Charts

[sinbad7]

Dan..

Using 'gdalinfo' on my kort196.tif geotiff file produced the following result:
There should also be a geo ref. coordinate for each map corner,but how?
Strangely enough,none of the sub-commands in square brackets has any effect.

Driver: GTiff/GeoTIFF
Files: kort196.tif
Size is 5565, 3932
Coordinate System is:
LOCAL_CS["unnamed",
UNIT["metre",1,
AUTHORITY["EPSG","9001"]]]
GeoTransform =
602445.8480887472, 12.70124361969806, -0.0002211142202880541
371054.5089757334, -0.0002316498921616898, -12.70231981684049
Metadata:
TIFFTAG_IMAGEDESCRIPTION=Femern Bælt
TIFFTAG_SOFTWARE=Handmade Software, Inc. Image Alchemy v1.11
TIFFTAG_XRESOLUTION=150
TIFFTAG_YRESOLUTION=150
TIFFTAG_RESOLUTIONUNIT=2 (pixels/inch)
Image Structure Metadata:
COMPRESSION=LZW
INTERLEAVE=BAND
Corner Coordinates:
Upper Left ( 602445.848, 371054.509)
Lower Left ( 602444.979, 321108.987)
Upper Right ( 673128.269, 371053.220)
Lower Right ( 673127.399, 321107.698)
Center ( 637786.624, 346081.104)
Band 1 Block=5565x1 Type=Byte, ColorInterp=Palette
Color Table (RGB with 256 entries)
0: 255,0,0,255
1: 200,0,200,255
2: 0,0,0,255

[Motley]

Are there any free downloadable charts of the west Caribbean? I already did the east (expensive) side and I want to cruise the interesting side.

The problem is the lack of coverage for the Nicaraguan coast. It's quite exciting, what with all the cays and reefs and banks there. In order to really feel safe I'll need a good chart of that area. I'm sure lots of it is much less intimidating than it looks but an opinion isn't fact... Colombia(!) produces a very good chart which almost covers the really interesting bits but it runs out just before you're out of the woods.

Steve.

[idpnd]

Originally Posted by Motley

Colombia(!) produces a very good chart which almost covers the really interesting bits but it runs out just before you're out of the woods.

Would you kindly link the source for this chart? Thanks

[Motley]

I'm just a simple sailor. I haven't the faintest idea how to "link" anything. It's on the opencpn site. Sorry for my ignorance...

Steve.

[idpnd]

Ok thanks. A link would have been the interactive version of that

[sinbad7]

Motley..

You didn't specify which coast of Nicaragua you wanted charts for.
You can of course use a combination of C-Map for soundings and a GE2KAP conversion for more detail and orientation. Here's one I just converted for San Juan del Sur-Nicaragua.

Tore

[sinbad7]

Here's a sample of converted .kap map from GE of San Juan del Sur-Nicaragua.
Download it here: San Juan del Sur.kap - 4shared.com - online file sharing and storage - download

Tore

[Motley]

Oooops! Yeah, you're right. I'm looking for the caribbean side. But thanks anyway.

Steve

[sinbad7]

Motley..

Which specific Nicaraguan areas and ports are you expecting to visit?

Regds
Tore

[Motley]

I'm just planning on continuing north from Colon, Panama to visit Central America. Let's say frm Panama to Rio Dulce.

Steve.

[sailias]

Cool trip but stay away from the Honduran Coastline and same for Nicaragua, check local knowledge and noonsite for incident reports along you proposed route. Rio Dulce is a good place to hang out if you need a layover or hurricane hole. Charts of the region can be found on line, if you google for CM93 for multicomponent downloads (you know what I mean if not hit me off list), run a virus checker if you are on windows. Enjoy the trip. Rio Dulce chisme is a good source for local knowledge and scan the news reports for at least 3 months. You will see what I mean.

Best

/ch

[Motley]

Am I just really stupid? People here talk about links and multicomponents and converting files and they share huge chunks of code. I only know how to pull string and make bits of cloth go up and down the mast! I feel so inadequate! Is a programming degree now an essential element in being a skipper?

I'm going back to paper charts.

Steve (totally confused).

[nv5l]

Hi Steve:

The problem, if you want to call it that, is that this is an open source project done by a bunch of professionals in their spare time. Most of these guys work hard all day long, only to come home and work on this stuff at night for free so all of us can use it without having to pay big bucks to some commercial company.

Like all open source projects, it's a work in progress, and can be messy at times. If that's not your cup of tea, paper charts might be the best option. Btw, being a programmer doesn't necessarily help, since software is often both language and domain specific. I do c/c++ on unix platforms, but an pretty much lost when it comes to windows apps, especially when windows proprietary software is involved.

But I would like to commend the OpenCPN guys for doing a really good job. And although I haven't had a chance to look a the code, I did install it on my windows laptop, and downloaded all available NOAA charts -- all for free, which is tough to beat.

hth...
don

[Motley]

Thanks Don.

(Ithink). I like the opencpn application itself; and I'm grateful to the dedicated professionals who make it freely available to a dinosaur like me. The only problem is the lack of quality charts for the Western Caribbean (not the programmers fault).

Steve.

[nv5l]

Sorry Steve, I guess I misunderstood...

cheers...
don