I know the NOAA charts of the San Juans are free but Not sure about Canadian waters. I have the first tier (not Premium) subscription to Gaia so if I have Canadian maps there - therefore, they aren't exactly “free”. The subscription runs for 5 years so I forget I’ve actually paid for something. The Premium subscription was not so useful to me because the features are mostly real-time weather reports - radar and such - and you need cell service for that. My iPad is the less expensive model without cellular features. Because only the Cellular iPads have built-in GPS, I have to use and external GPS (BadElf) that connects via bluetooth. Works fine.
the NOAA San Juan charts for iNavX are also free and I believe I got a year’s free subscription to download other charts when I bought that app. During that year I downloaded what they had for West Coast Canada.
Gaia is more “mapping” but I can put campsite waypoints in it and zoom in on shorelines with either topo type maps or satellite (google earth) type views - both downloadable. The Premium option allows for layering different maps but I really only need to see one map.
The BlueChip that’s supposed to cover Canada has no ID on the chip and it’s the tiny kind. I only have readers for the larger style. The Setup/Map in the menu of the 76MapCSx doesn’t identify it. There was a posted discussion about the charting issues with Astoria Dave some time back - after my trip to the Broughtons. The photos are dated 2015 so - ya know - six year ago. But I think the issue came up sometime aftet that trip; not when I just got back.
I recall the effect was somewhat dramatic. I had put the campsite waypoints in the GPS and didn’t check their image on the map. We took a water taxi out there and when I looked at the GPS Map display, it just showed these waypoints in the middle of the water - didn’t show the islands. I thought I had made a mistake but we told the boat driver, “Go there, eh.” and lo-n-behold, there was shoreline and land mass.
Only the very largest land masses were rendered as just tan blobs. Fortunately we had paper charts and daylight. Because with the GPS showing straight line paths - and leaving out large mounds of earth and rock (i.e. Islands) it didn’t show what we’d have to go around.
Also
what Paul learned was, if you push your drybag with camp gear to mid length in the bow of the boat (Mariner) and it comes to rest under your deck compass … somewhere Gary Larson is starting another “Trouble Brew’n” cartoon panel. Instruments are good. But you can’t turn off your brain if the compass says North is towards the setting sun.
I do know that particular chip has been discontinued. And the rendering (vector vs bitmap techie stuff) changed on the 78. I might have had a window for an inexpensive upgrade and missed it. Again - all this was six years ago. A lot of water under the hull since then.
But the bottom line is I don’t need an official “Chart”. I am not concerned with water depth. I am not concerned with plotting a course from Ventura CA, to Hawaii. I’m mostly skirting shore lines with an occasional crossing. The maps and waypoints have been good enough. I also carry laminated paperwork. If I do my homework before the trip, I seldom need to reference the electronics. They are mostly back up. Though the 76MapCXs has lousy chart rendering, I do use it for a bearing display and speedometer, with estimated arrival time to waypoint (campsite) and time of sunset.
