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.