Frequently Asked Questions
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General Information
How long does it take to ship an order to Canada?
Although Canadian orders are shipped Global Priority, the time to transfer postal services and clear customs varies considerably. Some shipments arrive in a few days, others take nearly two weeks.
How do I order for shipment outside the U.S. or Canada?
We gladly take orders from individuals or retailers in countries outside of the U.S. or Canada. Email us and we will compute the actual shipping cost to your location.
Why is my discount voucher code not working on your order website?
The best approach is to cut-and-paste your voucher code into the voucher code field. Your voucher code should have 15 characters. If you can't cut-and-paste, then type carefully, paying particular attention to the difference between a "0" (zero) and an "O" (letter oh).
After you enter the code, be sure to hit the Recalculate button. The discount should then show on the screen.
If the discount percent is still not appearing, there may be an error in your voucher code. Email us and we will remedy the problem.
Why won't your website accept my credit card?
The most common cause of this problem is the incorrect entry of your billing address. Be sure to enter the address where you receive your credit card statements. Many transiting boaters receive mail at different locations or use a mail forwarding service. Note that it is particularly sensitive to an incorrect ZIP code.
If this still doesn't work, try another credit card. Sometimes a particular card fails to obtain bank authorization.
Alternatively, email us with a telephone number and we will promptly call to take your order over the phone.
Why is my browser identifying your website as a phishing site when I try to place an order?
Some users experience warnings when trying to order through our website. These warnings are caused by aggressive web browser security plug-ins, which block web scripts.
Although our site is a secure cart (as evidenced by the "https" designator at the beginning of the URL), you may be more comfortable providing your credit card information over the phone. Email us with a telephone number and we will call to take your order.
I have not received my order yet; how can I check on its status?
If your order has not arrived after one week (priority mail orders) or two weeks (media mail or Canadian orders), email us and we will track your package for you.
What should I do if I received a damaged item?
Email us describing the situation and we will remedy the problem promptly.
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Books & Guides
Will a new ICW or Florida Keys guide come out this year? Should I wait?
Managing the Waterway guides are not annual publications but are updated twice yearly through email notices of change. Important information on bridge schedules, marine facilities, anchorages, and shoreside services arrive in your email box at the beginning of the fall southbound migration and the spring northbound return.
These emails are brief, text-only, and contain no attachments. You can subscribe to these emails through our Books & Guides page. You also can download past archived email notices of change in order on our Support page to annotate your guide with all the changes.
So purchase a guide whenever you'd like, even a year prior to your cruise. Simply update your copy with the archived changes and with each season's subsequent updates.
I've heard MTW guides stay up-to-date by email. How do I update my cruising guides?
Begin by subscribing to the email updates in order to receive that season's latest update. Then go to Support>Updates and download all archived updates. (The Florida Keys guide only needs the updates back through Fall 2006.)
Be sure to enter the changes in reverse-chronological order! A handful of entries, particularly bridge schedules, have changed more than once.
Does the CD included with Get Onboard With E-Charting include trial software?
Yes, the trial software CD has four applications: Coastal Explorer, Fugawi Marine ENC, NavSim BoatCruiser, and TIKI Navigator. They are all XP and Vista capable PC e-charting applications.
Additionally, the book is written for both PC and Mac users and lists 28 e-charting software developer sites, many of which have trial software.
Chapter 26: E-Charting on a Mac details e-charting on a Macintosh computer. Sections discuss where to download Mac trial software, review the two leading Mac e-charting applications, and point to useful Mac utilities and resources. We also demonstrate the use of Parallels Desktop to run PC applications on an Intel Mac.
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E-Charting
Is the DVD a database to be used with other software or does it have view, print, and other functionality built in?
The Electronic Chart and Nautical Reference Library is a database of resources, including electronic chart files, government publications and reference texts, and nautical calculators.
In order to view, print, and work with the charts, you must have a charting and navigation software application. This can be a free viewer, a free or purchased planner software package, or a full-featured charting and navigation application. There are free and trial versions available for both PC and Mac operating systems on DVD 2. Follow the manufacturer's instructions to install the software and load he charts.
The reference library can be viewed and printed used Adobe Acrobat Reader, available as a free download on the Adobe site.
The nautical calculators perform calculations using your computer's web browser software.
Does the 2-DVD set include charts for the Great Loop?
Yes, the 2-DVD set includes charts for this route. However, the source of the charts varies by region. The Great Loop is comprised of coastal waters (the East Coast and Gulf Coast of the U.S.), the Great Lakes, and inland waterways. Coastal and Great Lakes charts are NOAA RNCs (raster charts) and NOAA ENCs (vector charts). Inland waterways, such as the Illinois, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Tombigbee Rivers are produced by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as IENCs (vector charts).
If you want to display USACE charts of the inland waterways, be sure to choose a charting and navigation software application that supports vector (S-57) format files.
Our reference book Get Onboard With E-Charting discusses Great Loop charting in detail (Chapter 6: Charts and Supplemental Data).
Does the 2-DVD set include harbor charts? Offshore charts?
The 2-DVD set includes all electronic charts issued by NOAA. These include harbor charts (1:50,000 and larger), coast charts (1:50,001 to 1:150,000), general charts (1:150,001 to 1:600,000), sailing charts (1:600,001 and smaller), and small-craft charts (1:80,000 and larger).
Does the 2-DVD set include charts of Canada or the Bahamas?
No, only charts of U.S. waters are included. However, this does include Pacific and Caribbean islands such as Hawaii, Guam, Midway, Marianas, Samoa, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. Alaska is also included (392 charts) but British Columbia (a province of Canada) is not.
Charts for other countries must be purchased through distributors licensed by each country's hydrographic office. Our reference book Get Onboard With E-Charting discusses sourcing international charts in detail (Chapter 6: Charts and Supplemental Data).
Do the chart files work with any charting and navigation software?
All charts on the 2-DVD set are standard BSB (raster) or S-57 (vector) format files, unchanged from their distribution by NOAA or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Therefore, any software application that supports these standard formats (not all applications support both BSBs and S-57s) can display the charts. We've personally loaded and tested the files on the 19 popular applications listed on our Electronic Charts>Compatibility page.
The charts also should be compatible with other applications, such as Deckman, Expedition, GPSy, Henry Navigation, MacGPS Pro, NavGator, Offshore Navigator, PassagePlus, SeaTrack, and Tridentnav, depending on the application's specific BSB and/or S-57 support.
Can I use the charts with free viewer or planner software?
The DVDs contain standard BSB and S-57 format chart files. If a viewer or planner supports one or both of these formats, then it will be able to display those chart files.
Examples of free viewers and planners include CARIS Easy View, Fugawi View ENC, NavPak Demo, and NavSim Viewer. Check their respective websites for up-to-date information on chart support for BSB and S-57 formats.
Do the DVDs work on Macintosh computers?
The DVDs contain standard BSB and S-57 chart data files, PDF files of government publications and reference texts, and HTML files of nautical calculators. All these formats work on any type of computer, PC or Mac.
Of course, you must have the appropriate Mac software in order to open the files: an e-charting software for the chart files, Adobe Acrobat Reader for the PDFs (available as a free download), and a web browser such as Safari or Firefox for the HTML nautical calculators. A trial version of MacENC, a charting and navigation applicaiton, is included on DVD 2 in the "MTW Software 200x" folder.
Our reference book Get Onboard With E-Charting has a chapter, E-Charting on a Mac, which also discusses running PC applications on Intel Macs using virtualization software such as Parallels Desktop, VMWare Fusion, or Apple Boot Camp.
Do the DVDs work with Windows Vista?
Because the DVDs are generic data files, they are compatible with all operating systems, including Vista, XP, Mac OS X, Linux, etc. The burden of Vista compliance remains with e-charting application and device driver (GPS) developers. Check with each to confirm current Vista readiness.
I insert a DVD and nothing happens. Do I have a defective disc?
Because of today's production technology, the chances of a defective disc are extremely small (i.e., 1 in 100,000). We've found the most common cause of this problem is inserting the disc (which is a DVD) into a CD drive.
Although most computers shipping today include a DVD drive, some computers may only have a CD drive. If you insert a DVD into a CD drive, the disc icon will fail to appear on your desktop or will give you a warning that the disc is unreadable.
If you only have a CD drive, ask a friend with a DVD drive to burn the files onto CDs for you.
If you have a DVD drive and are still experiencing problems, check the related FAQs below. If you are still having problems reading the disc, then contact us at techsupport@managingthewaterway.com.
How do I open and view a chart?
You cannot simply double-click on a chart file to display a nautical chart. You must have a charting and navigation application installed on your computer and the charts must be "loaded" in order to view the charts. This FAQ addresses the issue of a charting and navigation application. See the FAQ below for help with loading charts.
Go to Electronic Charts>Compatibility for a list of many popular e-charting applications. If you already have one of these applications installed on your computer, read the FAQ below on loading charts.
If you don't own e-charting software, there are several options. You can download a free viewer or planner application. You can use one of the free and trial versions of charting and navigation applications located on DVD 2 in the “MTW Software 200x” folder. Go to Electronic Charts>Software for a list of included software trials.
Our reference book Get Onboard With E-Charting reviews 16 e-charting applications, comparing 81 features and functions, and provides information on where to download free and trial versions.
I have a charting application loaded but why isn't it finding and displaying the charts?
First double-check that your applications supports the chart format you are trying to view. For example, many applications do not support S-57 (vector) charts, in which case that application will not display the NOAA ENC or USACE IENC charts.
If you are sure that your application supports the chart format, then the problem is most likely that you have not yet "loaded" or "pointed to" the chart files. In other words, the application does not know where to find those chart files.
On either DVD, in the “00 Getting Started with MTW Charts” folder, there is a PDF titled "03 Chart Installation Help.pdf" with instructions on installing the applications and loading the charts into many of the more popular packages. These directions were kindly contributed by our customers. If you are using yet another charting and navigation software application, please consider documenting and submitting a similar easy install and chart loading direction set. This will benefit those who follow in your wake.
Begin by copying the chart regions you need to your hard drive. Only copy chart regions you intend to use in the short term. This prevents filling up your hard drive. If you later require another region, simply copy it from the DVD to your hard drive. Do not try to read charts directly off the DVD. It's too much data for a read process, versus copying the files to the hard drive.
When copying charts from the DVD to your hard drive, never rename or nest chart folders, which can cause charts to become “lost” to the application. In the case of raster charts, don’t load only BSB or KAP files thinking you are saving space. They are a pair. You need both to display all chart features properly. Be careful when selecting individual charts or files. The safest bet for beginners is to copy the entire chart region folder. In the case of vector charts, which are small files organized by catalogs, the best bet is to copy all the entire chart folder.
Chart files must also be properly loaded, which is separate from copying the charts to your hard drive. Loading the charts (or "pointing to" the charts) tells the software application where to find the chart files. Unfortunately, every charting and navigation application loads or points to the charts differently. Follow your software manufacturer’s instructions precisely. The PDF "03 Chart Installation Help.pdf", mentioned above, includes step-by-step directions for many of the popular applications.
We provide chart databases on DVD that work with literally scores of charting and navigation applications. Because there are so many different e-charting applications, we cannot know all the intricacies of loading charts nor can we provide technical support on questions relating to another vendor's software package. Please check your e-charting application's website for their FAQs on loading chart files.
How do I view the publications on the DVD?
The government publications and reference texts are Adobe PDF files. In order to view and print PDFs you must have a copy of Adobe's Acrobat Reader, available free at www.adobe.com/downloads. If you have Acrobat Reader already installed on your computer, simply double-click on the file icon to open that publication or text.
The nautical calculators are HMTL files, which means double-clicking on the file opens an interactive window in your default Web browser (e.g., Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, etc.).
How do I get a single chart off the DVD?
Raster charts are organized into folders by region. If you want a particular chart, locate the chart by its NOAA chart number (such as by using NOAA's Catalog of Charts & Publications). Copy all files with that chart number prefix (including .KAP, .BSB, .PTC, and .TXT files) to your hard drive. Then load those files as directed by your charting and navigation software manufacturer.
Vector charts are organized into catalogs so do not correspond exactly to NOAA chart numbers. Although you can select folders of vector charts, identifying them by the state postal code in the file name (e.g., AK for Alaska charts, AL for Alabama charts, etc.), it's really not worth the effort. Vector chart files are so small it makes the most sense to copy and load the entire collection of vector files.
Why won't my Nobeltec software open the inland waterway IENCs?
The IENC files, which cover the inland waterways of the U.S., are S-57 (vector) files. Unfortunately, Nobeltec discontinued support for S-57s with their last update to both VNS Passport and Admiral Passport, Version 9.
If you have an earlier version of Nobeltec (pre-9.3), you can load the standard NOAA or USACE ENCs or IENCs. Information is available in the Nobeltec User Manual and we have personally verified the process.
I have an older version of Nobeltec software — will the raster or vector charts work with my version?
NOAA raster charts are in BSB format. As of Version 10 (VNS MAX Pro and Admiral MAX Pro), Nobeltec discontinued integrated support of BSB charts, which includes NOAA RNCs. However, BSB charts can be used with the additional purchase of Nobeltec's Raster Plus Pack software plug-in. Prior versions of Nobeltec (going back at least ten years) support BSB format charts as part of the basic software.
NOAA coastal vector charts and USACE inland waterway vector charts are in S-57 format. S-57 support was added in Nobeltec version 8. All version 8 and version 9 "builds" (e.g., point updates) support S-57 charts, until version 9.3. S-57 support was removed in version 9.3.
Why won't MaxSea read the NOAA or USACE vector charts?
Like Nobeltec, MaxSea recently discontinued support for S-57 vector charts, dropping this feature in version 12.5. However, MaxSea "Classic" still supports raster charts in BSB and ARCS format. Moving forward, MaxSea Time Zero, due for Winter 2009 launch, will only support MaxSea chart formats.
Why isn't my new USB GPS sensor working?
Any new external device requires the appropriate driver software, which allows your computer's operating system to interact with the device. Go to the GPS manufacturer's website, typically in their Support>Downloads section, where you can match drivers for your particular GPS model and computer operating system. Follow their directions to download and install the driver software.
I have the correct driver but my PC still doesn't detect my external GPS sensor?
Users on Windows operating systems may need to actively assign a COM port. A COM port is a computer serial port for connecting an external device to a PC, including computer peripherals (such as a mouse or modem) and marine sensors (such as a GPS or autopilot). COM stands for communication; these ports coordinate the serial transfer (one bit at a time) of information between your PC and an external device.
Macintosh users can typically ignore COM port issues. In most instances, Macs auto-detect devices and automatically assign the correct COM port and baud rate. The baud rate is the measured data rate, or speed, of communication.
Here are the sequence of steps in Windows XP, the most commonly-used PC operating system (Vista is a similar process):
- – Open the Windows Start Menu and choose Control Panel
- – In the Control Panel, double-click System
- – In System Properties, select the tab for Hardware
- – Select Device Manager
The Device Manager lists all your drives, display cards, floppy controllers, keyboards, mice, monitors, and other devices. If your GPS is connected and you have properly loaded the manufacturer’s driver, the GPS will be listed in the Device Manager, under Ports. It will also show the device’s port (such as COM3).
- – Double-click on your GPS driver in the Device Manager list
- – In the Properties panel for that device, select Port Settings
- – Set Bits per second (baud rate) to the manufacturer’s recommendation
- – Click Advanced… to change the COM port if necessary
The COM port recommended by the manufacturer is preferred. However, if you are trying to connect multiple devices that have the same default COM port, select a different COM port for each.
Many devices default to 9600 baud but won’t work at that data rate. If your GPS still doesn’t work after setting the COM port, return to the Properties panel and slow the baud rate to 4800. A slower baud rate doesn’t negatively affect performance because a GPS sends relatively simple data.
If you need additional help setting a COM port through the Windows Device Manager, go to Microsoft support and search the Knowledge Base for “COM port” (http://support.microsoft.com).
What is causing my cursor to jump around the screen?
This problem is known as a Dancing Mouse, Jumping Mouse, or Crazy Mouse. The symptoms are a cursor that bounces around the screen, moving erratically and independently of your mousing actions.
The problem is caused when Microsoft Windows confuses data from a GPS with data from a mouse. Because you commonly have both a USB GPS and a USB mouse connected, the problem occurs more frequently than you would expect and across all Windows e-charting applications. It’s even more common with a Bluetooth (wireless) GPS and a Bluetooth mouse.
Unfortunately, the solution is more alchemy than universal process. Sometimes, starting the program with the mouse connected, then plugging in your GPS, solves the problem. Other times, an application prefers the opposite sequence.
In our experience—with nearly 20 e-charting applications—the most universal cure is to shut down the computer, plug in both devices, and start the computer. When the computer has found the mouse, start the e-charting application and it will find the GPS.
