What charts do you use?
One of our blog readers recently sent me a message asking if I could elaborate on which charts we use for navigation. Here is the answer that I sent to him, with a bit more detail thrown in.
For our day-to-day navigation we rely almost exclusively on the Garmin 546 chartplotter. The detail of the Garmin cartography is excellent and in almost every case has been right on the money. Note that I said “in almost every case.” Mariners are always cautioned against relying solely on one source of info for navigation. We don’t and neither should you.
In addition to the Garmin we also plan passages using our Polar View computer program. While in the US (and its territories) you can use the freely downloadable charts from NOAA. Beyond those areas we had to purchase charts. The computer charts we use in the Caribbean came in conjunction with the NV Chart kits.
![](http://www.zerotocruising.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/charts.jpg)
Obviously, because we purchased the above mentioned chart kits, we also have all the paper charts for the islands too. Do we use these? No, not all that often. It is prudent to have them though and in spite of the fact that they cost us a fair bit of cash (Can you read the price tag in the photo above? If so, that was for only 1 of those kits!), we are happy that we have them on board.
I have mentioned that we are considering heading west later this season. We do have the Garmin BlueChart G2 chip for the Southwest Caribbean but that’s all we have. Perhaps we’ll run into someone who will be able to share some computer charts with us, if they exist. We’d also likely invest in some paper charts too if we decide to go that way, just in case.
I don’t know if you’re using a Mac or a PC, but if it’s a mac – this program is pretty groovy: http://www.gpsnavx.com/
We use Macs exclusively and actually own and have used GPSNavX, until we acquired Polar View. It is a good program but one thing I REALLY like about Polar View is that is stitches all of our charts together so that small and large scale charts can both be accessed simply by zooming in and out.
Great topic for a post! You are lucky to have mostly accurate charts. Some charts of Mexico’s waters are in need of updating. We have meet a lot of fellow cruisers in the past few months that would like to learn more about where their chart data comes from. Mike and I just wrote a post regarding chart data: http://www.pacificsailors.com/2012/06/why-is-my-boat-on-shore.html
Excellent post! Thanks for sharing.
By the way, I just added a link to your blog on our research page. Keep up the great work.
See also Walker Mangum’s page re: discrepancies in GPS map details.
http://bvipirate.com/ChartNav.html
I believe Annegada is particularly problematic in this respect.
Good post, I have a question, are you using the digital version of the nv charts with PolarView? Wondering if Polarview works with them or if you use a different software for that? I need to buy charts for my own trip south starting this fall 🙂
Yes, that is what I am using with Polar View (in the Caribbean).
Absolutely, positively do not leave how without all of the required charts for your trip, or at least as far south as here if you are traveling to the Caribbean. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can buy them down here. Cruisers won’t typically sell them and chandleries, if they have them, will be expensive.
Thanks for the answer, I’ll get the nv-charts which will get me both paper and digital, plus I have a chartplotter with vector charts. On a different topic, wondering what you do for medical insurance. Ontario OHIP won’t cover me and my family beyond 6 months. Did you buy such insurance? Did you research different options?
We have no medical insurance. This is why we avoid all strenuous and dangerous activities. 😉