RYA Chartplotter

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chas

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Has anyone any knowledge of the Admiralty/RYA chartplotter advertised at <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.rya.org.uk/Default.asp?contentID=3057908>http://www.rya.org.uk/Default.asp?contentID=3057908</A>? It seems a bit of a swiz that the charts only last one year.
 
I reviewed it for BYM during the boatshow and it seemed to do what it said on the tin.

It's simple, not that greedy on computer capacity and it looks like an Admiralty Chart.

You do have to look up and enter your tide data either from the diamonds or your atlas but if you do it will knock you out a passage plan to SOLAS requirements.

It's OK and it will be a major part of RYA training from the end of the year.



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I prefer to use seaclear and scan in my own charts, it has a very simple but effective interface.
being able to navigate on paper and cross check with and electronic copy of your own chart give a nice sence of wellbeing that you are where you should be.
Other bonus is paper chart updates are not £38.00

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Why are there no charts available N. of the Clyde?

- Nick

<hr width=100% size=1><font size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.bluemoment.com>http://www.bluemoment.com</A></font size=1>
 
As a classroom teaching tool, maybe, but....

Looks to me to have all the disadvantages of a dedicated laptop computer charting system with none of the advantages.

But then I dislike electronic charts on small boats anyway. I just hate the way you need to wait for a zoom out (or several) before you can gain the perspective of where you are (only to loose some of the detail) and your possible alternative routes to a particular destination which a paper chart (and it's quickly grabbed neighbour) instantly gives.

Personally I always feel blinkered when using yacht size screens for passage planning although, having just fitted a new one last weekend, I still use a plotter for close up and pilotage work.

Plotters can and so do electronic PC based systems, show tidal & other data which from what I've read in the RNLI mag & other publications, this RYA system does not. Then there's HD crashes, power issues and general reliability. The battery in my pointing device (pencil) never runs down and my tide tables and paper charts have been bounced on the deck and had coffee spilled into them on several occassions and so far still work. Also if I needed to take to the raft, I'd hate to have to take the laptop with me just in case it hastened my journey to D Jones's locker as a body weight.

We do (or soon will) have a notebook PC on board but that is just there to receive WFax which is an addition NOT a substitution (& allows Mme to play Solitaire et al to her Hearts content).

Steve Cronin

<hr width=100% size=1>The above is, like any other post here, only a personal opinion
 
Re:The idea

of trusting a PC to do anything is ridiculous.

While I was quite positive about the Plotter thing when I looked at it. I was thinking but why? The only argument I've heard for electronic charting that makes sense is that it saves space on board and a few quid on charts. But that only applies if you fly in the face of accepted wisdom and cut down on your paper charts.

Most sailing I do requires no navigation or pilotage other than eyeball. When it does I like to plan in the old way, keep the plot going with GPS backed up with a sounding, log reading or the odd bearing. I have bought a little Garmin 176c and it's very clever but I wouldn't trust it.

I suppose if your a gadget man it's fun to play with all of this stuff but I'm not.

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Re:The idea

Yep!

We changed our cruising ground three years back so we're more likely to be entering a new harbour for the first time or cruising along a strange coast so it's convenient to have a small screen for detail in the failing light but the good old paper chart is #1 all the time.

Steve Cronin

<hr width=100% size=1>The above is, like any other post here, only a personal opinion
 
Re:The idea

As ever, its a personal choice. Some people still use sextants and work out EP's, kidding themselves that their efforts to do so are more reliable than a GPS. And its the same with plotters. Personally, I dont use one because navigating is one way of minimising boredom on long passages, but I know in my heart of hearts that I am more likely to cock up than a chartplotter, more likely to get sea sick than a plotter, that I cannot navigate traditionally and maintain an adequate watch single handed, and that I wouldnt be happy doing trad nav at 30 knots in a tupperware tart trap (ie Princess et al).

The RYA plotter is an effort to produce a basic, few frills plotter, at an acceptable price. The years life is at the insistance of the UKHO, a govt dept after all, who know how the world works in terms of updates but cannot offiically accept it!

Mind you, an RN navigator was telling me at the weekend that he marked "no go" areas on a chart in crayon and then threw it away after one trip. Got a new chart from stores each time! How the other (taxpayer subsidised) half lives!

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The reason is that it hasn't been discovered yet because nobody seems to want to go there. Isn't it here all the gales come from? Where is it anyway?

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It's that big white area with 'Here be Dragons' written on it.

It's where the Gaels come from, Becky. (Slightly different spelling).

- Nick



<hr width=100% size=1><font size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.bluemoment.com>http://www.bluemoment.com</A></font size=1>
 
The advert says that the charts are on ooffer this yeat at £38. It does not say how much they will cost next year!

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There is a full description available as an attractive 6 pages brochure free of charge at all Admiralty Chart Agents or directly from the RYA.
At the moment shorebased course tutors are attending one day conferences around the country having the training disc explained to them as each teaching pack, DS and YM, from September on will have a CD included and students will have time on the course sitting at a PC learning how to use it.

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The idea of all the charts for your cruising area for £38 seems pretty OK. All my paper charts cost more than that, and I can't say honestly that I keep them totally up to date...

But the downside seems to be obvious - it is v limited in range. Quite apart from N Scotland, where weirdys live, note the absence of the N French coast from Boulogne downward, and Brittany. Presumably one has another system for these areas or pay full whack for ARCs?

<hr width=100% size=1>Black Sugar - the sweetest of all
 
Support your query

when will they get round to charting with leisure charts the best sailing area in Britain.



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I have used a laptop

at sea in my 38 footer for 6 years without problem. We have sailed across N Sea from Scotland to Denmark and on to Helsinki et al. We also carry paper charts, almanac, station pointer and sextant.

Average years cruising has been 1500 miles.

The only problems we have had have related to power supply failures when the inverter has dropped off line for some reason and has not been noticed (now have a warning light in the wheelhouse).

I can thoroughy recommend electronic navigation in the tight waters of Finland and Sweden.



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