Support for...

New online course devoted to reading and navigation with ENC Electronic Chart Navigation

Internet links referenced in the two books that we keep up to date here—in no logical order. If you find a link that does not work, please send notice to [email protected].

1. U.S. Chart No. 1

2. IHO ENC and ECDIS Standards in Force

3. IHO Catalog of International ENC... see also starpath.com/getcharts

4. Free ENC Viewers. qtVlm includes a versatile simulator, with live AIS interactions.

5. NOAA nautical chart inquires

6. UKHO H-Notes app for chart and pub discrepancies

7. Wikipedia on AIS. See also Introduction to AIS

8. AIS at USCG Navigation Center (navcen)

9. Caris S-57 Objects and Attributes Online Catalog

10. NMEA Revealed

11. IMO Documents (linked from USCG)

12. S-57 Appendix A, IHO Object catalog

13. NOAA's Precision Marine Navigation portal

14. Air gap system for live air draft

15. Value of NOAA PORTS services

16. Accuracy of NOAA chart data

17. Starpath Pocket Navigation Rules Handbook

18. World Magnetic Model and geomag software

19. NZ ENC Guidelines

20. U.S. Coast Pilot

21. Bowditch, American Practical Navigator, NGA Pub. 9

23. S-66 Facts about ENC

24. High Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) model and others described at LuckGrib.com

25. Grib files for meteorology and oceanography (Saildocs)

26. Download NOAA Charts and access Online ENC Viewer... see also starpath.com/getcharts

27. MACHC online ENC viewer

28. Free Inland ENCs

29. NOAA Custom Chart descriptions and app links

30. Printing NOAA Custom Charts (NCC)

31. NOAA Rescheming Program with links to program status

32. Implementing the National Charting Plan

33. IHO S-100 Introduction Video (Dec, 2015)

34. IHO S-100 Overview Video (Sep, 2021)

35. IMO Performance Standards for Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS)

36. Complete list of objects in each display mode.

37. USCG proposed ruling requiring the use of ENC for non-ECDIS vessels

38. MHW on ENC

39. Role of SCAMIN on ENC

Updates / News

In Essentials, page 8 and 9 on chart names, we chose examples from San Pedro Bay, CA as these were new, reschemed charts, but NOAA just now (Oct, 2023) decided the bathymetry was not accurate enough for these 1:5,000 charts so they have removed that set of 11 berthing charts, at least temporarily. We will wait awhile before changing the example to see if they get reinstated. In the meantime to see other large scale reschemed charts, look at the NE US in the NOAA ENC catalog.

Our Annotated ECDIS Chart No. 1 was based on the NOAA version, which we then annotated, and made several corrections to. But we just discovered that we missed an error in the official version, which we fix here. Namely the simplified symbol for pillar buoys and conical (nun) buoys are the same. This will be added to the next printing of the book. (See also common buoy shapes.)