GL: River Charts Lk Michigan to Tenn( More)

[Charles & Pat Culotta]

Gary,

We  have done thousands upon thousands of miles on the inland river
system(s) and have never had any problem with the Corps of Engineer charts.
They are bound in books and exceedingly easy to follow. In fact, Pat and I
have often discussed about how accurate they are--even when using a chart
more than 15 yrs old.
By the way, the corps issues, free, an annual dike list that delineates all
dikes on, for instance, on the Mississippi river. We have obtained these
from time to time but have never had occasion to refer to them. As a Corps
employee once told me, " Charles, keep it between the buoys and you don't
have to be concerned with the dikes." Do get it anyway.

As I recall there are no numbers on  the floating aids to navigation  on the
Corps charts because the Coast Guard  does not put numbers on them!

There are signs along the river denoting the River Mile thus making it
exceptionally easy to keep tract of where you are.
Also the Corps charts have EVERY river mile marked on the chart.
Another good thing that the Corps does for some rivers  is, one side of the
page has the printed chart and the side  across has an aerial photo of the
same area.
Some charts are composed of aerial photos with the chart info printed on the
photo. We particularly like those when traveling shallow rivers. You can
actually see the sand bars.
Some complain that the river depths are not on the charts. Think about that,
the rivers fluctuate all year long so there is no way to designate depth.(
River stage info is readily available from the Corps,  local media and even
in real time on line.)
In all of our river travels we have found that the CG units in charge of
ATONS do a bang up job of keeping those buoys and sign boards up and in
place no matter the flood stage.

Most (vast majority) of our river travel was before we purchased electronic
charts, in fact we have had electronic charts for only about 3 years. There
is a very easy way to keep track of where you are on a river or ICW if you
don't have electronic charts (even if you do). At any known spot , a mile
marker for instance, note the MM , Time and GPS odometer. This is set up in
3 columns across the page. Each time you pass another MM or known spot, note
it. You will always know where you are. Bingo.
Even with electronic charting we still keep track of our position as
described. All the tow boats refer to river miles for location so you MUST
know that at all times.

For some good hints on river( and ICW) travel see our web site:
geocities.com/charlesculotta
Just our experience.
CCC
CHARLES C., JR. and PAT CULOTTA
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS
M/V CCRIDER
Patterson, La.

----- Original Message -----
From: "John & Judy Gill" <twojscom@quadnet.net>


> I would only add to what Charles has said.  In addition to the word
> CHEAP. is that one gets what they pay for.
>
> Any semblance to the word CHART is purely accidental.  The Army Corps
> of Engineers MAPS (one should not call
> them Charts) do not have numbers on the buoys, and there are no
> depths shown.
>
> If one is accustomed to real Nautical Charts, these will appear to be
> a poor excuse!  We recommend a good pair of
> 10 power binoculars to be able to read the occasional mile marker
> signs nailed to a tree on the shoreline to tell you where
> you are -- that and computer charts and a good GPS unit.
>
> John and Judy Gill
> Two J's V
> AGLCA Loopers