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storyinframes · 19-12-2014, 18:38

Am looking to buy used paper charts for
a) Central America - Belize, Panama, Nicaragua, Costa Rica
b) Carib - ABC islands, Turks & Caicos, DR, Virgin islands

located in Deltaville.

chuckg5 · 19-12-2014, 19:24

Hi, storyin
i asked for the same thing a few weeks ago. didn't get any responses.
boats that have them are probably staying in the carribean. that's where i'd like tobe. there are places to order charts but its 40 bucks for an inch or two of the carribean area

colemj · 19-12-2014, 19:37

For the Caribe portion of Central America, you would be wasting money buying charts for Nicaragua and Costa Rica because there is nowhere to cruise there, and it is dangerous anyhow. Belize is best served by guide books and the sketch charts therein. Caribe Panama doesn't really need many charts because there is either the Panama Canal entrance and surrounding area, which is dead obvious, the San Blas area, where paper charts are so far off as to be a joke, or Bocas del Toro area, where again a guide book will do you better. Between these areas are few cruising spots, and the charts for those are awful.

We had a full set of paper charts for the entire Western Caribe. Never looked at them after the first time finding out they were useless - and couldn't even give them away at swap meets or on morning nets. We ended up putting them in a trash dumpster.

For the Western Caribe, get a single paper chart covering the area if that makes you feel better, but then focus on electronic charts and guide books.

Mark

chuckg5 · 20-12-2014, 17:00

mark
thank you for a very detailed chart report. certainly something to consider. i wish others that have traveled that area would chime in. sounds like the one large chart of the eastern central america would have to work.

storyinframes · 20-12-2014, 19:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by colemj

For the Caribe portion of Central America, you would be wasting money buying charts for Nicaragua and Costa Rica because there is nowhere to cruise there, and it is dangerous anyhow. Belize is best served by guide books and the sketch charts therein. Caribe Panama doesn't really need many charts because there is either the Panama Canal entrance and surrounding area, which is dead obvious, the San Blas area, where paper charts are so far off as to be a joke, or Bocas del Toro area, where again a guide book will do you better. Between these areas are few cruising spots, and the charts for those are awful.

For the Western Caribe, get a single paper chart covering the area if that makes you feel better, but then focus on electronic charts and guide books.

Mark

MARK, thanks a lot for the input. would be grateful if you can suggest some good cruising guides for the region we discussed.

regards

colemj · 21-12-2014, 05:13

Eric Bauhaus's cruising guide to Panama is the best for this area. Colombia has a free cruising guide with charts for Providencia, San Andres and other off-islands. These are official Naval charts, which are also available as PDF files, but I forget the Colombian government website I got them from. They certainly are better than other charts we had of these areas. The NW Carib has several guides - we found Freya Rauscher's to be the best (my spelling may be wrong on that name).

The CMap and Navionics electronic charts are decent enough for getting you around and close (and good for commercial areas), but the guidebook charts are very good for once there.

Mark

mrlee · 21-12-2014, 21:16

Hi, This is the Mexican Gov and the cost is in Mxn pesos...they cover a pretty wide area but not as far south as you plan to go...Just thought it may help. I have been looking as well...all I get is the giude book reccomendation as well...Have to try that.
Hidrografía

belizesailor · 22-12-2014, 15:20

My 2c on cruising guides for the region below. There are also some threads here which discuss them.

"
There are a number of cruising guides published for the region. Collectively they provide exellent and detailed coverage.

Below is my perspective on each of these publications (that I know of) which cover this region (note there are a few out of print guides and other Internet based sources of info as well).

Cruising Ports: the Central American Route (AKA "Rains Guide"). Excellent guide to passage planning between cruising ports. Very good publication. It is not intended to be a "cruising guide" per se, but does also include a fair amount of information supplemental to its purpose. It's primary value is for planning routes between cruising ports.

Cruising Guide to Belize and Mexico's Caribbean Coast, including Guatemala's Rio Dulce (Freya Rauscher). Another excellent work and the only comprehensive reference for Belize. Her charts are the most comprehensive and accurate available for Belize (Excluding the small area around Belize City which has current surveys -- all other government issued charts are based on very old surveys). There are a few, very few, errors and omissions in this guide so, as with any other source of information, use it prudently, but overall it is accurate and very well done -- especially true given the extensive and complex waters of Belize.

A Cruising Guide to the Northwest Caribbean (Stephen J. Pavlidis). This is an odd publication. It only covers a relatively small area of the NW Carib. For example, effectively no information on Belize or Mexico -- even the section describing potential routes from the Gulf Of Mexico to Rio Dulce omits Belize like it does not exist -- tough to do from a practical perspective (Not even a reference to Freya's guide for more information). It's primary value is the navigation information it provides for the Bay Islands and Northern coast of Honduras (many more ports are covered than in the Rains guide...which appropriately only covers those commonly used for transiting the area). The navigation information is sparse, but sufficient and accurate. However, there are voluminous sections on local culture and history (reasonably well done, but all this information and more is available from other sources). The sparse navigation information for each port is supplemented by much more extensive information regarding Internet access and dining options for that port. Those anchorages which lack much in the way of these services are typically dismissed as having nothing of interest for the cruising sailor (other than a good anchorage!). And, just in case you missed something, there is even more information in the appendices regarding Internet access and dining in the NW Carib. An update that makes much of this voluminous documentation of Internet Cafe's obsolete -- good, inexpensive cellular Internet access is available through-out Honduras and the Bay Islands from TIGO -- buy yourself a TIGO stick including one month of service for less than $30US total and surf even when underway!

The Panama Cruising Guide (Eric Bauhaus).This is truly "THE" guide to Panama and one of the best guides I have ever used independent of venue. Extremely detailed and comprehensive with excellent sattelite cartography, aerial shots, and extensive local knowledge. Gets my vote for best cruising guide ever written.
"

belizesailor · 22-12-2014, 15:54

Tend to agree with Mark re Govt issue paper charts for the region. Many are not very accurate and better detail and info is available from private publications and electronic charts.
However, I have a full set of paper charts for the region tucked away, but they are my plan "D"....after the chartplotter, the PC, and the Tablet fail. Commercial traffic is the main driver of Govt chart development and there are large swaths of the W caribe with little commercial traffic.

You can order B&W copies of official charts (at least of USA origin). They are much less expensive.

I also have multiple electronic charts: CMAP, Navionics, and georeferenced copies of some cruising guide charts. I like having them for redundancy and for comparison purposes. For example, CMAP has much better coverage of the far E San Blas than Navionics (waay off and poor detail).

Freya's guide is the most accurate info for Belize. Bauhaus, by far, is the best cartography for Panama.

I also like to do Google Earth overlays to confirm coastal detail. Very reassuring if you have software that supports it. Google Earth coverage is poor for the Belizean barrier reef and outter cayes, but quite good in other areas like Honduras.

roland stockham · 22-12-2014, 17:43

If you are looking at this as a backup I used Jeppesen Plan To Nav with full set of Carribean charts running on a 7" Android tablet in a submersable waterproof case. GPS built in and power via a small solar cell. Totally indipendent, works in a dingy or liferaft and charts seen very good, I found no errors. Only disadvantage is that screen is not sunlight viewable (needs shade but so do I!). Whole thing was less than $500 and the software and charts are under $150. Worth a look!

MARC D · 10-01-2015, 07:58

If anyone still interested in Caribbean paper charts at low cost, I will post the list I have. Imray-Iolaire (29) color charts covering the whole Caribbean. Very very good condition. Bought new Sept. 2011.

Marc