paper nautical maps

[Nauset]

So I was just looking to purchase some traditional paper charts for New England, specifically Nantucket sound.
I see NOAA has largely stopped updating their paper charts and will stop printing in January. Unless I missed a link, I was not able to buy from NOAA either
So do you know where I can get the most current nautical charts?
I don't have a GPS system maybe one day I will.
I have always been someone who likes the tactile nature of paper.

Thanks

[Benz]

Ocean Graphix prints paper charts, and Landfall Navigation carries many print publications.
Our local West Marine still stocks paper charts.

[requiem]

NOAA outsourced the printing to vendors like OceanGrafix quite a few years back; the big change now is that the old hand-drawn charts are being retired.

So, if you want current paper renditions, you can use NOAA's custom chart tool to generate a flattened version of the ENCs and upload that to printers like this one (or even print it yourself somewhere).

[Nauset]

Thanks that is helpful. Just ordered a couple

[barnakiel]

Where digital charts are available, you will be able to update your paper charts.


I think major problem are oil rigs and new structures close to port entrances.



b.

[Kello]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

I think major problem are oil rigs and new structures close to port entrances. b.

Anytime a computer chip senses me in the vicinity it quits working ... assuming it ever worked in the first place. So it is all paper charts for me. And zero of my paper charts have shown oil rigs in their actual position. There is some sort of Stoopid Term for that, Patriot Protection, or whatever the Blue Haired Idiots use tax dollars for. (barf)

No substitute for dead reckoning, use your compass, keep watch. Just like the Good Old Days.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by Nauset

So I was just looking to purchase some traditional paper charts for New England, specifically Nantucket sound.
I see NOAA has largely stopped updating their paper charts and will stop printing in January. Unless I missed a link, I was not able to buy from NOAA either
So do you know where I can get the most current nautical charts?
I don't have a GPS system maybe one day I will.
I have always been someone who likes the tactile nature of paper.

Thanks

Richardsons chart books. These are user sized charts in book format, easy to use and keep on deck. You can find used chart books on line.

Listen carefully. YOU MUST have a GPS based plotter. They are cheap. You can have Navionics on an GPS equipped IPAD or Android etc for about $50 or slightly more. You can add a handheld plotter for less than $1000. This is easy and require zero boat integration.

We’ve sailed offshore for ten years. We have a proper chart plotter integrated with everything. We also have the IPAD, cell phone, and several other GPS devices. These, along with at least one bullet proof depth transponder are critical to staying afloat and safe. Near shore is where you accidentally run aground or otherwise get surprised.

[Bowdrie]

Originally Posted by Nauset

I don't have a GPS system maybe one day I will.
Thanks

Don't make it a "maybe", make it a "now".
Me too, I've always had paper charts and always will, but as Bowditch reiterated:
"The prudent navigator will use all means at his disposal to fix his vessels position".
When I started out, I had a Raytheon "Fathometer" and a portable RDF that you placed on the dinette table along with the chart.
I thought heaven had arrived when I got a secondhand Magnavox Sat-Nav and later a first-generation hand-held GPS.
Nothing wrong with paper charts, they still provide the best way to "ponder the big picture" in a way that icons and pixels can never do.

[barnakiel]

The best professional sailors in the world carry paper charts. There is no shame in it.


I myself like paper charts just like I like paper books. They are objects, they are pleasure to interact with.


Where I am, people often abandon kits of charts and I will browse the piles and at times I will pull one out to keep it. At times of places I have never been to and never may.


And there are many ways digital charting can fail, fewer, I think, ways a paper chart can fail.


You will sure find what you need. Just ask around. Very often local professionals (tug boat captains, research ship officers, navy people, etc.) can guide you to where to get new or old charts from. Try them.



b.

[Benz]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

Richardsons chart books. These are user sized charts in book format, easy to use and keep on deck. You can find used chart books on line.

Listen carefully. YOU MUST have a GPS based plotter. They are cheap. You can have Navionics on an GPS equipped IPAD or Android etc for about $50 or slightly more. You can add a handheld plotter for less than $1000. This is easy and require zero boat integration.

We’ve sailed offshore for ten years. We have a proper chart plotter integrated with everything. We also have the IPAD, cell phone, and several other GPS devices. These, along with at least one bullet proof depth transponder are critical to staying afloat and safe. Near shore is where you accidentally run aground or otherwise get surprised.

Little pushback here. "Must" is a very absolute word. I've been sailing offshore for thirty years. Never owned a plotter. Not against them in principle, but certainly any sort of sailing, cruising, piloting can be done without them.
Let the OP decide what he wants to use--he can be perfectly safe with paper if he cares to learn how.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by Benz

Little pushback here. "Must" is a very absolute word. I've been sailing offshore for thirty years. Never owned a plotter. Not against them in principle, but certainly any sort of sailing, cruising, piloting can be done without them.
Let the OP decide what he wants to use--he can be perfectly safe with paper if he cares to learn how.

Do you wish to sail at night? Can you guarantee you will never sail in an unfamiliar area in the dark? Will you need to enter an anchorage in the dark? Storm is on you - time to check your soaking charts? Oh, by the way, there is poor resolution on most paper charts when you need it most and frequently no blow up details where you need it.

There used to be a lot more ship/boat disasters before there were dirt simple ways to avoid or get out of trouble. These have enabled complete newbies to go anywhere with success. We see the un equipped run aground in complex harbors weekly in the Caribbean. There is no Towboat USA.

Use the tools!

[MicHughV]

I can look at my paper charts with their many lines and "x" marks the spot and it gives me a visual reminder of the places I've been too, difficult to do with electronic charting.

I have 100's of charts in my possession, many copied, others hand drawn, etc. It's like reading a good book.

[TeddyDiver]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

Do you wish to sail at night? Can you guarantee you will never sail in an unfamiliar area in the dark? Will you need to enter an anchorage in the dark? Storm is on you - time to check your soaking charts? Oh, by the way, there is poor resolution on most paper charts when you need it most and frequently no blow up details where you need it.

There used to be a lot more ship/boat disasters before there were dirt simple ways to avoid or get out of trouble. These have enabled complete newbies to go anywhere with success. We see the un equipped run aground in complex harbors weekly in the Caribbean. There is no Towboat USA.

Use the tools!

Yes, done it and actually pretty sure doing it again,yes again. Charts are checked inside away from rain BEFORE the storm besides wet GPS screen is not the most accurate to see details either... and not to mention GPS jamming which is everyday problem these days and these parts of the seas..

[Benz]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

Do you wish to sail at night? Can you guarantee you will never sail in an unfamiliar area in the dark? Will you need to enter an anchorage in the dark? Storm is on you - time to check your soaking charts? Oh, by the way, there is poor resolution on most paper charts when you need it most and frequently no blow up details where you need it.

There used to be a lot more ship/boat disasters before there were dirt simple ways to avoid or get out of trouble. These have enabled complete newbies to go anywhere with success. We see the un equipped run aground in complex harbors weekly in the Caribbean. There is no Towboat USA.

Use the tools!

I routinely sail at night, and enter unfamiliar harbors in the dark all the time.
I have a dry cabin to keep charts in, and bring charts with appropriate scales (I have a lot of charts, I know....)
Complete newbies routinely end up on reefs in the Caribbean when zoned in on a plotter--you must have heard of such cases. I've seen my fair share. What I see far less often is someone who took the time to learn piloting, compass work, navigation, and common sense get into trouble.
I'm not saying a handheld GPS isn't handy to carry--I usually carry two--but to say a plotter is a must--well, that's neither reasonable or sensible.

[robbjd]

Paper charts are only accurate if someone onboard faithfully updates them after consulting “Notices to Mariners” . As a 2nd mate in the 1980s merchant marine I would routinely spend 6 hours a week keeping our charts up to date and we only had charts for the Great Lakes, east coast and Caribbean
. Any purist who insists on navigating with paper charts better be willing to keep them current.