Bluechart g2Garmin has announced two new ranges of electronic charts: BlueChart g2 and BlueChart g2 Vision.
It's not the first time! The company made much the same announcement in November 2008. But within weeks of delivering the first of the new charts, in the spring of 2009, there were worrying reports of boats running aground because of errors in the depth data on the new cards. The problem seemed to be confined to Sweden and Denmark, but when Garmin tracked it down to changes in the production process, the company said it could not be certain that other areas were not also affected, and issued a world-wide recall of all 2009 g2 and g2vision charts.
Now, with the problem solved, Garmin is re-launching the new charts.
At £229.95 for a "large" chart, (covering an area such as the whole of the UK and Ireland) or £169.95 for a "regular" (such as the English channel from the Scillies to the French/Belgian border), G2 charts supplement their basic cartography with dedicated fishing charts, animated tide and current data, and perspective view, but perhaps the most interesting feature is one that automatically highlights areas that are shallower than the "safe depth" set by the user.
For an extra £70 on the price of a "large" chart or £65 on a "regular", G2 Vision adds high-resolution satellite imagery and aerial photographs and three-dimensional graphic imaging of the above and below water landscape. And it takes another huge step from the "safety contour" idea, by allowing the any of the current generation of Garmin plotters and MFDs to offer "auto guidance". Tell your plotter where you want to go, and it will automatically plan a route that keeps you out of water shallower than your pre-set safety contour!
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