think you'll find much for good charts in a lot of areas, however Eric Bauhas Panama guide is invaluable.

.....

Pay for the Bauhaus guide, you really want this for Panama and especially the San Blas. Then get a copy of the Bauhuas Guide .kap files from another cruiser. These are the chartlets in the book setup to be used in OpenCpn and a few other chart programs.

[hpeer]

Originally Posted by Paul L

Pay for the Bauhaus guide, you really want this for Panama and especially the San Blas. Then get a copy of the Bauhuas Guide .kap files from another cruiser. These are the chartlets in the book setup to be used in OpenCpn and a few other chart programs.

I have the guide.

The .kap tiles would be a great asset, much appreciated.

[ReneJK]

Originally Posted by hpeer

I have the guide.

The .kap tiles would be a great asset, much appreciated.

where are you ? I have the kap files and we're in Bonaire right now

[hpeer]

Originally Posted by ReneJK

where are you ? I have the kap files and we're in Bonaire right now

Canada for another month, then wandering down to Philadelphia before heading to the boat in Grenada in late October.

[wingssail]

We have the Colombia chart book, and found it useful, particularly for some places such as Cholon and Baru. I scanned some of the charts and converted them to .kap files for use in Open CPN. We have a few Colombian Navy vector charts, excellent detail but not easily obtainable.

However, for the trip from Aruba to Cartagena we found CM93 charts which many cruisers have to be accurate and excellent detail. We used them on OpenCPN.

Panama is another story. The only charts we have seen for safe navigating there (other than the canal itself) are the Bauhaus charts. Buy the book and then find someone who will share the .kap files. These charts are excellent, and the.kap files, if doen well, work perfectly in Opencpn.

[ReneJK]

I am not putting too much faith in CM93 atm
puerto velero isnt even on the CM93 maps , neither is a piece of land the marina is located ?