Northern Leeward Islands Charts and Guide?

[Jerry Woodward]

I will be doing my first bareboat charter in St Martin next March and would like advice on where to get charts and a guide. I understand that Doyle's Cruising guide to the Leeward Islands is the book to get. I noticed on the Cruising Guide Publications website that they are bundling the book and a set of charts for the Northern Leewards for $86.00. Are these the charts I should be getting or are there others of equal quality I could get for less money?

Thanks

Jerry

[imagine2frolic]

HI JERRY.

I was just thinking about you this afternoon.

I used paper while I was there, and eye balling was easy. I have not seen the cruising guide, but I imagine that a paper chart, and a GPS with the guide is overkill. You just might see Imagine while you are there. I also had you in mind as crew.

What will you be chartering? Hopefully cat, and a purchase is right behind?......i2f

[barnakiel]

German folios, BA leisure folios.

Reeds Caribbean Almanac, Doyles for use, Street for a good read.

b.

[Jerry Woodward]

Originally Posted by imagine2frolic

HI JERRY.

I was just thinking about you this afternoon.

I used paper while I was there, and eye balling was easy. I have not seen the cruising guide, but I imagine that a paper chart, and a GPS with the guide is overkill. You just might see Imagine while you are there. I also had you in mind as crew.

What will you be chartering? Hopefully cat, and a purchase is right behind?......i2f

Hi John

Yes, I'm thinking of chartering a cat. I will be a visiting professor on St. Martin for 2 weeks, and figured that it would be crazy not to do some sailing. That would be awesome if I looked out in the bay and saw a big red cat! So, are you taking off for the Caribbean this winter?

Purchase is definitely in my future, but as for now I'm landlocked in KY. So, please consider me for crew anytime!

Jerry

[imagine2frolic]

Caribbean?...through the canal, and points west is our destination. If we leave early in the year we will stop in St. Maarten. That's where I bought Imagine. You cook good, and sharp as a tack. What more does one want in crew?........i2f

[Hud3]

We've sailed up and down the islands several times, from Vieques to Grenada. The only paper charts I used were for Culebra and Antigua, and I could have done without them there, too. Doyle's guides are all you need for the Leewards and Windwards. Scott for the Virgin Islands. The guides' sailing instructions and sketch charts are better than having paper charts.

I wouldn't go to the expense of buying charts at all. We have a chartplotter and a handheld GPS unit which were handy for passage planning and for having an aiming point and monitoring progress during passages, but the CMAP electronic charts were so inaccurate, I never used them for close in sailing around the islands and reefs. BTW, the CMAP charts are based on the same info as the paper charts.

Doyle's guides and my eyeballs were the best combo. If you do decide to buy paper charts, don't trust them.

[bvimatelot]

Originally Posted by Jerry Woodward

I will be doing my first bareboat charter in St Martin next March and would like advice on where to get charts and a guide. I understand that Doyle's Cruising guide to the Leeward Islands is the book to get. I noticed on the Cruising Guide Publications website that they are bundling the book and a set of charts for the Northern Leewards for $86.00. Are these the charts I should be getting or are there others of equal quality I could get for less money?

Thanks

Jerry

If you are chartering from any of the bareboat companies there they will have on board the local chart (probably Imray) and a guide (either Patouelli or Doyle). Doyle aint bad to have as a bit of pre-charter reading and as a keep-sake but otherwise, you shouldnt need to have to go to any expense. Tony

[jim_thomsen]

Hud is right...Doyle and eyeballs. But if you like to have paper charts (and I do) we used Imray.

[imagine2frolic]

If you are going to provision the boat yourself. Go to the round about on the Dutch side. There is a huge grocery store with better than American prices. The butcher if he is the same is a good man to know. He vacuum packed our meats, so they would be broken down in smaller amounts. He sailed a Gemini from South Africa with wife, and 2 kids. Describe Imagine, Murmel was the name, and he will know us.....i2f

[sobriyah]

Jerry, everyone is entitled to their own opinions as to the worth of paper charts, but from a personal perspective I have never been without them, or a hand bearing compass. I wouldn't like to have to rely on a pilot book sketch to plot fixes if the electronics fail. I am sure the charter company will provide you with charts. If they didn't and you went aground they would have no insurance cover. If you want to buy your own, the Caribbean Yachting Charts produced by Nautical publications GmbH are the most recent surveys, and the ones to have. These are the ones Doyle updates, and most likely whats in the bundle.