Deale, Maryland, USA — By the end of July 2015, global chart-making specialists NV Charts will add a new, dynamic dimension to their digital chart products and mobile NV App, and it’s all free.
Cruisers who download the free NV App for navigating with their tablets and mobile devices (from www.nvcharts.com) will also be able to download NV Chart’s entire U.S. East Coast digital chart sets at zero cost, absolutely free, from Maine and the Canadian Border to the southernmost tip of Florida at Key West.
But there’s more: NV Charts has teamed up with the Atlantic Cruising Club (ACC), an independent, boater-biased publishing company known for its comprehensive Guides to Marinas. ACC’s Guides provide extensive, independent, objective, carefully-researched information on marinas and their surrounding areas. A very useful subset of ACC’s information will be embedded in every free US East Coast NV Chart, according to NV Chart’s president and CEO, Hasko Scheidt.
“Thanks to our partnership with ACC, up to 40 items of information about area marinas will be available to chart users when they check out a harbor or anchorage on their mobile device using our NV Charts and App,” Hasko says. “No internet connection is required; information from ACC’s Guides is embedded in the digital chart and will always be available at the navigator’s fingertips. And if a boater is in a harbor with an internet connection, he or she can directly access even more information from the ACC website (www.AtlanticCruisingClub.com) through embedded links in the NV charts,” Hasko adds.
ACC's travel guides for cruisers are in-depth, consumer-focused reports covering essentially all coastal marinas that welcome overnight and transient boats. ACC’s four-part ratings system focuses on Facilities and Amenities, Boatyard Services, MegaYacht capabilities and, where applicable, that Something Extra. The comprehensive Marina Reports describe what’s on site, what's nearby, and what it will cost including data on the Marina and Boatyard Operations as well as Boating Supplies, Restaurants, Accommodations, Recreation, Entertainment, Provisioning, General Services, Transportation and Medical Services. Each Marina Repor also provides a 3-paragraph marina review and up to 25 photos of each facility. ACC Reviewers have visited and reviewed every marina in its coverage areas on the U.S. and Canadian Coasts that welcomes visiting boats with LOAs from 25 to 300 ft. Their reviews, ratings, and photographs, coupled with independent research and marina-supplied information, form the basis for ACC's Marina Reports.
The NV App is free and makes it easy to download NV Charts’ digital chart regions t tablets and other smart devices, all iOS and Android platforms. The NV App breaks new ground in its simplicity and ease of use. “It’s a whole navigation and plotting system in one,” says Hasko. “Not only can you load and use your NV Charts, downloaded wirelessly from the NV Cloud, but then, with GPS input, you can navigate.
The NV App provides a complete toolkit for navigation, including a route menu, range and bearing measurement tool, ‘man overboard’ (MOB) marking and return tool, a logbook, and a lot more. Cruisers can follow their vessel across the chart region in real time, plot waypoints, update charts, and take advantage of many other features and embedded information including data from ACC’s Guides to Marinas.”
NV Charts offer unique features not found in other traditional NOAA chart sets, e.g., more distinctive shore and shallows cartography, aids to navigation and light characteristics, tidal information, and even four helpful pages in the back outlining symbols, legends, and other data that help the navigator interpret the information in the chart.
The cartography is visually distinct; unique color differences make specific depths, shoals, reefs, exposed tidal areas stand out for quick, easy recognition. Also, lighthouses illustrate their light characteristics for better identification.
NV Charts produces charting products for the entire US East Coast from the Canadian border to the Florida Keys, as well as comprehensive charts of the Caribbean including Cuba. NV Charts offers approximately 4,000 charts and more than 2,000 details and harbor plans. These charts are designed with the prudent mariner in mind; coasts and anchorages are regularly updated through new surveys and aerials. NV Charts are available in paper, digital format for use on PCs, on SD memory cards for chartplotters, and for use with NV Charts’ free App. NV Charts in all available formats can be easily purchased online. www.nvcharts.com.