I have two Garmins, a 182 and a 182C and would have never gone to Alaska
without them. I also don't use paper at all anymore except for figuring
out what's ahead for tomorrow, as I don't have a lot of room at either
helm to place all that paper.

All that aside, I had all the charts for the Inside Passage trip to
Alaska, (British Columbia says they won't let you through if you don't
have them!) and because I think it's smart just in case...

We were going from Prince Rupert north through Venn Passage, a narrow
little waterway that a lot of the cruising guides say to use only with
local knowledge and at slack tide. My anal wife had the charts in her
lap and were were in a critical spot trying to figure out which of the
damn buoys had been dragged out of position by a barge when the thing
went out on us so all we were looking at was a set of hashmarks! We were
very happy to have had the charts in hand. I would never go anywhere
without charts.

Garmin later did a software upgrade (out of warranty and for free, I
might add with a kind word about the best customer service on the
planet!) and I have had no more problems.

Capt. Jeff