BOATING TIPS -- SEPTEMBER 1994
Plotting Your Course

Have you ever been a guest on a boat with a great senior skipper? I can recall one time having Dr. Ray Greene on my boat. We were eastbound, just through Peavine Pass, and he said "turn to 036 degrees". I did, and the course took me exacly just north of the Buckeye Shoal and Boulder Reef buoys enroute to Bellingham via the south end of Lummi Island.

Ray knew the course exactly. I don't mean by recognizing it, or the islands and landmarks. I mean he knew the exact course for the trip. It's the difference between "From Peavine Pass proceed just north of the Buckeye Shoal and Boulder Reef buoys then tho the south end of Lummi" and "Steer 036 to the Buckeye Reef Buoy, then 069 to the south end of Lummi".

Though both courses should be the same, the first directions we can only follow in good weather, the second we can follow anytime.

I suspect the rascal knew the distances, too!

But there's another advantage to using courses, not routes: If you use them, you'll never wind up on the rocks because of a misidentification of a landmark. There's nothing more startling than plotting a course with your pencil on a chart, only to have your pencil "run aground" in shallow water . . . except to have your boat run around because you didn't use your pencil first!

Fortunately, if you're lazy, there are lots of ways to make trip planning easy. Best choice: get one of the good chart books. I prefer the BBA Chart Kit (around $105 with cover) which does a great job as far north as Nanaimo and includes all the government charts, accurately reproduced, resulting in a big saving. For me, choice #2 is the Evergreen Pacific Cruising Atlas, (around $65), which though it covers as far north as Queen Charlotte Sound, is much harder to use because the charts are more chopped up; while third would be the Bayliss Enterprises Marine Atlas Volume I, Olympia to Malcolm Island, ($50) which is not detailed enough for navigation, but useful as a gross planning tool because the charts are reduced size, with a "lot of chart" on each page.

Each of these volumes has courses already plotted between most active harbors. All you need to plot by hand is from your present/desired location to one of the waypoints they show, to get a complete course.

If you're willing to spend more money, consider one of the new electronic charting units, such as the Echotec or Autohelm. After you spend $1500 or so, plus $120-$175 per chart cartridge, you'll have a fantastic navigational aid upon which you can plot courses easily, get mileages, ETA's, positions, and more. When connected to a GPS or Loran, they actually show you boat moving on the chart! But bear in mind, you still must carry paper charts, and refer to them. The electronic charts are for reference only, not for navigation. (You'll recall my story in an earlier column about taking a boat north to Sitka and discovering along the way that a chart cartridge didn't have an entire island at one of the zoom levels!)

Most advanced are the fantastic new computerized, but actual, NOAA and Canadian charts, displayed in all their glory on a color screen ($4,000-$8,000). They do it all, and are wonderful! But few of us can afford such a system right now. Many experts prognosticate that eventually all charts will come this way, running on a far less expensive piece of equipment.

By the way, for Canadian cruising you must get official Canadian charts! Canada does not allow use of reproduced charts for navigation. Why not use a chart book anyway? Because in the event of an accident, the RCMP will report that you did not have the legally-required charts on hand, and your insurance may therefore be invalid!

For cruising north of the border, I suggest that most of us will do just fine with three large Canadian charts: Straits of Georgia, Southern Portion; Straits of Georgia, Central Portion; and Straits of Georgia, Northern Portion (about $12 each). Add the two wonderful Canadian "strip" charts sets "Sunshine Coast" ($23) and "Gulf Islands" ($32) and the fantastic "Desolation Sound and Princess Louisa Inlet" Chart Book ($70), all published by the Canadian Government, and you will be very well equipped indeed.

As you see, a full, new set of charts south to Olympia and north through Desolation Sound will cost about $275.00, a lot of money, yes, but they'll last a long time and are cheaper than just one grounding! (This cost is based on the BBA kit plus all the Canadian charts just mentioned.)

And if you can't find them locally, call the Armchair Sailor in Seattle: they'll take your credit card order, ship the same day, and stock them all. Call (800) information for their toll-free number.

So plot your courses and follow them. And never, ever, run aground or get lost again! You'll enjoy yourself, and your expertise will be reassuring to your passengers.

Happy and Safe Boating!

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