 Hi all, I'm after a bit of advice on which charts to buy, I've only just started sailing alone outside the river (Blackwater) and have realised that's where my chart stops! I know I need to do a proper course so that I can make decisions like this for myself  but for now just want a set of charts to cover the blackwater down to Lowestoft sort of area. I was thinking about getting this chart pack https://www.imray.com/record.cfm?i_stock_code=IC2000 But wondered if it would be large scale enough? Any tips or advice on which charts are best and what scale I will need for popping into the next couple of rivers along would be appreciated! Thanks Benjamin.
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| Edited: 18/08/08 20:56 |
 | TMS Poloshirt winner |
18/08/08 23:28
Hi Ben, I'm sure you'r right, do a proper course to help make the right decisions. To try and team up ocassionally with someone a lot more experienced in sailing and knowledgeable about your waters may also be a great help. Imray charts are o.k. and the pack should have different scale charts to suit your needs but it may be handy to go to a chandlers and request a look through to satisfy yourself. Again, ask some of the experienced guys in your area. Most skippers will be chuffed that you trust them to give advice. Imray charts are also an advantage if you have a 'wet' boat, e.g. they are liable to get splashed or spilt upon accidentally. Don't however used a hard pencil to make notes or plot with as you may end up rubbing off the print at the same time as you rub off the unwanted notes. Admiralty charts are probably generally considered as better by the purists and you can usually be sure of the data supplied upon them as long as they are up to date. They however, are not waterproof. take care, any fool can get themselves into difficulty out there. best of luck, Scotty
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| Edited: 19/08/08 00:15 |
 Hi Ben Both Imray and Admiralty do a chart folio (pack) covering the area you want . Both include charts in a range of useful scales, with both passage charts and more detailed info on harbour entrances etc. I like the Admiralty ones better, but I think it's a case of what you're used to: I did my nav lessons at night school on Admiralty charts! Go into a chandlery and look at both and see which seems most user friendly to you. You certainly do need a proper chart when leaving the Blackwater as there is an awful lot of offshore sand to contend with out there: the Gunfleet, the sandbank which runs parallel to the shore the entire length of the Wallet (the stretch of coast past Clacton, Frinton and Walton) , is renowned for catching out the unwary. But get the right charts, and you'll have nothing to fear. The Thames Estuary is one of the most demanding areas for pilotage, with lots of sandbanks and interesting cross tides to take into account, but it is extremely well buoyed, and they do say that if you can find your way around these parts, you will have no trouble anywhere else! We are often in the Blackwater (heading down to Bradwell this coming weekend on the club's two-handed race.) It is a brilliant cruising ground. What is your boat? We'll look out for you.
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| TMS Poloshirt winner |
19/08/08 09:17
 Only thing that Cathy and Scotty haven't mentioned is corrections... I don't think (although may now be different) that the Imray people issue corrections for their charts unlike the Admiratly. I don't know your area very well but if features like sandbanks and channels move regularly it might be an important consideration to ensure the charts are current. W.
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Of course Wollfie is right. Once you have bought charts the onus for keeping them up to date falls on the user, whatever charts they are using. The Admiralty leisure editions are not kept right up to date before sale in the same way that other Admiralty charts are (one reason why they are slightly more affordable) and it is up to skippers to keep an eye on Notices to Mariners etc and correct their charts as they go - especially in areas like the Thames Estuary. Equally, if using electronic charts (in addition to paper ones, not instead, of course!) it is very important to have them regularly updated. It is now technically possible for elctronic charts to be automatically corrected online. Roll on the day when this service becomes both readily available and affordable!
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| TMS Poloshirt winner |
19/08/08 12:20
 One should also be reminded that the data on the huge majority of charts around the world originates from that collated by The Admiralty. Even some plotters contain copies of the originals pirated from Admiralty charts and others contain the originals by licence. The Leisure series will not be expanded so rapidly as in the past due to most of the staff involved at The Admiraly having been moved across to the 'defence/military' side of things recently.
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| Edited: 19/08/08 12:26 |
Right, thanks for the advice. It sort of sounds like the admiralty chart pack will be the one to go for, I'll have a look in the chandlery this weekend. Thanks Cathy, I love the Blackwater too! There's always something to sail into or run aground on. We'll be around Mersea this weekend for the fireworks and general frivolity in our Wing 25, sail number 8 http://www.flickr.com/photos/66225973@N00/2693166513/ So we may see you out there, hope the weather improves a bit. What will you be sailing on? Ben
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| TMS Poloshirt winner |
19/08/08 13:48
she looks a great boat Ben. Do you have any difficulty in some conditions getting attached to both bouys?
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lol, have you seen me trying to moor? I nearly always moor on my own, and I do sometimes have problems, but generally just pick up the bouy that means I get swept or blown back onto the other one. I've tried attaching one bouy and trying to motor round to the other, but it just doesn't work with my boat. Basically if it's out of reach of the long boat hook I jump in the dinghy or lassoo it. Any tips on this would be appreciated, I've only had the fore and aft bouys this year, so am still trying to work out the best way. I started off by attatching them together, but ran over the rope once so avoid doing that now. The other problem I've had, is that it's quite a shallow mooring and I'm always impatient to get off, have ended up aground a couple of times trying to sail off. I think the only tip here is to wait for the tide!
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| TMS Poloshirt winner |
19/08/08 14:53
I started off by attatching them together, but ran over the rope once so avoid doing that now. Try joining them together with quick links and put some small net floats on the line so it doesn't sink and makes it easier to grab with the boat hook. Have the mooring lines the right length with an eye in the end so you can just drop it over your bollard/cleat. We used to do it that way between the pile moorings in Yarmouth (IOW) and even I managed to pick them up single handed without falling in! W.
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| TMS Poloshirt winner |
19/08/08 15:38
This sounds good Wolfie. I envisaged Ben could have fun at times. Wolfies method would mean you have a lot of space to 'work in', illiminating most of the risk for things to go wrong.. Ben could approach either end or the centre of the line of net floats and once hooked take things from there with respect to quick links etc..
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| TMS Poloshirt winner |
19/08/08 15:52
The only problem we had with it was both company boats laid on the same piles and one was longer than the other so if you were first home you had to make sure you got the right set. And on (spring) flooding tides we used to put the bow line on first and then motor astern to get the aft line(s) on so we didn't swing around in the tide. The other advantage of the small floats is hopefully it also stops other people running over your moorings and keeps it above your own prop level. W.
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Enjoy!
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of checking they are updated! Just downloaded the correct thing from here 
