Roger Long wrote:
A friend and professional mariner passed this on to me. Maybe it's old
news here, I haven't been following the issue. But, just in case anyone
hasn't heard:

MapTech's agreement with NOAA for raster charts has expired and NOAA has
now made its raster charts available for free online.

This means that you can get entire raster chart collections for free
from NOAA. There 1,016 BSB format charts online at NOAA's website, but
the maximum that can be downloaded at one time is 100. So if you're
intent on suddenly accumulating a complete chart library of the U.S., it
may take you some time and effort. But if you're only looking for a few
specific areas, or for updating your existing library, this is the easy
way to do it. The gov't continues to update these charts electronically
as necessary.

Several private firms -- MapTech, Nobeltec, Richardson's, etc. -- are
repackaging these raster charts for sale on CDs and DVDs. Sometimes you
can get such a disk free as a sales premium, if you buy another
navigational product from the same vendor.

For more information and downloads:
http://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/Raster/Index.htm

The gov't is also making vector charts available for free on-line
down-load, but the available number is less, and the vector charts are
for some reason more difficult to download. The vector charts are also
more difficult to use, but that's a personal opinion. To me, vector
charts just don't look real; on my computer console a vector chart
reminds me of a video game.

These have been available for over a year. Only problem is they are only
the US, Puerto Rico, and USVI.