Maryland School of Sailing · video

What this video covers

The NOAA Custom Chart (NCC) application at noaa.gov lets sailors generate a custom-scale PDF nautical chart for any U.S. waters location.0:30 Tom Tursi demonstrates the full workflow using Cape Cod Bay as the example: navigating to the NOAA Custom Chart Application, opening the settings panel, renaming the chart, adjusting the scale (changed from 1:22,000 to 1:30,000), resizing the paper (from 22×34 to 34×44 inches), switching orientation to landscape, placing and repositioning the chart boundary box, then exporting the selection as a PDF.0:49 The resulting file opens at full resolution with no distortion when zoomed, and includes supplemental locality pages that can be deleted before printing.5:28 NCC charts use U.S. Coast Guard NAVAID symbols rather than the international symbols found in NOAA's Electronic Navigational Chart (ENC) database — an important distinction for U.S. sailors.3:13 The tool covers U.S. waters only.3:50 For printing, Tursi recommends shops such as Staples, FedEx, or Buxmont Office Supply, which prints on 20-lb paper at $12 per copy for widths up to 48 inches and ships rolled in a tube to avoid creases.5:58

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