Charts in the cockpit

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tmtracey

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Hi everyone,
I’d really like to navigate just using the charts, though do have a small chart plotter for back up. I do a fair bit of singlehanded sailing.

What are the techniques people use for keeping charts in the cockpit? For instance how do you keep them waterproof? Can anyone recommend a good case?
Where do you store them so they can be readily at hand if you want to take a bearing?
I am using the Admiralty leisure folios at present, fully updated with the latest NMs.
Thanks
Toby
 
tmtracey said:
Hi everyone,
I’d really like to navigate just using the charts, though do have a small chart plotter for back up. I do a fair bit of singlehanded sailing.

What are the techniques people use for keeping charts in the cockpit? For instance how do you keep them waterproof? Can anyone recommend a good case?
Where do you store them so they can be readily at hand if you want to take a bearing?
I am using the Admiralty leisure folios at present, fully updated with the latest NMs.
Thanks
Toby
Click to expand...
The Navicarte Chart Kit Med01-0x all come in an A2 sized plastic sealable pouch which seals really well and is probably completely waterproof even if it falls in the sea. This you could use and take a bearing. Also you could use a grease pencil for marking on the plastic and wipe off after use.

carte marine Le Chartkit Navicarte regroupe dans une pochette plast...
 
tmtracey said:
Hi everyone,
I’d really like to navigate just using the charts, though do have a small chart plotter for back up. I do a fair bit of singlehanded sailing.

What are the techniques people use for keeping charts in the cockpit? For instance how do you keep them waterproof? Can anyone recommend a good case?
Where do you store them so they can be readily at hand if you want to take a bearing?
I am using the Admiralty leisure folios at present, fully updated with the latest NMs.
Thanks
Toby
Click to expand...
Make one (a chart pocket that is). Materials available on the internet (Point North, Pennine Outdoor fabrics). I made one for dinghy cruising year a ago, but still used on occasions.
 
I do a fair amount of single handed sailing.

Charts live at the chart table. Notes/diagrams are made and use in the cockpit. A small chartplotter is available at the helm for the entertainment of the crew and the collection of data.

Having misspent my youth on Scottish mountains nothing is waterproof.
 
I have used a clear plastic chart case that fits standard sized small craft charts. I have also had full size charts laminated in plastic, and found them very easy to plot on with a grease pencil in the cockpit. You cannot fold them, however. A thin piece of ply stuck in the case behind the chart makes a portable chart table when sat across your knees. All plotting is done in the cockpit on a Wayfarer, of course.
Blue_mischief said:
Make one (a chart pocket that is). Materials available on the internet (Point North, Pennine Outdoor fabrics). I made one for dinghy cruising year a ago, but still used on occasions.
Click to expand...
 
These are great suggestions, keep them coming!
I bought the Gnautics Seabag from F4 earlier this week and it fell apart while putting a chart in it, so on the look out for good quality alternatives.
Also like the idea of Yeoman plotter, they sound fun.
 
westernman said:
The Navicarte Chart Kit Med01-0x all come in an A2 sized plastic sealable pouch which seals really well and is probably completely waterproof even if it falls in the sea. This you could use and take a bearing. Also you could use a grease pencil for marking on the plastic and wipe off after use.

carte marine Le Chartkit Navicarte regroupe dans une pochette plast...
Click to expand...
That appears to be the same A2 size as the Admiralty Leisure Folios which OP says they're using at the moment, and which also come in a clear plastic folder.
 
For singlehanded sailing I find the best way to hold the charts is in a plastic square with a transparent screen on the front. Waterproof and cant blow away.
The holder I have is marked ……. Raymarine :cool:

Also have paper folios at the chart table, but when solo the plotter visible at the helm has huge benefits - why try to un-invent the wheel?
 
robmcg said:
Force 4 Portable Chartmaster + Chinagraph Pencil

Have used one of these and it has worked well.
Click to expand...

I used a succession of ones like that in the cockpit for many years, and found them reasonably satisfactory.

Eventually the hinges rust badly; the blue plastic gets broken on the corners, allowing the cardboard 'base' inside to get sodden; and/or the map pocket edges split, letting water in; but they usually lasted long enough that it didn't deter me from buying another, rather than embarking on making the 'ultimate cockpit chart holder' I'd sometimes design in my head when underway.

Beware of chart holder getting blown out of the cockpit into the sea (taking chart with it)! Hasn't quite happenned to me, but a close run thing a couple of times. I think I had a cord tether on one at one point, but it would get tangled with arms, legs and various things around the cockpit, so I reverted to just 'being careful'. Except in benign conditions I'd keep the chart holder under the (heavy) cockpit cushions when not actually looking at it.

I have to smile at references to ''the chart table below'' etc. That's clearly from a different boating universe to the one my boats have lived in. :)
 
Hoolie said:
I'm also intrigued by this. I thought the Yeoman relied on a device on arms crawling about on the chart surface. So how can this be achieved in a wet cockpit with no flat or level surfaces?
Click to expand...

There's plenty to find on the internet showing the Yeoman Sport XL unit, which has its own 'board' with clear plastic 'write-on' to protect the folded chart. A small Garmin ( or simiar ) GPS provides electronic quick fixing.... or you can do it manually/traditionally. The large pocket on the back holds all your plotting instruments.....

e.g. The Yeoman Alternative - Practical Sailor

It works very well in the cockpit.
 
I keep my charts below except I'll maybe use a large scale one to assist with pilotage on final approach to a harbour.

In less clement weather I'd revert to following the way-pointed route on a handheld GPS.

Otherwise I'm happy with a chart on a cockpit seat weighted down with a winch handle.

I've always been sure to have a spare chart, if only an inset on an Imray passage chart.
 
The only chart I ever use in the cockpit is an A3 size laminated Navicarte chart of the Golfe du Morbihan. Eight euros well spent.

With the powerful currents in the Golfe you can be moving very fast and need to know where you are at any moment before you get swept past your objective.

I use a Chinagraph pencil to tick off where we are as buoys and marks fly past at high speed.

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Like Sandy my charts live on the chart table.
I also use for tricky pilotage situations an A4 sized white board on which I make notes of say, sequence of bouys, bearings and distances and perhaps a sketch to take into the cockpit. I find making notes like this helps building up a mental picture of where I am going. Sometimes I might take a harbour plan (from pilot booker almanac) into the cockpit.
Besides nipping below for a quick look at the chart table helps keeps you fit.
 
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