| Charts:
One thing that you quickly notice when
traveling up here is the sheer number of charts that are necessary.
In the early years of our trips north we often struggled with reams of
rolled charts that were a constant problem to organize and store. They
get dug out as you go along and after a week of traveling you are
inundated with rolls of not-currently-relevant charts.
I was originally reluctant to fold the
charts, but reality intervened and all 250-odd of them that cover the
coast from Seattle to Skagway have ended up folded into quarters and
stored in three large art portfolios. At $20 bucks each they are a
considerable but necessary investment.
The solution to the problem came a number
of years ago when we obtained all of the coast charts on computer CD
disk. Now, the laptop computer is an integral part of our
navigation equipment and the majority of the paper charts are generally
used only for expeditions in the skiff. Having said that, I would still
make the investment in the paper charts as backup to the computer and
for carrying in the skiff.
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