Skip Gundlach wrote:

My apologies if this shows up more than once - I'm forced to use a web-
based posting medium and I got the message that the server wasn't up
to it at the moment and to try again...

I have the Cap'n aboard - and am still trying to get to know enough to
be dangerous.

Hi Skip,

Sorry I can't help you with the Cap'n since I
don't use it. However, I'm using Maptech Chart
Navigator to view the downloaded NOAA ENC charts
successfully.

I've loaded all the charts for the entire Gulf
from Key West, FL to Brownsville TX, and can
successfully view and print them. You can click
on various aids to navigation (Buoys etc.) and it
brings up a window with useful info. You can also
plot courses and distances, do route planning,
etc. and interface it to a GPS. "Scale out" and
"Scale in" commands let you jump from one chart to
another.

This is a tremendous capability to have on the
laptop, and obsoletes printed charts as far as I'm
concerned. Updating all of your charts is now a
15 minute process of downloading the latest
versions from the NOAA website. Now if we can
just convince other governments to make the charts
they maintain available online as well...

Because the laptop could fail at any time due to
malfunction or lightning strike, I would recommend
printing out all of the charts you intend to use
for the trip before leaving the dock and keeping
them as a backup--just in case.

Don W.