Chesapeake Bay Chartbook Atlas: Seventh Edition

Rating:
Summary: Essential for boating and fishing in the Ches. Bay area
Review: Anyone who spends time fishing and boating around the Chesapeake Bay should own a copy of ADC's Chartbook. The chartbook includes information on the main part of the Bay, plus all of it's tributaries. The waterproof design and spiral binding make it ideal to take along on the boat. The book was updated in 2001 and includes aids to navigation, wrecks and obstructions, artificial reefs, and fishing areas. It's nice to have one book that covers the charts for any area you might be visiting instead of trying to keep up with stacks of charts for various areas.

Rating:
Summary: Important resource - even if you have a GPS!
Review: The waterproof pages are such a blessing when we need to have it in the cockpit with rain or spray. We've benefited from it for years, and are here to buy an updated version.
One point of caution: when the pages get wet, don't put it away for long periods of time without wiping them dry. Mold will have its effect even on these durable pages. Admittedly, ours got wet and then laid untouched for over a year before we realized the damage. So we don't know how long it takes for the damage to occur. SO much better than the old, keep-it-in-a-plastic-envelope chart book!

Rating:
Summary: Important resource - even if you have a GPS!
Review: The waterproof pages are such a blessing when we need to have it in the cockpit with rain or spray. We've benefited from it for years, and are here to buy an updated version.
One point of caution: when the pages get wet, don't put it away for long periods of time without wiping them dry. Mold will have its effect even on these durable pages. Admittedly, ours got wet and then laid untouched for over a year before we realized the damage. So we don't know how long it takes for the damage to occur. SO much better than the old, keep-it-in-a-plastic-envelope chart book!

Rating:
Summary: A valuable resource and planning tool.
Review: This is a valuable tool for anybody who cruises the Chesapeake. I keep a copy at home for easy reference and at the boat. I use it extensively to plan cruises and for actual navigation on the Bay. A copy is always handy in the cockpit of my boat when underway; even for a day sail in familiar waters. It eliminates the need for seperate charts by packaging the entire Bay in one book. It is water proof to a point; my boat copy is starting to show water damage after exposure to several squalls in the last two years. (I don't mean that as a criticism - I'm suprised that it has held up as well as it did!)The only negative with the charts is that they are so cluttered with Loran lines and fishing spots that they are sometimes hard to read. Some people use this information, but I find it distracting and useless. Also, the water proofing makes it impossible to write notes (eg personal observations) or layout tracklines with anything other than grease pencil which wipes of too easily. (There's a trade off in there somewhere...)