Reduced Reliance on Paper Charts
Managing electronic charts is much easier than managing paper charts. Storing and finding paper charts can be time consuming. Keeping paper charts updated for Notices to Mariners can be a full-time job.

Navigation programs and electronic charts simplify this process. Opening a chart is usually as simple as double-clicking on the appropriate chart from a list. In other cases, the navigation program can seamlessly "stitch" your entire digital chart collection into one big chart "quilt". With quilting, you never need to choose charts, you simply zoom in on the area you are interested in and the program will display the appropriate chart. Most manufacturers offer ways (for a fee) to digitally update charts for Notice to Mariners.

When I grew up boating with my family, we used a designated plotter for many years. Our plotter used vector charts supplied on cartridges. When we were in unfamiliar waters, we used the plotter to get a general sense of where we were, but we always went to paper charts for specific details. The electronic charts on the plotter simply weren't detailed enough.

In contrast, on the Patience, we use our navigation software as our primary navigation system—the paper charts generally stay in the chart drawer. Does this mean you won't need any paper charts? Not in my opinion. However, can you get away with buying fewer paper charts, or charts of lesser quality? I think so. B&W copies of NOAA or CHS charts are a cost effective way to assemble a collection of back-up charts. Another option is to significantly reduce the actual number of official paper charts you buy—only purchase those you will need in a pinch should your computer fail. Last, if you really want to save money, you can print out emergency charts from your software program on a printer at home. These print outs might not look as sexy as an official NOAA paper chart, but they will get you out of a bind.



[On to The Cost Argument]





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