UKHO want to drop small craft folio charts

oldmanofthehills said:
Very unfortunate as all small craft should carry paper charts as unlike the big boys they will not have have duplicate navigational and electrical systems.
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You might not have but I have!

Primary navigation - chart plotter and external GPS antenna running Navionics

Secondary navigation - laptop (both Navionics and Admiralty available) and GPS via AIS receiver

Both primary and secondary can get a GPS fix from either the external GPS antenna or the AIS receiver

The secondary can also get a GPS fix from a smartphone etc.

Third backup is a tablet with built in GPS and again both Navionics and Admiralty available

Fourth backup is a smartphone otherwise identicial to the tablet

Both tablet and smartphone can be recharged from external "bricks" giving up to 72 hours continuous use (and much longer if used sparingly) even if the main boat electrics fail completely

Passage planning is done on the laptop using a large screen display (and comparing both chart sets btw)

The Navionics charts are regularly updated, much more regularly than (in all honesty) paper charts would be

So I really have no need whatsoever for paper charts

And yet ... I do still carry them! However, the Admiarlty folios are costly, have to be replaced as a complete set and, if cruising any distance, you need a LOT of them! I carry the relevant Imray 'C' series charts which, other than for the Thames Estuary*, have enough detail plus harbour plans to get me into a safe haven in the extrmely unlikely event of total loss of all means of electronic navigation

* As the Thames Estuary is home waters, I already have a complete set of older but still just about adequate folio charts which I do from time to time update with critical updates. They are probably getting past their use by date now and due for replacement with an Imray set (because the Imray folio charts can be replaced individually when superceded

And the 'C' series charts are much better for passage planning on the odd occasions I want to go old school (usually just to keep my hand in but once in a while I want to manually check tidal calculations etc.) as they cover a much larger area than the individual folio charts
 
If it allows 3rd parties to produce paper charts / small chart portfolios, or even custom charts (like Ordnance survey do) using the same data, with no loss of fidelity, and at a lower cost to leisure sailors, then why not. As a tax money receiving organisation they should be looking at cost effective ways to manage this. Sellers of such charts may not be required to stock quantities of paper charts and could use a print on demand service from the admiralty. The Admiralty should also offer their portfolio digitally to UK tax payers, FOC.

It is not important to me who supplies the charts, just that they are accurate and cost effective.

The UK Hydrographic Office has announced that it is proposing to withdraw the supply and maintenance of ADMIRALTY Small Craft Folios.

As an alternative to the ADMIRALTY Small Craft Folios, established suppliers in the small craft market will continue to be able to license data from the UKHO to serve those who do not wish to operate digitally.


The intention to retire the ADMIRALTY Small Craft Folios is in response to the changing requirements of users and to increase the frequency of updates.
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Regarding cost: A full portfolio for the West Coast of Scotland, from ChartCo £1300 with a 10% discount A plotter with a full set of digital Admiralty Charts, about £350. It's a no brainer.
 
BlowingOldBoots said:
Regarding cost: A full portfolio for the West Coast of Scotland, from ChartCo £1300 with a 10% discount A plotter with a full set of digital Admiralty Charts, about £350. It's a no brainer.
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They stopped just before the top of Lewis. I had a near complete set from Lands End north and never used them. Sold them in pristine condition. Waste of time when you can have several devices with e-charts for peanuts.
 
dgadee said:
They stopped just before the top of Lewis. I had a near complete set from Lands End north and never used them. Sold them in pristine condition. Waste of time when you can have several devices with e-charts for peanuts.
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Yes, and as far as I know, they don't cover any of the west side of the Outer Hebrides. I have standard Admiralty Charts, some admittedly of rare vintage, but have never bothered with the Folio ones.
 
BlowingOldBoots said:
Regarding cost: A full portfolio for the West Coast of Scotland, from ChartCo £1300 with a 10% discount A plotter with a full set of digital Admiralty Charts, about £350. It's a no brainer.
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I don’t understand that statement. The OP was referring to Admiralty Small Craft folios, which are about £40-45 a set, and I think there are 3 sets for West Scotland and one on the East? Clearly big gaps in North and East, but the full set of these folios for Scotland is under £200.
The big issue in these waters is that
(A) the individual charts would be massively more expensive than these folios
(B) Imray C series are ludicrously too small scale to be useful for Scottish coastlines, with so many indentations and rocks
(C) with such intricate pilotage, often paper is useful to get an oversight.
 
Having started this thread, and now gone to the survey, it appears I cannot submit my answers as I'm not a member of the RiN. Or am I missing something?
 
Cantata said:
Having started this thread, and now gone to the survey, it appears I cannot submit my answers as I'm not a member of the RiN. Or am I missing something?
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I am not a member, but used the link via the RYA web page, worked for me.
 
dunedin said:
(C) with such intricate pilotage, often paper is useful to get an oversight.
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O learnt to sail with paper. Glad it's gone. OpenCPN and VMH charts are brill in comparison.
 
I learned to read write, and draw with paper. I'm glad it's still here, Kindle is shyte in comparison.
Same for charts, and logbooks as well. Like the difference between a real horse and a rocking horse.
 
Imray's folios are as before but they are indeed now spiral-bound. I used some all this season, and couldn't decide whether the spiral binding was good or bad.
 
Ohlin Karcher said:
I learned to read write, and draw with paper. I'm glad it's still here, Kindle is shyte in comparison.
Same for charts, and logbooks as well. Like the difference between a real horse and a rocking horse.
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That's what I feel about the Navionics I am having to use now. Give me a digital representation of paper and I am happy.
 
Cantata said:
Imray's folios are as before but they are indeed now spiral-bound.
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Are they similar paper and same size, then? Good if so - I can decide whether or not I like the binding (probably not, as I need to clamp them to the table on top of the Yeoman and move the puck around freely) and if not, run a Stanley knife down them just inboard of the binding holes.

Pete
 
prv said:
Are they similar paper and same size, then? Good if so - I can decide whether or not I like the binding (probably not, as I need to clamp them to the table on top of the Yeoman and move the puck around freely) and if not, run a Stanley knife down them just inboard of the binding holes.

Pete
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Yes, they seem just the same apart from the binding.
 
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