Frequently Asked Questions

An updated User Guide was released with NCC version 3.0. It explains how the various application settings work and gives tips for creating the best customized charts. There is also a video that explains the basics of creating a custom chart and using the personal chart catalog feature. Other resources are in the NCC Help & Feedback panel.

Send your NCC PDF to an OceanGrafix agent for printing, or order it online.

To find your chart corrections, go to the NOAA Navigation Updates site.

You can save custom chart parameters (scale, paper size, extent, etc.) in a chart catalog GeoJSON file. Load that file into the online NOAA Navigation Updates application to see whether any of the NOAA ENC data used to create the chart has been updated since the chart was last exported.

The Navigation Updates website identifies critical corrections published in the Local Notices to Mariners that have been applied to the NOAA ENC data, as well as routine corrections released in NOAA ENC revisions. It shows corrections on a map with a description of each. Charts in the catalog are tagged as having updates "available" or "none", and charts with updates available can be re-exported in NCC with the latest ENC data applied.

For further assistance, or to suggest improvements to the NOAA Custom Chart application, submit questions or comments through Coast Survey’s online ASSIST customer feedback tool.

The U.S. Coast Guard has asked that questions and comments about nautical chart carriage requirements be directed to the U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center.

There is a growing demand for ever more detailed nautical charts. To help meet it, NOAA sunset its traditional paper nautical charts and the corresponding raster chart products and services. This lets NOAA focus on improving the coverage and content of the digital chart format used throughout the world for navigation: the electronic navigational chart (ENC). ENC data is produced by over twenty other countries and used by mariners around the world.

Producing and distributing raster charts requires separate software and data storage, plus specialized cartographic training and processing beyond what maintaining ENCs alone needs. NOAA is replacing much of its existing ENC coverage with more detailed (larger scale) data; when complete, the suite will have over 7,300 ENCs in twelve standard scales. NOAA has only been able to build and maintain it by redirecting resources previously used for traditional paper and raster charts.

Yes, OceanGrafix will keep the last edition available for reference. Canceled charts do not meet U.S. Coast Guard carriage requirements for regulated vessels and should not be used for navigation.

If you start your order on the OceanGrafix website, you will be directed to one of our retailer sites to complete your purchase.

If you purchase your chart online, you will be directed to one of our online retailers. Shipping and handling fees vary by retailer.

In most cases the retailer you purchased your chart from will be best able to help you. However, an OceanGrafix representative is always happy to assist as well: contact us.

Commercial mariners must have up-to-date navigational charts on board; recreational mariners are not required to by law. However, virtually all boating experts agree that paper charts are critical to boating safety for all mariners.

GPS and other electronic systems are not foolproof. A paper chart is an important backup when the unexpected happens.

In June 2000, OceanGrafix was selected as NOAA’s partner in developing a new generation of nautical charts for U.S. waters. Using digital technology, OceanGrafix continually incorporates NOAA’s latest cartographic changes, then prints these fully up-to-date charts as they are ordered. The charts were first introduced in 2002, and OceanGrafix continues to produce them under an exclusive contract with NOAA.

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) charts cover a variety of international waters worldwide. Discontinued in the spring of 2010, they are now printed by OceanGrafix, over 3,000 of them, for commercial and recreational boaters.

“Print on Demand” refers to NOAA’s exclusive arrangement with OceanGrafix to print NOAA charts that are 100% up to date when a customer orders them. OceanGrafix charts are printed (and shipped, or picked up at an OceanGrafix retailer) only when an order is placed.

Use Search by Map to find the chart numbers that cover the areas you choose.

You can call or visit any of the chart retailers in our U.S. network. Many are “remote printers” and can print your chart immediately. Most OceanGrafix retailers also have websites, and some offer catalog sales. You can also purchase OceanGrafix charts online.

Browse or enter your state to find the retailer nearest you.

The full-size OceanGrafix NOAA chart is single-sided, approximately 3′ to 5′ long and either 36″ or 42″ wide, depending on the coverage needed for each area.

Charts are printed on standard paper or a fully waterproof synthetic material. Vessels with enough bridge space can lay the chart out at full length, while smaller bridges can fold the paper chart to the size they need (waterproof charts can be rolled and bound) for stowing.

Charts are created in different scales, with increasing levels of detail. On a 1:80,000 scale chart, one inch on the chart represents 80,000 inches in the real world, so one chart inch equals about 1.1 nautical miles. A 1:40,000 scale is twice as detailed. A small-scale chart, say 1:200,000, covers a wide area with less detail, since most charts are printed on similar-sized sheets of paper.

A small-scale chart, like 1:1,000,000, is useful for planning long voyages but gives little detail along the way. While they make terrific wall art, small-scale charts are among those you could consider skipping for your boating trip.

Staedtler pencils and erasers are highly recommended.