Buying Admiralty Pilot Guides and Charts?

[SurferShane]

I have just discovered how useful these things are. Now the big question is where I can buy them at a reasonable price. Just thought I would ask before I found out the answer after I had already paid too much. I am near Sydney Australia and am also happy to do mail order. I note the guide books appeal to me as much as the charts and I am thinking they are not cheap?

[Lodesman]

The BA pilots are fascinating and full of historical facts, but they tend to be woefully out-of-date. I'd say if you found a couple in a used book store for a couple of bucks, they make a nice, nautical addition to a bookshelf. For actual useable info, I'd use the net - CF, noonsite, etc.
BA has the best worldwide chart coverage, but I wouldn't have the first clue where you could find them cheap. I guess it really depends on how much coverage you desire.

[SurferShane]

Maybe I am just a bit of an antiquarian who finds comfort in old books?

Still, the pilot guides do seem to have a lot of good info for places off the normal cruising routes. To date I have seen an African one for free in a marina laundry that I would have picked up excepting its sheer bulk was a bit prohibitive and considering Africa is not in my immediate cruising plans. However, I did see one of the Indonesian volumes which was a lot smaller at a second hand book store for $25. Being 1980 and pre-tsunami I am a bit worried important info such as medical services might be dated? Otherwise it looked useful.

[barnakiel]

The BA pilots are great but they do not come free. I get mine at swaps.

All US pilots come free from the web, so would I think.

You can have the BA ones free too, but first you must overthrow the queen and understand that you have already paid for the Pilots once.

Why pay twice?

barnie