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Attn: Canadain Bluechart users


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I recently used my new 76 CSx on a 300 km boat trip from the Kawartha Lakes to Lake Simcoe via the Trent canal. This marine use application was 95% of the reason why I purchased this unit. For the past couple of months I’ve been using it in the car for routing and POIs (especially the Tim Horton’s custom POI ;) and have been amazed! by the accuracy and wealth of info. Sadly, this was not the case with the Bluecharts. The first error I noticed was the inaccuracy of the locks and the narrow portions of the canal. Almost every lock was off by between 50-150 meters parallel to my actual position down them. In essence, as I was driving through the canals, I was boating on dry land! I considered a signal fix error until I switched over maps to Topo Canada and even Metroguide Canada which both showed me smack dab in the middle of the canal every time.

There was also a plethora of times where channel markers were way off – not along the line of the preferred route but skewed to the right or left so much so when I actually traveled between a green can and red buoy, the GPS had showed me out of the channel completely! This was not due to the markers changing their annual position.

Finally, there were several spots where the charts joined where the seams made no sense. In on spot on the north side of Kempenfelt Bay east of Barrie, there chart seam changed from 50’ spot sounding to ‘max 6’ depth.

I know that there is a disclaimer that the charts are not to be used solely for navigation or whatever and I would never blindly follow the GPSr through the fog, but when navigating through hazardous water like the eastern shores of Georgian Bay where there are no channel markers, these maps would appear to be as much of a hazard as the rocks! Has anyone else experienced this?

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