Readers’ letters
I recently read your article about the UKHO discontinuing the Admiralty small boat chart portfolios. I'm sure we've all talked about whether or not paper is still necessary but last year I’d have been in a bit of a pickle without my paper charts.
My dad bought a Sigma 292 down in Levington and so we made the train journey down to sail her back to Brough on the Humber estuary. We'd planned to sail overnight from Levington to Wells-next-the-Sea, have a night in Wells then get a fairly early start and complete the journey to Brough.
The first part of the plan went well. My trusty tablet navigation app guided us on a brilliant night sail following the Norfolk coast, reaching Wells mid-afternoon the following day.
As we left Wells the day after, though, the wind was blowing a fresh 20 knots, there was drizzle in the air but it was pretty much as forecast. Then just as it started to rain and visibility reduced, the little dot on the navigation app’s page marking our location disappeared.
I switched my device off and back on again several times. No joy. Nothing. So out came the paper charts. The portfolio charts are perfect for small boats, their size make them easy to use on deck especially in the now 32 knots of wind (not forecast). It was raining heavily now and the waves were crashing over the bow. Visibility was poor at best but I was buzzing from the feeling of being a real sailor navigating these treacherous waters with my trusty charts.
What's more, now they've been baptised in a salty brine they look all weathered and wrinkly with rough positions plotted in pencil, clearly scribbled on by a man battling with the elements.
I was planning a trip to Holland later this year (lockdown permitting) and there is no way on this planet I'll be setting off without a full set of paper charts. So please Admiralty, don't stop producing the small boat charts.