Little Loop Planning - 2013 Help Needed

[dane507]

Planning a trip starting in May from North Carolina to Washington DC, to New York then up the Hudson, to the Erie Canal, then Oswego Canal, the 1000 islands, then to Montreal, on to Lake Champlain, back down the Hudson River and back home. Will be travelling with our boat, shadowed by our friends in their Silverton.

I have a Raymarine with a Navionics chip covering the entire US East coast (XG16), but I have no chip for the Canada portion of the loop. I'm hoping some of you knowledgeable navigators can give me some advice. Can I forgo getting a Navionics chip for the rather short Canada leg and rely on paper charts, or is that a bad idea? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.


Thanks,

 

[1956olds]

Always have paper charts with properly charted courses.I do like my plotter though as i can set my autopilot to follow a predetermined course.It just makes for a more relaxing experience.Glen

 

[dcharna]

Only my humble opinion, spend the 200 bucks and get the canadian chart. All it takes is to read one wrong buoy number when determining where you are and you have a much bigger expense.

I also agree with Glen. You should always have a backup plan with paper.

Dan

 

[Ididntdoit]

Only my humble opinion, spend the 200 bucks and get the canadian chart. All it takes is to read one wrong buoy number when determining where you are and you have a much bigger expense.

I also agree with Glen. You should always have a backup plan with paper.

Dan

+1 on paper charts.....and +1 on getting the chip - $200 is nothing, if you can afford the gas (!) for this trip

 

[CRUZ'N]

Not sure what size Silverton ur going with,but heads up on 21' fixed bridges N of Albany & Erie

 

[twomad]

You can use the US chip that you have to get to montreal on the ST. Lawrence river. Just use paper charts to get into the marinas. If you need a stop on the river there are a lot of great places to stop around Alexandria Bay which is right across the river from my marina which has transient dockage. I have gone from the 1000 islands to wilmington nc twice and it was a great trip both times. Enjoy your trip.

 

[dane507]

Thanks all for the advice.

Twomad. 1000 islands to Wilmington, that's a trip. We are about 100 miles by water from Wilmington past Beaufort up the Nuese River to the neat little town (colonial capital of North Carolina) that is New Bern. Also home to Hatteras Yachts. Let me know if you make the trip again and you can stay at our dock.

 

[Alex F]

What a trip, wow....this is great! It's on my radar as well for some day.

Anytime a question pops up regarding the charts I like to answer it with a question, how much do you think it'll cost you repair damaged underwater gear if you run aground?......That's right, it'll make the money you spend on the upgraded chip look like a pocket change. I don't know how old is your XG16 (I have the same chip about 4-5yrs old), but I would consider even upgrade that one, besides getting another chip for Canada. BTW, WM rents the chips, so if you don't want to spend $200 you can spend less for renting. In addition, not knowing setup of your helm electronics I would consider a backup MFD. I personally consider paper charts as my plan C or D, that's if I loose backup for my backup, then I pull up the charts to rely on them for navigation.

Good luck with the trip, Dan. I'll be happy to follow the thread. Keep the details coming, that's what good planning is about, details....:thumbsup:

 

[northern]

You should check your insurance. Mine states I need to have ploted the route on paper charts. We do it by printing off the route on a printer (use legal size paper) from the navagation computer. Thought this was stupid until we had a failer with the electronic navigation.

 

[Alex F]

You should check your insurance. Mine states I need to have ploted the route on paper charts. We do it by printing off the route on a printer (use legal size paper) from the navagation computer. Thought this was stupid until we had a failer with the electronic navigation.

Everyday we learn something new. Does this mean that every time you go out every route must be plotted on the paper charts?

I've been in a situation when while underway my MFD wend blank on me. It's the weirdest feeling, but in my case it was just for a split second, b/c I had my 2nd (backup) MFD up and running showing me exactly where I'm heading. Knowing that you have reliable backup is a key to successful voyage.

 

[northern]

The intent I think is to make sure you know the water before you enter it. If you run your boat into a ploted rock and have no proff you knew it was there, that is when insurance might not pay I think. I do not think the rules was intended for trips down a lake with a skier behind the boat.
We have gone into areas 50 feet wide with rocks on either side. Having ploted it first and looking at a copy of a chart makes one feel a little more secure.
In the US electronic signitures are legal so perhaps electronic ploted courses are also. In Canada I still think electronic signitures are not legal. Any lawyers out there want to comment.

 

[dane507]

Thanks again for all the info. I do have a Garmin MFD as a backup so I have about settled on upgrading the Garmin with a Canada chip and using paper charts. My lovely 1st mate enjoys following everything on paper. I realize this trip is going to cost a ton in fuel, so I'm not trying to cheap out on navaids. I just didn't want to buy a chip that I would only use once. If people are interested I'll keep SRF informed.

 

[northern]

EBay may have some Canadian charts (electronic and paper) for sale at a good rate. If you get them make sure they are the latest edition.
You may want to get a hand held GPS as final backup. We have one with road map on it and it works well on water to show you where you are.
Sounds like a fun trip.

 

[Alex F]

Planning a trip starting in May from North Carolina to Washington DC, to New York then up the Hudson, to the Erie Canal, then Oswego Canal, the 1000 islands, then to Montreal, on to Lake Champlain, back down the Hudson River and back home. Will be travelling with our boat, shadowed by our friends in their Silverton.

I have a Raymarine with a Navionics chip covering the entire US East coast (XG16), but I have no chip for the Canada portion of the loop. I'm hoping some of you knowledgeable navigators can give me some advice. Can I forgo getting a Navionics chip for the rather short Canada leg and rely on paper charts, or is that a bad idea? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.


Thanks,

Dan, did the trip happen?