For those of you who paddle kayaks in Puget Sound and British Columbia finding charts can be an expensive process and difficult process. There are US charts covering the US portions that are free for downloading but the Canadian charts are under a copyright and generally unavailable without spending a lot of money. Enter the Evergreen Pacific Cruising Atlas which covers from Queen Charlotte Sound to Olympia in a spiral-bound book that measures about 17-inches by 11-inches with 183 pages of water-resistant charts. The title page has a notice that says: "Caution: Because of continual changes (some of them critical) in the waters covered in this atlas, the charts contained in this atlas are not intended for use in navigation....." and almost every chart page has a notice that reads, "WARNING: This chart is not intended for use in navigation. Canadian law requires all ships to have on board, maintain, and use appropriate navigational charts. This chart does not meet that requirement." Having said that, the charts also have courselines with magnetic headings on them along with markers for miles covered. They are the actual charts divided up into easy to use chartlets with enough detail (depths, compass rose, etc.) to be used for navigation. Certainly enough detail for kayakers. There are even aerial photographs to help you get a perspective on a territory that is mostly trees, rocks and water. The nice thing about having spiral-bound charts is that you can easily disassemble the atlas and only carry the pages that are pertinent to the area you wish to paddle. And the coverage is pretty good. The atlas even includes detailed harbor charts, detailed pass charts (for most passes) along with some current indicators. I have been using this company's chart books for 35 years so I can attest to their usefulness. They are often carried by West Marine and other boat supply outlets but it can take some searching to find them at times. The price is about $50 depending upon where you make your purchase. I find that the size is perfect for small vessel navigation. Evergreen Pacific offers guides and atlases for several other portions of the northwest corner of North America includng portions of S.E. Alaska and the west coast of Vancouver Island. All in about the same price range of $50. A valuable resource even for someone who is not using them for "navigational purposes". I recommend them highly. Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA www.nwkayaking.net *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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