August 10, 2007
NOAA comments on paper charts vs. electronic data
Nautical sailing charts have been used for centuries, and while many recreational sailors now rely on electronic technologies such as GPS and pc-based electronic chart plotters to help guide their way, paper nautical charts are still critical to safe navigation for the serious sailor. “Official” nautical charts are created by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and NOAA paper charts have become the standard for commercial and recreational sailors.
In fact, for commercial navigation in US waters, full-size official paper charts from NOAA are required by law. Paper charts also provide a solid backup to electronic navigation for any sailor, and they are not subject to power or computer failures.
Updating required
A drawback to traditional, pre-printed, off-the-shelf nautical charts is the “manual updating” that has been necessary – until recently – to keep a chart up to date. Sailors have had to keep abreast of changes to their charts, using data provided regularly by NOAA. After getting the latest NOAA updates, mariners have been required to make the changes by hand, writing onto their charts. But now, all that has changed.
Arrival of "print on demand"
In the Unites States, rather than buy a chart that is pre-printed by NOAA (some charts may have been printed months, even years, before purchase), sailors can now buy NOAA nautical charts that are “printed on demand” with the very latest NOAA “Notice to Mariners” data included at the time they are printed.
So, these on-demand, digitally-printed full size charts contain data that can be just hours old – and the charts are guaranteed to be 100% up to date at the time they are ordered. Working in cooperation with NOAA, a St. Paul, Minnesota company, OceanGrafix, is the first and only company to deliver these print-on-demand nautical charts for commercial and recreational boaters in the US.
85 NOAA updates per week
The “up to date” feature of these charts is a huge benefit. NOAA is constantly performing research on oceans, lakes, rivers, channels and waterways, and it issues approximately 85 nautical chart update changes each week. Changes cover buoy markings, channel depths, lights, bridge heights, new harbor approaches, changes caused by storms and hurricanes, wrecks and obstructions and many other categories. There are more than 1,100 official NOAA nautical charts, so not every chart is changed each week, but when a sailor buys an off-the-shelf pre-printed chart (they are still sold), the chart is bound to be substantially out of date.
Electronic data can be outdated
Having a backup to electronic navigation systems is also very important, since power failures can render electronic systems useless. Also, many sailors aren’t aware that “electronic charts are often only as good as the paper charts upon which they were built” (a direct quote from NOAA). Many recreational sailors also feel that their GPS systems are as up to date as the GPS in their cars, but “this is not necessarily the case”, says NOAA.
Chart books vs. full size NOAA charts
Some recreational sailors use a “chart book” as a backup. This set of charts may cover a specific area or popular cruising route. However, the charts that are reproduced in chart books are typically horribly out of date and the “charts” may be small, often one-sixth or one eighth the size of an “official” chart. Because of their size, they may not be as detailed or as easy to read as a full-size NOAA chart. The full-size OceanGrafix chart with its up-to-date features gives the mariner a logical backup choice to electronic systems – and ensures safer sailing.
There’s no doubt that technology has come a long way in providing sailors with sophisticated electronic systems and data, but a good, old-fashioned paper chart updated by an authorized NOAA partner still remains a sound choice. The twist is, paper charts are no longer “old fashioned” – they have entered the digital age.
