chart plotting and preparation 41
Supplies Needed to Make
Paper Chartlets
X one piece of posterboard
X pencil
X soft (kneadable) eraser
X Exacto knife
X artist sketchboard
X duplicate charts of your areaBulletproof Your Charts for Longer Life
Crazy as it sounds, I consider Scotch Magic Tape (or any tape with a dull fi nish
that allows writing and erasing) an important navigational tool. In the Coast
Guard, we maintained hundreds of charts. Th e latitude and longitude scales
wore out aft er time from repeated perforating by divider and compass points.
We needed a solution to make our charts last longer.
So we started taping the scales with the Magic Tape and found that it protected
them from perforations for several months. When the tape showed signs of wear,
we simply laid another strip of tape over the fi rst one. You can write and erase on
this tape in both pencil and pen. Try this solution to keep your charts going and
going and going.
Paper Chartlets for Cockpit Ease
To imagine that installing a GPS does away with any need for
navigational expertise is a grave mistake.
—Tom Cunliffe, The Complete YachtmasterYou must keep traditional charts on hand in case of electronic chart failure. All
electronic instruments require a constant source of power and are vulnerable
to vibration or accidental breakage. No instrument is 100% waterproof and
salt-air proof—no matter what the manufacturer claims.
But how do you make a bulky,
full-size paper chart usable in a small
cockpit or flying bridge? Here’s a so-
lution that will keep things simple,
efficient, and hassle-free in wind and
spray.
Sources for chart copies. Purchase
the original full-scale color charts
you need for your trip. Next, fi nd an
engineering or architectural design
company that can handle copying full-scale charts. Make two copies of each
chart in high resolution, either in black and white or in color (which is more
expensive).
Another alternative is to purchase duplicate charts from chart printers
like Bellingham Chart Printers of Friday Harbor, Washington (www.tidesend
.com). They offer high-resolution grayscale charts for anywhere in the world,
at two-thirds the size of a full-scale chart. These charts contain different
shades of gray to make shoals and landmasses stand out.