POLL - Paper Chart Usage

[oceanfroggie]

There is no I have a hand held GPS as back up (and no mention of a sextant).

"Backup GPS plotter as a marine device with own battery" covered that (Eg gpsmap76, etc)

 

[oceanfroggie]

Not sure the Ipad be described as the 'big picture'? IMHO one of the problems with electronic charting is the screen size in that if you pan out to get the big picture, you need a magnifying glass to see any detail. The 'screen size' of a paper chart is many times bigger than an Ipad and that's one of the reasons that I use paper charts as well as electronic charts

I know what you mean Mike because I used to prefer eyeballing the large paper charts to get overall view when planning rather than on the smaller GPS plotter screen which was slow to zoom and pan and a pita to use buttons, as was the associated PC planning software suites. But unexpectedly I found the pinch to zoom and pan on the iPad fluid and fast enough to be able to see the "big picture" view for planning. It wasn't planned, it just sort of happened over the course of one season. The portability of the tablet means I can plan anywhere on board, in the cabin, at home, in the office, etc.

I still have a full inventory of charts and manual plotting gear on board, and I just like them, but they are just gathering dust like my old Hornby-Dublo collection at home.