Suggestions on Electronic and Paper?

[ssullivan]

Hi Everyone,

The time has come for us to purchase all the charts we need to navigate from WI in the Great Lakes to the Bahamas. Not a bill to sneeze at.

I have already found many creative (as well as safe and prudent) ways to save money here and there getting equipment for the boat.

Because I don't understand the options available in purchasing this amount of charts and guides, I was hoping someone on the board might know of some cost effective ways to get the charts I need to get. I have a few questions:

1) I see you can download nice vector charts from NOAA for free. Amazing, and very nice of the Feds. Does anyone know of a nice nav program (shareware, or cheap) which reads these charts and that they could suggest as a nice way to integrate with a Garmin GPS and do some chart plotting?

2) Even though I'm a computer guy, I love paper charts. Is there a decent place to get a lot of charts for a little money? (yeah, probably located right next to the fountain of youth, right?) If anyone knows of a discount paper chart source, a referral would be most appreciated.

3) Are there any suggested guides to the entire East Coast, or to parts of it that really point out a lot of anchorages?

Thank you in advance. I think I'm going to have to change my screen name on here to "The Frugal Sailor".. in fact... I'll try that right now.

PS: I should add that the boat we are purchasing does come with a Garmin 230 GPS system. It's got some low-res chart built in, but... I'm a very exacting navigator.

Sean

[GordMay]

Check Out "Selecting Electronic Charts" (West Marine)
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...elecechart.htm

and

Bluewater Books and Charts (cruising guides, nautical charts)
Bluewater has America's largest selection of nautical charts, electronic charts and cruising guides.
http://www.bluewaterweb.com/

[jemsea]

Sean,


Below is an posting from the SSCA board. I bought a couple of things from him and had a good experence.



HTH......John





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SSCA Discussion Board —› Marine Flea Market —› Like New gear for sale Albany, NY

Last poster Message
Larry Dyer


Posted: Jun 6, 2005 05:55:41
Quote

2-Mustang manual PFD w/harness
2-Mustang Automatic PFD w/harness
2-35' jacklines
4-2 leg west marine tethers
10' MOB pole, horseshoe, rack, strobe
West Marine 5-step removable SS boarding ladder
Carib 1500 Paines Wessex Solas Flares 2004 MFG kit
ACR Rapid Fix Cat II EPIRB 2004
ISCOM 802 SSB, AT140 tuner, cables
Ampair Pacific 100 wind gen w/stern mt pole
SGS Flexcharge solar/wind regulator
Kyocera KC125 Solar Panel
RevereOffshoreOcean 6-man liferaft cannister w/SS cradle 2004 mfg
Delta Fast Set 55lb anchor
Avon Rover wood floor inflatable
ICW Chartbook-Kettlewell
Chesapeake Bay Cruising Guide 2004
Maptech Embassy Guide Atlantic Coast 2004 3rd Ed.
Maptech Hudson River Chartbook Ed 1
Maptech Chartkit Norfolk to Fla Region 6 8th Ed.
Maptech Chartkit Fla East Coast & Keys Region 7 12th Ed
Atlas of Pilot Charts NVPUB.106 North Atlantic Ocean
Maptech Chartkit Chesapeake & Delaware Bays Region 4 9th Ed
Maptech Chartkit NewYork to Nantucket, Cape May Region 3 12thEd
Kettlewell
Member

Posted: Jun 6, 2005 06:38:40
Quote

Larry: I live in Saratoga Springs and I'd like to talk about some of your gear. kettlewell@mailcan.com
Larry Dyer


Posted: Jun 6, 2005 07:00:17
Quote

Also: SS Tubular davits
dbraun


Posted: Jun 6, 2005 07:02:20
Quote

It is helpful if you include your e-mail address in you post. Contact me at dbraun@omnipost.com so that I may discuss some of your items with you


David
Larry Dyer


Posted: Jun 6, 2005 07:08:39
Quote

I'll get the hang of this yet! [email=larsud@midtel.net]

[ssullivan]

Thanks for the info, John and Gord. Ironically, I am working with this same guy on eBay right now bidding on a couple of charts. I'm glad to hear he has a good rep. Maybe he has some more gear - outfitting a new boat is (as everyone knows) not a small financial undertaking.

Thanks again.

Sean

[Pblais]

For the NOAA charts Fugawi is a great software application. It's $200 and you get a lot for your money. NOAA ENC charts are now available for the entire Great Lakes, most of the inland waterways, and a good chunk of the east and west coast including Puerto Rico plus Alaska and Hawaii.

ENC charts are super quality and with the software totally seamless. They are the exact same same source data as the paper "charts on demand" and updated almost daily via the web.

The software also supports most all the popular raster formats too as well the ability to calibrate paper charts you scan.

I've been using it a couple years now on the Chesapeake since that was one of the first areas with complete ENC coverage. ENC really is the way to go as all the US charts will be available by next year. The savings on Maptech charts alone will pay for the software!

Right now all the other retail ENC charting packages I've seen pretty much suck except for Fugawi. It packs a lot of stuff in the package and is worth a look by anyone that needs charting software and want good GPS autopilot suppot too.

Fugawi