Chart update question - Admiralty Leisure Folios

[mullet]

I recently bought a new Thames folio SC5606, the newest edition which was published in 2014. Then merrily dowloaded the PDF NMs for the folio (from here), expecting a few pages... and found 130 pages of corrections!

Now obviously a lot of the corrections were temporary, a lot won't be relevant to my vessel, and a lot will be in areas I don't immediately plan to visit. That said, parsing 130 pages of corrections for the ones that are relevant is quite a time consuming job, even before marking the corrections.

Am I overlooking something obvious, like a filterable set of corrections, or a database of corrections rather than a PDF? Trawling through 130 pages seems to be an extraordinarily inefficient way to update charts.

 

[madabouttheboat]

What surprises me is that the charts haven't been re-issued since 2014 in one of the UKs busiest and most changing estuaries. If I was in the market for some Thames estuary charts, I would be looking to see what else is available.

 

[mullet]

Absolutely agree. I considered the Imray equivalent (published 2018, I think) but it didn’t have quite the layout I wanted (a single passage planning chart to cover the main areas I expect to visit), and it was ring bound, which I’m not an enormous fan of. Though the corrections for that only run to 9 or 10 pages (perhaps they only include major changes). Are there any other alternatives I have overlooked?

 

[Egbod]

Imray are going to issue new Thames estuary booklets in about July 2021.
The booklets are No. 2000 Suffolk and Essex and No. 2100 Kent and Sussex coasts.

 

[awol]

Spend a lot more money and buy full size Admiralty charts - they come with all corrections (to date) incorporated. One of the problems with the Folios is that as soon as there is a new issue, the corrections for the previous issue disappear. There is no guarantee the new issue won't require immediate corrections.

 

[Bilgediver]

Absolutely agree. I considered the Imray equivalent (published 2018, I think) but it didn’t have quite the layout I wanted (a single passage planning chart to cover the main areas I expect to visit), and it was ring bound, which I’m not an enormous fan of. Though the corrections for that only run to 9 or 10 pages (perhaps they only include major changes). Are there any other alternatives I have overlooked?

I havn' t been on the site for years but there is a Hydrografic office site which after a lot of hassle from users made the corrections more easy to locate as we had to send them out to ships which as part of modern rules are expected to have all charts up to date. They can now access and download them by giving chart numbers. Might be worth seeing if you can do so These would be Hydrographic and not Imray format.

I recently bought a new Thames folio SC5606, the newest edition which was published in 2014. Then merrily dowloaded the PDF NMs for the folio (from here), .

Am I overlooking something obvious, like a filterable set of corrections, or a database of corrections rather than a PDF? Trawling through 130 pages seems to be an extraordinarily inefficient way to update charts.

The Admirality Web Site as above.

 

[Concerto]

mullet if you look in the East Coast Forum of this web site you will find weekly Notices to Mariners for the East Coast area, like this weeks information.
Notices to Mariners - Week 13

Alternatively you can use tillergirl's web site where the Notices for Mariners are all listed.

I find that over 90% of Notices to Mariner will have no relevance to leisure boaters either through useful to commercial ships or areas I never venture to.

 

[ithet]

Spend a lot more money and buy full size Admiralty charts - they come with all corrections (to date) incorporated. One of the problems with the Folios is that as soon as there is a new issue, the corrections for the previous issue disappear. There is no guarantee the new issue won't require immediate corrections.

That is partially why I have stopped buying the folios. That and that you end up with overkill on the number of large scale charts which repeat what you have in pilot books anyway. But you can update the old editions by laboriously going through the annual lists for the full Admiralty Charts the leisure ones are based on.

For the OP a short cut might be to look at the equivalent Imray updates over the same period, as these are filtered for relevance to small boats.

 

[tillergirl]

Go to my web site and the page on Notices to Mariners. Select the area list and you will then see illustrated - yes illustrated! NtMs. You can quickly see whether any notice is relevant to your sailing/boating.

Notices to Mariners

Notices brought up to date every Monday evening AND includes any local notices twixt the Wash and Dover. Many local notices are relevant to leisure craft but not all. Enjoy. (thanks Concerto for the mention).

 

[Bilgediver]

I recently bought a new Thames folio SC5606, the newest edition which was published in 2014. Then merrily dowloaded the PDF NMs for the folio (from here), expecting a few pages... and found 130 pages of corrections!

Now obviously a lot of the corrections were temporary, a lot won't be relevant to my vessel, and a lot will be in areas I don't immediately plan to visit. That said, parsing 130 pages of corrections for the ones that are relevant is quite a time consuming job, even before marking the corrections.

Am I overlooking something obvious, like a filterable set of corrections, or a database of corrections rather than a PDF? Trawling through 130 pages seems to be an extraordinarily inefficient way to update charts.

NM Websearch

 

[[70521]]

I recently bought a new Thames folio SC5606, the newest edition which was published in 2014. Then merrily dowloaded the PDF NMs for the folio (from here), expecting a few pages... and found 130 pages of corrections!

Now obviously a lot of the corrections were temporary, a lot won't be relevant to my vessel, and a lot will be in areas I don't immediately plan to visit. That said, parsing 130 pages of corrections for the ones that are relevant is quite a time consuming job, even before marking the corrections.

Am I overlooking something obvious, like a filterable set of corrections, or a database of corrections rather than a PDF? Trawling through 130 pages seems to be an extraordinarily inefficient way to update charts.

I bet you are delighted that you don't do chart corrections on a commercial vessel!

Actually, it is a joy and done correctly is a huge amount of fun.

From a leisure point of view look at the corrections an work out what you need. A change in the 15 meter contour is not needed, one at the five might and a one at the two definitely.

 

[Bristolfashion]

It certainly makes the case for continually updated electronic charts.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Tillergirl's admirable service for the East Coast is a wonderful resource - I check it every week. However, I rarely if ever see something that I'd want to update my chart with. Part of that is because I only ever regard a chart as a GUIDE to what's actually there - I pay more attention to the buoys and marks I can see than to their charted position. As some of the buoys change their position at least annually, keeping a chart up-to=-date would result in a very messed up chart! In those areas, I usually download the mini-charts where available, or go by the buoys rather than the chart.

I should say that a lifetime career in mapmaking makes me VERY aware of the potential pitfalls of trusting maps too much! There's a very wise saying "The map is NOT the territory"...

I first learnt navigation on the river Humber where you needed a new chart every year because the channel changed so often and drastically. The Humber Conservancy were out at every tide repositioning buoys, so you soon learnt to trust the buoys and NOT the chart! One spring tide the main channel switched from one side of Read's Island to the other, literally overnight.

 

[mullet]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and the information.

I managed to filter the 130 page pdf with some text search strings just about well enough to get the corrections that were relevant to the passage I was planning. Although it was somewhat puzzling to find the corrections called for depths to be altered that weren’t on the chart (nor were subject of an earlier correction). I did wonder if some of the corrections were copy/pasted for application on several different charts - which were not originally identical in their detail.

Nevertheless, we managed the passage without hitting anything unexpected (or indeed anything that was on the charts either...). I’ll worry about the rest of the charts as and when I need them...

 

[mullet]

And a grateful mention for Tillergirl’s Crossing the Thames Estuary which made the passage planning a doddle.

 

[Never Grumble]

I bet you are delighted that you don't do chart corrections on a commercial vessel!

As an ex navy navigator from sometime ago I had a man to do that for me. I must admit to trying not to purchase leisure folios that were issued a number of years ago for the very reason that the OP has identified.

 

[arc1]

As an ex navy navigator from sometime ago I had a man to do that for me. I must admit to trying not to purchase leisure folios that were issued a number of years ago for the very reason that the OP has identified.

Now the correction person just uploads an electronic file - easy life! Although they do now have to stand regular duties alongside seeing they're not spending hours with lists, tracings and magenta pens...

 

[WoodyP]

I bet you are delighted that you don't do chart corrections on a commercial vessel!

Actually, it is a joy and done correctly is a huge amount of fun.

From a leisure point of view look at the corrections an work out what you need. A change in the 15 meter contour is not needed, one at the five might and a one at the two definitely.

Your definition of fun is different to mine.

 

[Bilgediver]

I bet you are delighted that you don't do chart corrections on a commercial vessel!

Actually, it is a joy and done correctly is a huge amount of fun.

From a leisure point of view look at the corrections an work out what you need. A change in the 15 meter contour is not needed, one at the five might and a one at the two definitely.

The internet and satellites in the sky were a big bonus for ships and oil rigs. Part of their SMS sytems is that at an annual inspection/audit all charts have to be up to date . Now they can log on to the hydrographic web site from anywhere in the world and download updates plus chartlets where applicable on a daily basis if required. What at a job it used to be when the corrections were batched up ashore and posted!!! .
It was quite a fight to get the Hydrographic Office to organise their data system so searches could easily be done by chart and date but they got there in the end.

Various port authorities around the world as part of their SMS systems confirm with vessels before the pilot boards that all charts are up to date.