GL: Charts Again

[Mark Doyle]

We couldn't agree more with Bob and Phil. Diana and I have been  
writing about e-charting for years and just wrote a book on the  
subject (2009).

Even if you use a chartplotter (and we do), you should have a good e- 
charting application that supports BOTH raster and vector free charts  
from the U.S. Government hydrographic offices.

They all (with the exception of one Australian company), support NOAAs  
free raster charts in the BSB format.

Sadly, only five of them (four PC and one Mac) support the free  
vectors (ENCs and IENCs) from NOAA and the USACE (Inland Waterway  
charts for Loopers).

If interested, there are several FAQs on our site regarding this e- 
chart support issue, with specific mentions to Nobeltec and MaxSea.

Mark
www.managingthewaterway.com

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Charts in electronic form are a perennial question, and I'm guessing the
answers keep changing.

With the cost of digital data dropping for most applications, I'm  
wondering
if there is much progress in marine navigation charts.  I just spent  
some
considerable time on the Garmin site and, besides being a massive  
puzzle and
runaround, the prices and restrictions are simply unreasonable for  
anyone
who plans to cover a lot of ground (well, water really) and never  
return.

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