NOAA's Office of Coast Survey recently released a draft National Charting Plan, which describes proposed changes to NOAA's approach to navigational charting. NOAA is encouraging all stakeholders to review the plan and provide feedback by June 1.  

Former United States Power Squadrons national educational officer, Bob Sweet, does just that in a two-part series featured on OceanGrafix.com. Sweet notes that the National Charting Plan's vision for the future includes "the end of raster navigation charts" and "the sunset of paper charts," both of which are very important tools for the recreational boater. "Most recreational boaters use some sort of electronic navigation," he states. "But prudent recreational boaters always carry paper charts as well." 

In Part One of his commentary, Sweet describes the differences between the needs of commercial and recreational boaters. In Part Two of the series, he provides four key reasons why paper charts are critical for safe recreational boating. 

Learn more about the National Charting Plan and submit your comments today!

Get ready for the boating season by getting a free vessel safety check (VSC). A few of the common reasons for failing a vessel check include:

• No boating registration
• Discharged fire extinguisher
• Malfunctioning navigational lights
• Lack of age-appropriate life jackets
• Expired or insufficient number of signal flares

Get more information about vessel safety checks  here.

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