Albin Owners Group

Does anyone know more about this? I just met a fellow here in mid Coast Maine who put his boat on the rocks down the coast a ways. He said the Coast Guard is expecting people to see the aids to navigation on their electronic charts, and is beginning to remove them or not replace them. He claimed that one was missing and that’s why he hit the rocks. Huge damage to his twin engine power boat. Took out the strut, the shaft, the prop.

I have noticed that either the channel markers in our bay have moved, or the channel marked is wrong on my chart plotter. Not a lot, but I do wonder if things are not being tended so well these days.

I'm not sure about the why, but down our way the outer sea buoys to ports and harbors are getting eliminated by the CG, one by one.

My experience with this is that as they remove them and if one updates their electronic charts or replaces a plotter that the markers disappear from the electronic charts too. I've also added markers back into my electronic charts by using waypoints from old paper charts and I always reference my paper charts against the electronic when traveling to new unkown waters.

As far as the CG not putting markers in the right location or even making an attempt to relocate markers when mariners notify them .. there response is non-existant in my area. Just today I took a ride with a buddy to bring his boat back to the winter storage yard that we both use and the first green can in from the sea buoy was still in the same location 100 yards too far port on top of a sandbar .. in the same wrong location as last spring when we left that river. I reported it last spring and I know personally of a handful of others that did too. Obviously, to deaf ears.

USCG is reducing aids around the country for cost reductions. They removed two and relocated one in my Harbor. As a retired Merchant Marine Captain, I never place waypoints next to buoys but place them so I can run in known safe Chanel areas. One of these days I’ll spend the money to get my card updated.