Charting and Plotting

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Using paper and your eyes first forces you to look hard at everything. You learn to trust your instincts. You timing. Your binoculars, compass and depthfinder. You become a better sailor.

I agree....
a paper chart allows a person to see a bigger picture in a larger view... once a person learns the how to read a chart, learns the chart symbols, plot a course, and learn what the lat/long numbers actually mean, then your instincts can go a long way in keeping you out of trouble, even if you dont have any other device onboard other than a compass and a clock/watch.... (before GPS, these two items and a paper chart are all I had and used for offshore navigation).....
an electronic device does nothing to teach you how to find where you are, or where you are going... it only supplies you with the information when its functioning properly.

I agree the GPS units are a great device to use, and use one myself most of the time, but if all you know how to do is press the buttons on your gps, you are missing out on a large amount of information offered by the study of a chart and a navigator you will never be...

or you can also think of it this way... very, very rarely has anyone ever ran aground from using, and frequently consulting a paper chart, but the opposite is true of those using a gps or other device, and not using a paper chart at all...

 

[Anonymous 121765]

TUM,

Did I strike a nerve here Or, didn't you take the time to process what I was saying?

I wasn't putting down electronic instrument chart plotting but rather, what is your BACKUP if your electronics failed.
I have integrated devices all over my boat pal from Seatalk to IPAD to phone including redundant charting programs.
I only spoke of having a failsafe backup.

I didn't appreciate your cocky post, for it seems your fingers were moving faster than your brain was processing for a reply. The sailors on this site don't try to be condescending to others. Now slowly re-read what I posted, as the gist was about having a backup plan for navigation if all your electronics failed. I didn't attack phones, handheld chartplotters or IPADs as I have these. But unlike you, I have charts & a sextant just in case. You do know what a sextant is right or, maybe you can find an app for this.

So, boat as you please man, but if all your gadgetry that you feel will never let you down fails, I have a better shot than you of getting back. You on the other hand well..........

ps:
1. Solar flares do not make satellites fall from the sky, they interrupt communications & trip systems on the planet. look into the power grid & satellite outages some years ago.

2. if my flashlight goes dead, I have lanterns sans batteries.

3. As for paper charts, if you read, really read my earlier post, they are all in protected plastic.

4. The last thing I want to do in rough conditions is try to tame the wheel with one hand while holding a tiny handheld instrument in the other hand then try to make out what is on the tiny little screen as my stationary chartplotter has a nice big screen.

Practice your reading for better comprehension before replying in the future pal & do not include your attitude.

CR

 

[centerline]

The app is only $50. Why would I spend more for less? I don't even have a chart plotter with GPS anymore. It's just an out of date map system the GPS antenna has been broken for a while now and it's not something I feel like I should fix as I know I won't use it. I also have waterway guides on board that I have never opened came with the boat. And if my phone were to go in the water sure my case might not make a difference but I do keep a floaty on it. We still have my wife's phone as a backup. If $50 is not much for an extra navigational tool I really implore you to try the Garmin BlueChart app for the iPhone.

a small screen is fine for day trips around the bay, but when the going gets a bit more difficult, the small screen wont cut it.... this is obvious to someone who has been there and knows....
yes, it will still tell you where your headed, but for navigating purposes, it will be very much more difficult to use than either a larger screen or a paper chart when your are in a seaway and your fingers are cold and wet....

 

[ALNims]

I have a GPS Plotter, handheld GPS and paper charts. We are required by law in Japan to have either paper or electronic. Either method is easy to use with a little practice. I do think that keeping both on board is a smart move.
There is always the possibility of a equipment failure so having a paper back up is a smart move. GPS and charts are not that expensive and when you really get down to it navigation tools are essential to safely navigate your boat. One consideration I keep in mind when purchasing essential equipment is what is my safety and life worth to me?

 

[Daveinet]

I just use curb feelers.

 

[Meriachee]

just use curb feelers.

With or without the reflectors, and if so, where do you get the green ones?

 

[Allan12210]

What's paper?

Is that the new modern word for our old tried and true papyrus?

Me now etch cuniform symbols on phosphor screen with beam of electrons.

 

[rgranger]

... I think the minimum width is 36". However, I cannot seem to find the required DPI for acceptable charts.....

I use the booklet charts... they are free to download on the NOAA site and you can print them out on standard paper with a standard printer. And if they get wet or marked up... I print a new one. I have them stored on my computer.....

 

[rgranger]

We have chart books for our cruising grounds. ...

B.O.O.K.S. ? Is that one of those new Bio-Optically Organized Knowledge Source devices.... hey man... we can't all afford the latest gadgets you know....

 

[Sterlinghuff]

I keep paper on board just in case. We have a chart plotter with the most up to date card and a spare hand held gps and I pad charts. I understand that the cartography is generally good, but I have had issues before. An example being when we sailed north from Punta Gorda, Guatemala heading to Placencia, Belize. We were doing a night sail up the wide inner Chanel. My brother in law was on watch. I came up just to look around. Things did not look right. The snake cays were not where the should have been looking at the plotter. We stopped and I had to took the gps fixes off the plotter and the spare ( they matched). I then pulled the paper charts out and fixed our position and navigate us back to the proper channel. We were on the east side of snake cays among shallow reefs. Without the paper charts and Freye Rauscher's cruising guide we would have been in trouble. When it comes to navigation I believe in belts and suspenders.

 

[Sandy Stone]

I like paper charts, because they are better at giving me the Big Picture. Sure, I use my handheld GPS to get a distance & bearing to a waypoint that's beyond visual range, but most of the time I'm using eyeball navigation and referring to a chart if necessary. "Let's see, that marker over there should be Red 2. What do you know? It is!" I keep thinking about that little problem that came up in the Indian Ocean, with some of the most experienced sailors on the planet. At least, if I ever buy a chartplotter, I think I would favor raster charts.

 

[mm2347]

We have to remember that WE are responsible as to where we are and to use all aids to help us. Jackdaw is spot on! In a recreation buss. I provided very good, simple directions to my location . Most had no problems yet once or twice a week we would receive a cell phone call from a customer that insisted they were at my place of buss (same location over 35 years and on main state highways) at a gate at the end of a dead end dirt road that had to be where they should be because their GPS said so and why weren't we. The GPS was correct and I could not be right. I believe that nav. starts with a knowledge of where you are going and how to get there, then moment awareness of where you are , then a check on a timely basic, and if something seems out of wack check you back up.

 

[Bob 04 H260]

B.O.O.K.S. ? Is that one of those new Bio-Optically Organized Knowledge Source devices.... hey man... we can't all afford the latest gadgets you know....

We use the Explorer Chart books, http://www.explorercharts.com/ for the Bahamas, they are not paper charts but plastic pages. And use the Map Tech chart book for Florida, http://www.richardsonscharts.com/product/chartkit-region-7-16th-ed-florida-east-coast-and-the-keys/
We combine the various electronic charts, cruising guides and notations from fellow cruisers to stay safe. When we are in the USA we constantly use our binoculars to confirm the numbers on navigation aids and take relative bearings with the compass in our binoculars to confirm a bearing taken electronically on our chart plotter.

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[JamesG161]

Everyone likes their electronic toys but, what happens when all these devices go belly up?
Electronic instruments & gadgets fail all the time & if so & not having paper charts & plotter tools
and/or a sextant now what do you do? Scientists believe we are in store for the next big solar blast then what?

So True! But what about the hidden comet, coming from behind the Sun, which will sprinkle comet dust on us and make ZOMBIES!
Since we all know Zombies can't take water, I will be using paper charts for back up of electronics. Since the Zombies will take over our government, no more GPS! WAIT!! They already have started the take over!

What I still like about paper is the fun of trip planning or dreaming, on the dining room table, with friends and family. From time to time, we open one up to show a few people at same time on board. iPhone displays are not good for that.

I have a large 36" printer and print any color chart to scale for friends... for a beer.
Jim...

 

[capta]

In the days before all the electronics, there was this feeling of excitement, personal accomplishment, whatever you want to call it of plotting a course and, days later, actually reaching your destination. .

Sense of excitement? OK, I'll go with that after 6 days without a sight at all. When I finally got one, it indicated we were already through the passage between Frazer Island and the bottom of the Great Barrier Reef. Yeah, lots of excitement for sure! lol
Personal accomplishment? Perhaps after I've caught up on the sleep I missed on the trip because I was trying to snap a few shots between the clouds in a half gale.
No thanks, perhaps I've become a lazy old salt, but I love my electronics and I'm not going back unless I have to.

 

[PeterBld]

Been sailing from pre GPS so paper charts are second nature. Early days with sat across we could get a plot a couple of times a day. It was fascinating using RDF and plotting off variety us stations. But realistically today we rely on the multiple GPS on board. Last count we had seven.
Coming into Nieafu, in the vavaus, Tonga a couple of years back our main chart plotter failed. Our back up unit also then failed. Luckily it was daylight and we cleared in. Both units had GPS aerial failure.We still always have the paper chart on the nav station. But to be honest, given last check, our pile of paper charts is getting near 200mm thick. It is becoming a major storage problem.

 

[NotCook]

During our recent offshore passage from Portsmouth/ Norfolk to St. Croix by way of Nanny Cay, we used the chart plotter, and plotted on the paper chart at noon each day. The paper served as a backup as well as a good visual reference for our relative progress. There wasn't much chance of hitting anything other than Bermuda, and we missed it by 300nm. Now the paper chart is a conversation piece...

 

[centerline]

During our recent offshore passage from Portsmouth/ Norfolk to St. Croix by way of Nanny Cay, we used the chart plotter, and plotted on the paper chart at noon each day. The paper served as a backup as well as a good visual reference for our relative progress. There wasn't much chance of hitting anything other than Bermuda, and we missed it by 300nm. Now the paper chart is a conversation piece...

there are a lot of pros, cons and what-ifs that have been discussed here, some valid points and some not so much...at this time. (times DO change), and the same discussion will go on somewhere until the end of time, but no matter if you do, or if you dont, it is nice to see in a bigger picture where your going and where you have been (no one can honestly deny this)..... but this is taking into account that you are actually going somewhere other than where you have already been before and are familiar with.

in addition, it would make no sense for anyone who has a GPS to NOT use it for their "instant in-route referencing", rather than looking at the paper every 20-30 minutes.... but, if you know how to plot/map a course on the paper, you can take the coordinates from the gps screen to get a fix on your paper chart so that you can see your progress.

for the largest percentage of boaters who dont really go anywhere out of their local/known waters, the gps with bluechart is all they would ever need. but the boaters that go in to areas that need studying to make passage safe, or if you are an offshore fisherman or diver, or dive in unknown areas, they know the full value of a paper chart.
the GPS did not make paper charts obsolete, and it never will, no more than did a computer make books obsolete.

those that rely solely on gps for their "getting around" on the water will be just fine, ('cuz they probably only need to find their way back), but always remember that when you want more information, and to see it in a bigger picture, get a paper chart of the area and Chart #1.... then learn how to use them.

 

[Ken Cross]

I have a little motor for the dinghy and a big one for main power. Twice (on 2 different boats) I've lost power and the little motor also failed (What I thought were reliable small outboards.) On the first one the flywheel key sheared at a really bad time (in shipping lanes with a ship coming in a small runabout) after the main motor quit. One time our motor overheated in a narrow channel with no wind and the dinghy motor simply wouldn't start (Thanks a lot E10 gas.)

For comparison navaids can and do also fail. I do carry printed charts but mostly just use them to see the big picture for planning. I have 3 GPS options. Overkill? Yes, but I can justify almost anything.

Ken