Canadian Electronic Charts on CD.

Anybody have experience with using the electronic charts from Canada? Unlike the US charts that can be downloaded free from NOAA, Canadian electronic charts are only available via re-sellers on CD. Once you purchase the CD, you need to register it so you can decrypt the CD and get updates. So anybody here use these and know if there are any "gotchas" I need to be wary of? I use raster rather than ENC. I plan on using navigation freeware "OpenCPN" which I have had *great* luck with on my laptop & looks like this should work fine. As an aside, if you want a laptop chartplotter, this software is great, add a $20 GPS antenna and you are good. Just want to ping the group & see if there is anything I should be aware of. Don't wanna ruin my keyboard by beating my forehead against it trying to get these charts working. Looks like "Maryland Nautical" is a pretty reasonable site to get them from: http://mdnautical.com/ I plan on getting Eastern Vancouver Island area: http://mdnautical.com/canadian-digital-raster-charts/12107-pac02-vancouver-island-east.html Hope all is well with everyone. Dyer Honu, 1969 Cal 2-30 #87 San Francisco Bay

If you have been following the OCPN threads then the only issue with these charts is the plugin its self which has to be installed to decrypt the charts. Shop on line to get the best price for charts as they do very. Also updates are available and important where you are headed. http://www.charts.gc.ca/index-eng.asp http://www.charts.gc.ca/charts-cartes/update-misajour-eng.asp Sorry they are expensive. Big issue up here. If there is a budget concern, it may be more cost effective to get one of the newer Garmin chart plotters which come with coastal vector charts preinstalled for NA. They are around 500 bucks. It all depends on how many charts you buy to catch the break even point. Have a chat with a Garmin rep on the phone prior to plunking down the cash for CDN charts would be my only recommendation. OCPN can deal with then without issue. Best regards.........and you will love the area that you travelling too. It is simply one of the best cruising grounds on the west coast. You could spend years up there and never see it all. Tides are apparently very strong in some locations so both local knowledge and good references aside from tide tables is a compulsory requirement. You will find the folks up there very friendly....and very knowledgeable as there is a long standing maritime tradition along the stretch of coast line. A CAL 29 spend a lot of time up there.....see Darcy page: http://www.user.dccnet.com/rdarcy/cruise.html Most of all, enjoy.....:) /ch