Along with my Garmin 5212 chartplotter, I used the $4.99 version of SEAiq USA with Active Captain data on my recent Florida cruise. I highly recommend it. The USA version covers only U.S. waters so if you need coverage outside the U.S., you’ll need the $49.99 version. Still a hell of a deal. SEAiq updates the charts every time NOAA or CoE updates them so you always have the latest, greatest. I sure like that.
The “paper” verses “electronic” charts has been hashed out on the AGLCA (Great Loop) Forum lately. The paper purists conjure up all kinds of disasters that can befall electronics. They have a point. But paper charts can be damaged, too, and if the purists aren’t manually updating their charts with all the NOAA change updates, they’re cruising around with out-of-date charts. What can go wrong there?
In my professional life, we’ve chucked paper. In about four hours, I’ll be flying 1,900 NM from Louisville, Kentucky to Billings, Montana and then to Ontario, California The only charts carried will be displayed on two commercial off-the-shelf iPads. The airplane also has two moving map displays that are roughly analogous to a chart plotter. Those iPads also have all company manuals and take the place of a 30 pound flight bag filled with book size manuals full of loose-leaf paper that had to be regularly updated. Good riddance!
