Even though we live in the computer era, we still like to have paper charts aboard. The level of paper depends on the area in which we’re cruising. If we’re in areas that are navigationally challenging – like the Pacific Northwest and Alaska – where weather can quickly turn on us, we just feel more comfortable with the paper chart in front of us. We find this much easier for studying and learning the intricacies of where we are headed. And if the computer should die (or lock up) at an inopportune moment, we’re ready.

The problem is keeping track of all these charts. In this part of the world we have over a hundred different pieces of paper to keep organized. We do this with a system that we’ve used for years, which is simple, but effective.

This starts with a chart catalog for the area we are visiting (these are usually free and actually work well for cruise planning – or dreaming). Shown above is the Canadian Hydrographic Office’s chart catalog for Vancouver, British Columbia, and the Queen Charlotte Islands.

The next step is to outline each chart we’ve got aboard with a highlighter pen. This confirms we’ve got the charts required, and allows us to make a list of any which may be missing.

Then we organize the detailed charts by passage, separating out the small-scale general coverage charts. In the photo above there are four general charts covering Vancouver Island, Southeast Alaska, and the Queen Charlottes (lower right). In the upper left are the detailed charts organized in this case into Northern British Columbia (the beginning of the Inside Passage), the trip from Campbell River to the northern tip of Vancouver Island, and the detailed charts of the Queen Charlottes.

For this cruise there are other packages of charts aboard for Southeast Alaska, the San Juan and Gulf Islands, Washington and Straits of Juan de Fuca, Pacific Coast north and South of San Francisco, and Southern California. Each of these packages is wrapped with light line to keep it together.