Waterway Guides ?

[OldManMirage]

I am planning to get a set of Explorer chartbooks for the Bahamas.

I am wondering if the Waterway Guides are worth having also ?

Anyone using them ? Like them ? Hate them ? Use them for fire starting ?

[SailingHarmonie]

Waterway Guides are about the only resource kept up to date for onshore services and things to do these days.

They are advertising supported, but the day of the indepentently published cruising guide are quite dead. Everybody wants their information for free from the internet, and nobody is willing to pay for it anymore.

I find the Waterway Guides helpful, not so much as navigation tools, but as a local guide book.

[OldManMirage]

Thanks for the reply.

What are the thoughts on Explorer Charts ? The paper ones.

I'm old, I like books.

[The Boat Galley]

I'd like to recommend The Boat Galley Quick Reference Cruising Guides.

Our guides are also kept up-to-date, with our Bahamas Quick Reference Cruising Guide having been published in October 2023. Easy to find everything you need: anchorages with a certain protection direction; marinas and moorings; customs and immigration, fuel, trash, groceries, ATMs, propane, marine hardware, laundry; storm holes; haulouts (with max beam); and more. https://products.theboatgalley.com/p...cruising-guide

[MicHughV]

I was good friends with Steve Pavladis, who wrote guides for the islands from the B'mas on down to the Caribbean. His B'ma guidebooks are divided among several depending on which part of the B'mas you plan to be in.
You can get his guidebooks online and also at West Marine.

[boatpoker]

We have Explorer Charts on our plotters but still like to have the books open at the nav station. Never felt we needed anything other than Explorer Charts for the Bahamas.

[Spartanacus]

Aqua Map on another platform is a great back up. I have it on an iPad. It borrows/shares info from a couple other sites. I use for anchorage recommendations a lot.

[sailorboy1]

Explorer charts used to be the gold standard as much for the info in them as the charts. But now I don't think they have even had a new edition in years. Meanwhile the Waterway Guide gets updated as to the info.

My last trip in 2023 I was using the Explorer for the charts ad waterway and Active Capitan/AquaMap for the info (I had the Explorer charts on my AquaMap also)

[OldManMirage]

Carolyn, I have definitely been considering your Galley Guides. For the price I will probably get the ICW and Bahamas.

As far as Explorer charts go, I do like having paper charts. It sounds like I could go and find the 2023 versions and save some money from new ?

The Waterway Guides are not expensive either. As an old sailor but new cruiser to the Bahamas, I like having as much info as possible. But if I can save a little money by not buying the most "current" issue - which hasn't really changed, I would most certainly do so.