You could buy the up-to-date charts for your cruise and then sell them when
you are done.

NOS/NOAA has free Electronic Navigational Charts (ENCs)
http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/cgi-bin.../enc/index.htm
that are approved for navigation, but you need software to read them.
Fugawi (www.fugawis.com) has a $200 package. Not all the charts have been
digitized in this format.

Now then, you still need the paper backup to keep your computer, Bill Gates,
or a simple power loss from doing you in. Color printing of the ENCs might
be more expensive than buying the charts. B/W printed copies might save
your bacon, but a Chart Kit might be a better alternative depending on where
you are headed.

Good luck,

Ken



"Stan Sroga" wrote in message
om...
Although all of the computer software chart companies (CAPN,
Nobeltec,,)claim that their products are supplements, not
replacements, for paper charts it seems like it would be practical to
print out sections of the charts and carefully tape them together?

We are planning a long trip to places that we will not return to for
years and it is hard to spend the money on a stack of charts that will
be used only once.

Is a there a practical alternative to buying new paper charts?

Stan