ELECTRONICS
WHERE TO FIND CHARTS AND
CHARTING SOFTWARE ON THE WEB
• NOAA nautical chart products:
nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/staff/chartspubs.html
• NOAA RNC products:
nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/Raster/download_
agreement.htm
• Alternate source for NOAA RNC products:
data.geocomm.com/catalog/US/group203.html
• NOAA RNC chart viewer:
nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/OnLineViewer.html
• NOAA ENC products:
nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/enc/index.htm
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers IRNC products:
chart.tec.army.mil/ChartServerV2.0/jsp/index.jsp
• Fugawi’s free ENC viewer:
fugawi.com/web/products/fugawi_view_enc.htm
• Memory-Map Navigator:
memory-map.com
• NavGator Mariner 3.0:
http://www.navgator.com/index.html
• OpenCPN:
Windows version, sourceforge.net/projects/opencpn;
Linux versions, mirrorservice.org/sites/download.source
forge.net/pub/sourceforge/o/op/opencpn
• SeaClear II:
sping.com/seaclear/#DOWNLOAD
• Information on running SeaClear II on a Linux operating
system using Wine:
appdb.winehq.org/appview.php?iAppId=3659
• SeaFarer’s free edition for Linux (registration required):
barcosoft.net/modules.php?name=Downloads
to anyone who has navigated with the paper charts. The
digital images are geo-referenced (which means a system
of geographic references has been added), so a GPS
position can be plotted accurately on the image. Using
these charts with charting software on a PC is very
similar to navigating with paper charts. Zooming in on
a raster chart is closely akin to viewing a paper chart
through a magnifying glass; it makes everything bigger,
but the amount of information displayed by the chart
remains unchanged. For more detail, you must change
to a large-scale chart. When you reach the edge of one
chart, it must be replaced with another, and for long-range planning, small-scale charts must be brought out.
Entering larger ports often means locating a detailed
harbor chart, which must be carefully annotated with
any applicable changes from the Local Notice to Mariners
if you are to have the latest information available.
RNCs are updated weekly by NOAA, a big plus
when compared with updating paper charts by hand. By
downloading a new chart, you’ll have the most current
information at your fingertips. Up-to-date NOAA RNCs
can be downloaded free of charge from the Internet.
Smaller update files, or patches, also can be downloaded
for RNCs, but these can be applied only to updateable
charts that were purchased separately when they were
available. For the rest of us, downloading the entire chart
is the only way to obtain the latest version. NOAA also
provides an online chart viewer that can be used to
examine any chart in the RNC database.
NOAA ENCs are vector based. The international
standard for charts in this format is designated “S- 57.”
Because a raster chart is a digital picture displayed on a
computer screen, no information about a specific point
on the chart—depth, for example—is available to the
charting program. Vector charts are created from a
Top: Memory-Map Navigator in split-window mode, with
two different RNCs displayed in sync. Note the bearing
and distance-to-mark information displayed in the right-hand
window. Above: Memory-Map Navigator tracking a route in
single-window mode on a NOAA raster chart.
