Charts and plotters

Neither of us has ever had a GPS chart plotter before, except an iPad. And we are both such tech nuts that the instrumentation was definitely one of the more exciting things about the new boat back in 2018.

We still buy and use paper charts too. You never know when there might be a fault or a denial of service event on GPS, especially with Russian and nearly-NATO warships in the vicinity along with all the rocks!

We do seem to have gone from one extreme to the other though ….Melodrama has two wheels, and a small plotter at each wheel so you can look down and quickly get a sense of whereabouts the boat is, where it is supposed to be going, and what big ship might soon be too close for comfort. These were standard when the boat was new.

We treated ourselves to a larger plotter in the gangway in shelter which is better for planning, zooming in and out and monitoring RADAR when it’s foggy or at night.

Then we had a bit of a disaster, and dropped a metal shackle onto the screen of one of the wheel plotters, shattering it. Since we couldn’t get it fixed locally, we bought a replacement, and sent the damaged one for repair. Since its return, it has been on a shelf at home, so not much good for a quick change if there is another accident.

So this spring, William installed it beside the chart table , where it is great for using below decks until it might be needed up top.

We still use Navionics software on an iPad for planning the route for the day ahead, then upload the route to the plotter(s) over the boat’s internal wifi. The iPad is so much easier for this.

And finally, we make sure we have the right paper charts, just in case!

Now we are all set for our next destination, a little anchorage near Mönsterås, well sheltered by islands and rocks.