Don't buy any CHART CD's until you READ THIS!!!

NOAA now distributes it's complete set of official electronic government charts for the entire United States coastline online for FREE!!! There are currently 1,016 charts available for downloading either individually or in organized ChartKits.

Learn How to Download FREE Official Government Marine Charts and Real-Time GPS Navigation Software. Don't waste your time trying to figure it out. 5 minutes from now you could be downloading FREE charts and navigation software.

You'll NEVER have to purchase charts again!!!

Have you seen all the hucksters' on eBay and other websites selling CD's containing FREE NOAA charts?

What a scam! These guys download the FREE chart files and burn them to a CD and sell them to you for anywhere from $15 to $150.

Honestly! I get angry every time I see some one selling electronic NOAA charts online that can be easily and legally downloaded for FREE.

NOAA Official Electronic Raster Nautical Charts (RNC™)

In the United States, all official nautical charts are produced by NOAA's Office of Coast Survey (OCS). A fundamental tool of marine navigation, NOAA's Raster Navigational Charts (NOAA RNCs™) are produced by high-resolution scanning of original color plates. They then add digital data describing the chart, its datum, projection and geo-reference. Geo-referencing enables computer-based navigation systems to display a vessel's exact position on the chart image.

NOAA makes and distributes the official RNCsT for FREE. They are distributed in the BSB format used by numerous, commercially available navigation software packages.

How up-to-date are the charts?

Charts are updated weekly based on Notice to Mariners chart corrections and cumulative electronic updates that may be used to update previously distributed RNCs. You can re-download charts an unlimited number of times, anytime, to get the most recent version. Click here for the complete list of charts, including edition and update dates.

Will the charts work with my existing software?

They will work with all B.B.S. compatible marine software products (except Outdoor Navigator). These include Pocket (PC) Navigator, Chart Navigator, Chart Navigator Pro, Offshore Navigator (Marine Navigator), Offshore Navigator Lite, Fugawi, The Capn (Captain Voyager), and most commercial marine navigation software. Please see your software manual to check for B.B.S./Maptech compatibility.

If you don't have navigation software, I will show you where to download your own FREE and LEGAL copy of SeaClear real-time GPS navigation software.


What are ChartKits?

Chartkits are pre-bundled sets of charts for a specific region, making it easier and faster to obtain a complete set of charts in a single download. The downloaded ChartKit file is then run to automatically extract the compressed charts into the specified chart directory on your computer. All NOAA charts are bundled into ChartKits. Some charts are included in more than one ChartKit to ensure complete coverage of each region. Here's the list of ChartKits for the United States:

Region 2 - Block Island RI to Canadian Border
Region 3 - New York to Nantucket and Cape May NJ
Region 4 - Chesapeake and Delaware Bays
Region 6 - Norfolk VA to Florida including the ICW
Region 7 - Florida East Coast and the Keys
Region 8 - Florida West Coast and the Keys
Region 10 - Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands
Region 12 - Southern California Point Arena to Ensenada Mexico
Region 13 - Lake Michigan
Region 14 - San Francisco to Cape Flattery
Region 15 - Pacific Northwest
Region 17 - Mobile AL to Mexican Borde
Region 22 - Lakes Superior and Huron (US Waters
Region 24 - Lakes Erie and Saint Clair (US Waters
Region 26 - Lake Ontario (US Waters), Finger Lakes and Lake Champlai
Region 30 - Southeast Alaska
Region 32 - South Central Alaska Yakutat to Kodiak
Region 34 - Alaska The Aleutians and Bristol Bay
Region 36 - Alaska Norton Sound to Beaufort Sea
Region 40 - Hawaiian Islands and U.S. Territories

What is SeaClear software?

SeaClear is a FREE PC based chart plotter for Windows 2000/XP/NT/95/98/ME. With a GPS connected it displays the current position, speed, heading and other data on the screen. The chart is repositioned and new charts are loaded automatically as needed. Tracks may be saved to file for later reviewing and log book entries can be manually and automatically entered. Unlimited number of routes and waypoints can be created and used to assist the navigation.

Don't Waste Your Time ... I'll Guide you!

You can end up wasting a lot of time trying to find the various websites where you download official charts, figuring out how to download entire sets of charts, and then loading them into your navigation software. That's where I come in. I've done it all and documented it in my comprehensive Guide to Downloading Free Electronic Charts and Navigation Software which contains detailed step-by-step instructions. The guide contains easy-to-follow instructions for:

Obtaining Notice to Mariners chart updates

Downloading individual charts or chartkits

Installing downloaded charts in your charts directory on your PC

Downloading your free copy of SeaClear real-time navigation software


The guide includes screen views and hyperlinks to all the web pages:

What makes me such an expert?

My name is Mark Pieczonka and I love sailing. I have raced Offshore I class sailboats for many years, delivered a boat from the Caribbean to Newport via Bermuda, sailed across the Atlantic on an Open 50 design, sailed the Pacific coast from California to Cabo San Lucas, and recently took a year off to take my wife and 3 kids from Canada to the Bahamas on our Hunter 37.5. Our trip to the Bahamas was profiled in an article in Canadian Yachting Magazine and BoatUS.com.

By profession I am a systems analyst/programmer, so I naturally have a keen interest in electronic charting and navigation.

How do I get the Guide?

You can instantly download the guide for a nominal charge of $4.99. That's how much the eBay'ers will charge you just for shipping a CD, then you wait for a week for delivery. As soon as you have completed the payment process, you will be sent an email containing a link and instructions to download my comprehensive Guide to Downloading Free Electronic Charts and Navigation Software.

If you're not COMPLETELY satisfied
I'll give you your money back ... no questions asked!!!

Why so cheap?

For one simple reason. Since you will be accessing this information directly via the Internet, I have no inventory or order fulfillment costs. There's no CDs to burn, no envelopes, no shipping costs, etc. I only have to worry about online costs. Therefore, it seems reasonable that I should only charge a nominal amount for this information.

Can I get help if I don't understand something?

Of course! If you have any problems, I will do my best to help you out. I welcome your questions. If you're still not satisfied I'll refund your money. You can contact me at mark@freemarinecharts.com.

Safe boating!


P.S. You've got plenty to gain and nothing to lose with my Risk Free Money Back Guarantee . So do yourself a favor and Buy Now! Don't wait! You could be downloading official NOAA charts in just a few minutes from now.

P.P.S. If you have any problems, I will do my best to help you out by email. You can contact me anytime at mark@freemarinecharts.com.

5 minutes from now you could be downloading your charts and navigation software



For more information contact mark@freemarinecharts.com



Copyright © FreeMarineCharts 2007 All Rights Reserved.

NOAA ® is a registered trademarks of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
RNC™ is a trademark of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Maptech ® and ChartKit ® are registered trademarks of Maptech, Inc.