We just did the
Florida (Tampa) to Trinidad trip this year. We used the
Raymarine CMAP color
chartplotter at the
helm, interfaced to the
autopilot. For planning, we used the
laptop down below, with the best raster
charts we could get (explorer for
Bahamas, CYC for
eastern Caribbean to Grenada).
Dominican Republic charts are marginal and CYC ends at
Grenada. We would plan the route at our convenience on the laptop, then transfer the waypoints to the
chartplotter at the
helm. FWIW, CMAP vector charts were NOT very accurate for detail harbor
work. Often we would be anchored on land according to the CMAP. If there were only a few waypoints, we would key them in by hand, but if many, we would transfer the entire route by connecting the laptop to the chartplotter.
Note the cautions that all cruisers and navigators use, however, that GPS waypoints, whether published or gotten from another cruiser, should be used with GREAT caution. It is very very easy to key in a number incorrectly and run the
boat on a reef if you don't use normal caution. Thats why I like using the two separate systems--laptop and chartplotter--as a double check. I would also be cautious about using anyone else's track, although it may be better than just winging it. Always use eyeball navigation, of course, and don't enter a strange harbor at night. This often means a very early departure to exit a harbor, at O-dark-thirty, often using the GPS track from the entry as the guide, so you get to the next harbor at midday.
There are several places that need to be run with extra caution and care. Like Gun/Cat Cay and
Georgetown and Mayaguana in Bahamas, Luperon in DR (usually cruisers come out in dingys to help folks enter the harbor, but Van Sant's entry directions, if followed EXACTLY, are spot on--and the charts are very very weak). Also Patilla in PR, inside
passage from Mayaguez to Boqueron in PR, Southern
Grenada. However, most of the
eastern Caribbean is not too tricky, with fairly good buoys marking channels and the guides show decent
anchorages. We did save the tracks of difficult harbor entrances on our chartplotter, for possible use if we revisit those harbors.
BTW, this is a fantastic trip and well worth doing. There are lots of places along the way where cruisers stall and never complete the trip (e.g.
Georgetown, Luperon, PR, St Martin). Try to resist and make the whole journey, even if it takes multiple seasons.
Peace and fair winds.