Is the Rose Point electronic charting system
a legal charting system on subchapter M tugs?
Trying to see if we’re in trouble when they stop making paper charts.
Thanks.
Why don’t you go to the Rose Point website and look. Or, god forbid, even ask them!
Future Paper Charts – NOAA will still promote the use of paper chart products based on ENC data, either through the NOAA Custom Chart web app, or through third-party commercial providers selling ENC-based chart products. The NOAA Custom Chart (NCC) is available online as a prototype that is in the early phases of development. Users may define the scale and paper size of custom-made nautical charts, with a centered position of their choosing. The NCC then creates a geospatially referenced Portable Document Format, with chart notes placed on a separate PDF page. Users may then download, view, and print the PDF. To try out the NCC prototype, go to NOAA Custom Chart.
Rose point has a couple of different products which one are you using?
That looks pretty cool. If you have proper printing instructions, you should be able to print out the charts at Office Max or other place with a plotter.
Not a fan at all. Any printed ENC chart will blow compared to RNC.
We’re using Coastal Explorer version.
Coastal Explorer is Rosepoint’s only program. There are two versions. I forget exactly what they are called, let’s just call them:
Recreational, and
Commercial
It’s Subchapter M tolerated because it’s the most common chat plotter program in use on tugs.
I see that chart 18665 (Lake Tahoe) is the first up for cancellation this year, whilst NOAA’s release announcement of Custom Chart this month states that at least initially these printable PDFs will not meet carriage requirements. So, I don’t think that’s the intended way for people to stay compliant.
However, I also see that NVIC 01-16 (use of electronic charts) was updated last year to loosen requirements. The original NVIC required “An RTCM class ‘B’ or ‘C’ ECS to meet the chart carriage requirements for vessels operating not more than 12 nautical miles from the territorial sea baseline”. The update states “Vessels that operate solely inside the territorial sea baseline may display ENCs on a system of their choice so long as it displays the ENC in a large enough scale and portrays enough detail to make safe navigation of the area possible.” It also appears to loosen the requirements on those operating seaward, as it no longer specifies a particular class of RTCM ECS.
Am I correct in my interpretation that for inland waters pretty much anything capable of reasonably displaying ENC charts is now valid, as opposed to a type-approved ECDIS or ECS?
I don’t know anything about use of ENCs I was responding to the part about the availableabily of paper charts when NOAA stops printing them.
While NOAA is phasing out the sale of paper charts they can still be purchased from private companies.
For example deep-sea we have been using OceanGrafix charts.
The Lake Tahoe Chart is here: OceanGrafix — NOAA Nautical Chart 18665 Lake Tahoe
Can be purchased here: Nautical Charts Online - NOAA Nautical Chart 18665, Lake Tahoe
EDIT - this chart has been canceled. From the post below NOAA stopped printing charts in 2014.
It was explained to me that Rose Point ECS will be about the only alternative to ECDIS soon for Electronic charts. With 2 of the approved computers. For about $12000 all in.
POD ENC charts will be all that is available soon in printed versions, but the correction timeline might make the printed version out-of-date in as few as every 6 months.
Coastal Explorer is not a commercial vessel product
Nobeltec Time Zero, the “professional” version is so far being tolerated by the USCG for Subchapter M.
All in all, Coastal Explorer and Nobeltec are both good programs. Nobeltec is certainly more powerful, but is that really important? Each has its pluses and minuses.
There are a number of other good programs too, like Wartsilla iSailor. That is basically a slimmed dow version of their NaviSailor 4000 Ecdis.
I don’t know anything about use of ENCs I was responding to the part about the availableabily of paper charts when NOAA stops printing them.
That’s the part I’m curious about; as far as I’m aware vendors like OceanGrafix are not actually producing charts themselves, but merely printing the NOAA raster products. (NOAA having stopped printing & sales of paper charts 7 years ago this month.) It does sound like they plan to have those vendors produce charts using their tool though:
(from a NOAA webcast) We are also working with some of our largest traditional paper nautical chart print-on-demand vendors, that is NOAA’s POD chart agents, to develop ways in which they will be able to provide large format plots of charts created with the NCC application in a manner similar to the way POD agents now sell standard traditional NOAA paper charts.
Yes, I missed that NOAA had already stopped printing charts. It’s also true that OceanGrafix and others are printing on-demand charts (fully corrected) using NOAA raster data.
This article doesn’t explicitly say that the new ENC-based charts will eventually meet carriage requirements but presumably that’s the plan.
I’ll edit my previous post.
It looks like the app to print ENC-based paper charts is up and running as of last Apr 1st.
I posted this a few days ago, but it’s already buried well down the board. NOAA is giving a couple of webinars, including one on custom charts.
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I am on a Sub M tug with a COI. They have approved our version of Rose Point ECS from 2011. We run it on a standard laptop. I have some old paper charts as a backup. SIRE has looked at it also.
Rose Point has changed their business model recently. You cannot buy the commercial software any more. You must subscribe at $500 per year per license. They added a bunch of new features to their 4.0 version. Which would probably be nice for fleets but useless for a mom and pop operation like mine. Like fleet tracking. Not really hard to track a one boat fleet, especially when I am on the boat 90% of the time.
They have stopped supporting the version I have but I will continue to use it until it breaks. Just like everything else on the boat:)
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If they approve anything that shows ENCs then just get OpenCPN for free 
You do have to fiddle with the 1001 options for ENCs to avoid nasty surprises, one of the thousand reasons I like RNCs better. Making myself use the ENCs anyway, might as well get used to them.
Rose Point ECS is compliant for Paperless Navigation if you meet the backup arrangement requirements. There is a hardware requirement if you navigate seaward of the territorial sea baseline. Coastal Explorer is not and will never be compliant for Sub M, T, H, or K for paperless transit. There was even a policy letter put out by USCG on that very topic in June, 2023. If you need help in this realm, I am the Director of Sales for Rose Point Navigation. joe@rosepoint.com
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What does Rosepoint EVS cost?
I’d like to have a personal copy on my laptop.
It is not obvious how much it costs, but you get 10 days free. I am running the trial now.