Chart Plotter Route Checking

A route plotted electronically must still be appraised like a paper route. Check the entire track at the largest practical scale, especially around waypoints, headlands, drying banks, overfalls, TSS boundaries, wind farms, firing ranges, and harbour approaches. Do not rely on a zoomed-out overview.

Avoid placing waypoints directly on buoys, rocks, headlands, or harbour entrances. A waypoint should guide the vessel through safe water, not drag the track over the danger it was meant to avoid. Build in cross-track limits that make sense for the available sea room and the accuracy of pilotage.