Do charts need to be updated?

[LadyInBed]

With electronic positioning here to stay.
Do you:
- Sail by what you see and accept the presence or removal of a navigation mark and use a chart to give you a graphical representation of where you are and your track so you don’t run aground.
- Feel uncomfortable if your chart isn't up to date, and update before every passage.
- Update only if the passage is to somewhere new or unvisited for a year or two.
- Treat update as a winter job.

I would argue that unless you update for every trip out, you are sailing by what you see, so you should never bother with updates, just replace the chart every five or six years.

 

[janeK]

I update each chart as a winter job normally, but if the chart is 6+yrs buy a new one.
Charts are still on the chart table even though there are electronics on board as I prefer to view the 'bigger' picture as well.

Position is also plotted too on the chart.

 

[david_bagshaw]

depends on where i am

ie busy muddy / sandy estuaries schelde etc, new chart every year

eider estuary get buoy position up date from web / harbour master for certain day before

Baltic, western where a lot doesn't change frequently, yearly update.

 

[ianwright]

Combination of 3 and 4.
I have charts on board printed in 1960 in black and white, price 10/6d. Still in use but updated as needed.
IanW

 

[Robin]

I scan the Notices for anything WORTH updating but rarely have to. So much is changes to areas way off our normal routes or to depths where we should never be or those still deep enough to ignore. I will change MAJOR light changes but minor buoys in obscure areas not so, and we do carry the excellent French Almanac with all the latest buoy/light information. Major bouy changes will be updated on our plotters to by using the 'mark' feature and the symbols available. A really major chart change that I think is important will mean I buy a new chart, like for Channel West when Ushant TSS was moved 2yrs back.

I should add that for the most part we use Imray charts and download updates from their website which are printed out and carried on board, just not actually put on the chart unless important. Whether these updates are ever looked at again, well maybe.....

 

[Greenwichman]

Depends on where you sail. Here on the east coast the Thames Estuary and its approaches are constantly changing; easiest is to buy a new chart each spring and keep an eye on the Notices To Mariners throughout the summer. Over on the Devon coast some years ago I used 10 year old charts with confidence; rocks don't move like shingle and sand do. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[VicS]

Strictly the answer must be that you must have fully up-to-date charts for the area in which you are sailing.

The extent to which you ignore that is up to you but if you had a mishap and it came to light that you were using old black and white charts that you bought back in 1960 for 10/6d you may well find yourself on the wrong side of the law, your insurance company, and the RYA. If a crew member was seriously injured, or worse, you could be in deep manure.

Having said that...etc.etc..the boat I have regularly crewed....etc..etc... and there have been times when the lack of an up-to-date chart has stopped us doing something we intened to do. Going through the passage inshore of Cap de la Hague light for example.

 

[ianwright]

[ QUOTE ]
if you had a mishap and it came to light that you were using old black and white charts that you bought back in 1960 for 10/6d you may well find yourself on the wrong side of the law, your insurance company, and the RYA.

[/ QUOTE ]
If the mishap involved hitting something that was on new charts but not on the old you might have a point. But as my 10/6d charts ARE updated and provide all the information I require there will be no problem. Information is what counts, not newness.
IanW

 

[starboard]

In an ideal world where time and money not a problem...yes. However personally I prefer to buy good condition second hand charts uncorrected from www.chartsales.com and for my money may get 4 charts covering the same area with greater detail than one new chart that would be a compromise covering the area of the 4 more detailed charts. This should always be backed up with an uptodate almanac wich would give the latest detail on lights and buoyage etc. In practice you will find rocks tend not to move and it is quite rare that a new one will be discovered. If you note the survey dates on many charts you may find even the most up to date chart the seabed was last surveyed by HMS Trafalgar in 1875.

Good luck

Paul.

 

[ashanta]

I update what I feel is relevent to me but I glue the notices from Imray on the bottom of the chart as they are when you buy a current edition. After so many years, if the number of changes are getting high then renew the chart with the latest edition.

Regards.

Peter.

 

[Robin]

That's a good idea Peter, at least then there is a chance that it will get read!

Robin

 

[VicS]

Re: Updating very old charts

I'm surprised that you have found an updating service for charts that old. The Notices to mariners only apply to the latest edition.

 

[ianwright]

Re: Updating very old charts

You dont need an updating service, a glance in a decent almanac or list of lights is often enough. In the case of my half guinea chart a penciled note of the traffic separation scheme off Lands End and the gas field near Cork was enough.
IanW

 

[dulcibella]

Re: Updating very old charts

I use ianwright's approach of checking key lights etc with a good almanac. The rocks don't move but watch out for new bridges!

 

[Guest]

Re: Updating very old charts

If you were using tracings to do it - fair comment ..... but if you do it the old way by plotting position - then the age of the chart makes not a shred of difference - EXCEPT where datum change occurs...... even then a position is a position and you are generally navigating within a tolerance - not single metres etc.

As an ex navigator setting courses etc. for ULCC tankers etc. - who really DO have to worry about banks / depths in English Channel and North Sea etc. - where the average yottie would not bother to read an e/s ..... on my boat make do with cancelled charts and electronics ..... updating charts - rarely - only really when I actually see and have an object new / moved where I'm going .... no panic - just a note on chart to watch for it next time around ..... !!

I commend those who do correct their charts - but also understand those that don't .....
/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[roger]

The short answer is yes you do need to update - if it is possible.
For Holland you must be veryy careful as the sands move about and that goes for North Sea Germany as well.
The Danes are removing buoys rapidly.
The Finns are changing to WGS 84 and altering buoyage like crazy.
In general it depands how close you sail to the bottom or the bricks. If you leave wide margins for error and avoid nasty conditions etc. You can be a bit more lax over charts.
In Finland last year I had a nasty half hour east of Hanko where the recommended track and the buoyage had altered - and the chart datum. Luckily the visibility was good.

 

[LadyInBed]

Re: buoyage had altered

Did you follow your chart or the buoys?
I'll bet it was the buoys.

 

[ianwright]

I got caught out going to Vlissingen three years ago. Brand new imray chart and all,,,,,,,,
The Duerloo buoys
had been removed. This was announced in NTM the week after I left home. Fortunatly the old waypoints on the gps still worked and a nice lady on the vhf was reasuring.
/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

IanW

 

[duncan]

old electronic charts - new almanac each year

the above, with radar in reduced visibility, effectively means I am navigating buoyage by what I can see and the coastline by what's always been there!

 

[tcm]

Re:yep

also, of course, doing the updates doesn't mean that every single thing that's supposed to be there...actually is there on the day/night you're there. Much better to look for a few lights etc and not to be too suprised if some of them aren't there at all...