Explorer Chartbook vs NV Charts - Bahamas

[Kettlewell]

NV Charts is not the same as Navionics.

[Vasco]

Thanks, I thought he was talking about Navionics seeing that was what this thread is about.

[A_C]

Can you tell us when Navionics last surveyed the Bahamas? When I corresponded with them in 2005/2006 they would not give out any information pertaining to their activity there but did say they relied on various H.O.'s and their own services. They did emphasize that they did a lot of their own hydrographic work.

Are you referring to nv-charts? If so, nv-charts has split the Bahamas regions into northwest, central, and southeast which were surveyed last year and this year. You may want to be careful since some places still have older charts so make sure to check the year!

If you are referring to Navionics, the last major surveys of the Bahamas were done in May 2012. There have been some other minor updates but they're not that important.

[A_C]

Thanks, I thought he was talking about Navionics seeing that was what this thread is about.

Oops, now I'm embarrassed and I now feel like a shameful thread hijacker. :*(

More info about Navionics:
I have the 3XG chip which gets updated often but the updates are minor. In comparison, my Hotmaps chip gets updates that are much more useful. Given that it's a US company, they're much more focused on inland and coastal waters of the US.

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by A_C

Oops, now I'm embarrassed and I now feel like a shameful thread hijacker. :*(

Don't worry about it. Glad to have someone here that knows something about charts. Most of these threads drift to god knows where anyway. By the way, were those surveys in 2012 done by Navionics? Unfortunately for the uninitiated, trying to get information about electronic charts is very difficult. Like I said earlier you don't know what you've got until you use it and if it's no good it's too late, they already have your money.

I am very reluctant to get a new Navionics chart after the experience of their "new" chart being worse than the old one.

[Amapola]

Like others, we wouldn't do the Bahamas without the Explorer charts. We use a Garmin chartplotter which has integrated Explorer charts.