anchorlt wrote:
Believe me when I say I have been using a computer with nav software
and charts since 1991 in cruising all of the U.S. east coast,
Chesepeake Bay, Gulf of Mexico and bayous of Lousiana, almost all of
Bahamas, northern coast of Cuba and around Providencialis in Turks
and Caicos, yet the more I search for the kind of nav software and
charts I want and need, the more frustrated and puzzled I become.
Every company claims it has the best and the newest.

The problem, for me, are the complexity of the software and the
quality of the charts. Most software can do far more than I need or
want -- too many function buttons to go through and symbols, I find,
are often misleading. In any system's charts, in one area may be
good, but in another they are poor.

I pity the novice or near novice navigator -- and even the
"experienced" navigator. What's one to do? I would welcome any and
all reasonable, sane and simple counseling.

My situation and experience (and for that matter cruising areas) are quite
close to yours. I have basically chosen to stick with what I have and not
worry too very much about the "brand new latest." Right now everything
talks well enough to everybody else, including radar, autopilots, loran,
GPS, etc.

I got started with The Capn and BSB, and I cannot see updating (with the
expenditure of probably well over $2K) right now. Yes, bathymetric charts
with aerial views are nice, but ... c'mon. We are not running a 150 foot
sloop with a crew of 12.

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://kerrydeare.home.comcast.net/