Beautiful nautical charts' days are numbered

Source: The Philadelphia InquirerNov.儲存 10--Thanks to the digital age, one of the traditions of the high seas -- those beautifully lithographed nautical charts of U.S. coastal waters -- will end in April.The charts have existed since 1862. But going the way of gigantic paper fold-up road maps that motorists used before GPS, the 4-by-3-foot nautical charts printed by the U.S. government will no longer be available when stocks of them eventually run out, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.Mariners will instead have to use electronic charting systems or print-on-demand versions of the maps, according to NOAA's Office of Coastal Survey. The office will continue to create and maintain a catalog of thousands of nautical charts, which will be available to the public online, according to Dawn Forsythe, a spokeswoman for the office.NOAA's decision to end the printed charts is both a cost-savings measure and a sign of the times.Forsythe said that while boaters can still print versions of the maps from downloads on their computer -- about a million maps were downloaded online in just the first week of NOAA's adding them to its site last month -- some may miss the "exquisite" paper and color qualities and "special look" of the traditional printed charts.Most people don't print the downloaded versions on their own home computers but take them to printers to have the charts made, she said.Some people worry that recreational "new boaters" won't bother to obtain any printed version of the charts before embarking on trips out to sea and may find themselves in harm's way if their electronics fail.Ernie Utsch, 66, who with his brother, Charlie, owns Utsch's Marina at Schellenger's Landing in Lower Township, near Cape May, sees practical problems with going all-electronic."I'm furious about this," said Utsch, 66, whose family has operated the marina since 1951. "Personally I think it's the loss of an essential tool that you need to have on a boat."While technically you can still get the charts, some newer boaters who Utsch contends are "enamored with electronics" may forgo the trouble of obtaining them from sources other than a store at a marina before they embark on a fishing trip or pleasure cruise."If you're out on the ocean and all you have is electronic charts and your electronics fail, what are you going to do?" wonders Utsch, who has been on the water his entire life. "I think there's a place for both the electronics and for the nautical charts. A lot of boaters liked to laminate the nautical charts and have them on their boats like people used to have road maps in their car, in case they needed them."NOAA spends about $100 million a year c迷你倉arting the seas and having the maps printed by the Federal Aviation Administration -- which creates its own charts for the use of commercial and recreational pilots -- and sells about 60,000 of them a year to third-party vendors at the price it costs to print them, about $20. Retail buyers then usually pay about $30 to $40 for the charts, depending on the marina or ship store where they are sold. NOAA spends about $1.2 million printing the maps, and that money will now be used for charting and updating maps.While it is a cost-saving measure for the government agency to stop printing the charts, most professional mariners have already begun phasing in the use of electronic charting over the last 15 years or so, said Rear Adm. Gerd Glang, director of NOAA's coast survey office."The ending of printed charts is just one more step in the process of converting to a more digital age for professional mariners. The use of electronic data has been well on its way for a while now," Glang said. But he admits that many may miss the traditional, lithographed charts, which had been a part of America's seafaring tradition since 1862, when the Office of Coastal Survey began printing them.The agency had been formed by Thomas Jefferson in 1807 to survey the coastal seafloor, search for underwater obstructions that pose a danger to navigation, respond to maritime emergencies, and create and continually update the charts.In the ensuing years, the agency attracted the best and brightest scientists, who conducted the nation's hydrographic surveys, undertook the first study of the Gulf Stream, designed the first tidal prediction apparatus, and established the geodetic connection between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. When President Richard Nixon formed NOAA in 1970, the survey office was brought under its command as a scientific arm, and it is considered among the birthplaces of modern American science.But the lithographed nautical charts, which run counter to regular maps by making the swirling configurations and delineations of the water -- rather than land -- the focal point, were a kind of throwback to the agency's roots."The lithographed paper chart has a particular feel to it . . . and on ships, there is a sort of ritual that goes into working with and managing the charts and planning for a voyage," Glang said. "It's a tactile thing that has a certain nostalgia involved that some are afraid may be lost.""Yes, we're going to miss the paper charts," Glang said.jurgo@phillynews.com609-652-8382@JacquelineUrgo.inquirer.com/downashoreCopyright: ___ (c)2013 The Philadelphia Inquirer Visit The Philadelphia Inquirer at .philly.com Distributed by MCT Information Servicesself storage