blue charts

Scout · Post by **Scout** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 7:58 am

We ended up buying the map76Cx off of ebay for 260.00 - a refirb.

Took it out yesterday only to discover there are no charts in there!! Thought it would be like our old gps only in color. So, in looking at the chart software, it's not clear to me which CD is appropriate..."Americas"? "Atlantic"? What is the story with the unlock CD's? Are there discount places to go for this, I found one share ware type place but I had to subscribe to one of 4 porn sites (for 5.00) to participate...

Feeling pretty stupid here.

jollyboat · Post by **jollyboat** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 9:13 am

Maybe bone up a little here - then look around to see who may be selling what you are looking for. It looks like the 'un-lock' for the various areas in a given chart group can be downloaded. The Americas chart group would appear to be the best choice for your coastal sailing in Western Long Island Sound -

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=145&pID=350

bhartley · Post by **bhartley** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 9:33 am

We also bought a used GPS. If you already have the Blue Chart CD, you can register it for a second device. They will only let you use it twice however. The must also use the area you used the first time for your unlock code.

If you have the Blue Chart CD, you can log on to their site and do it with your original unlock code. I was a bit skeptical but it worked just fine. The ownership was just transferred to us.

Bly

Allen · Post by **Allen** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 6:01 pm

I just bought a Garmin GPSMap 76 GSx which will be my #3 backup GPS for KAHOLEE. Last Sunday we moved my buddies boat from Rockport TX to Corpus Christi TX using the 76 GSx with only the charts/maps that came on the included chip.

I did the initial plot using Raymarine's RNS 5.0, then saved the route to an RWS file, converted it to a GPS file for the Garmin using a free utility I got online and uploaded the GPS file to the 76. I had planned on buying the chip for the gulf coast of Texas at one of the boat stores in the area, but no one had them in stock so we used the unit with its default charts. While we did not have any depth information or other details displayed on the Garmin's screen, it did display the location of buoys along the channel we were using and across Corpus Christi Bay, taking us directly into the entry to the seawall around the Corpus Christi City Marina. I was quite impressed with the unit and think it will serve well even without the chart chip.

A30_John · Post by **A30_John** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 8:21 pm

...and, of course, it goes without saying that you'll be using paper charts as your primary source of information.

I initially used the "Americas Highways" maps to verify position, for buoy information etc. Buoy information wasn't always accurate and I took my own waypoints. I finally splurged on Bluecharts for my area and am glad I did. As I plan to sail farther afield it would be nice to see Bluechart pricing start to come down. I don't carry a laptop on board and it would be nice to have a reasonably priced source of chip-based electronic charts.