What is Co-op charting? For starters, it has nothing to do with chicken coops! Co-op is short for ‘Co-operative’. Everett Sail & Power Squadron has entered into a special program that allows us to ‘adopt’ one of the NOAA charts, taking on the responsibility to verify the basic features of that chart, such as locations of buoys, range markers, and landmarks, presence of hazards, and verify basics like water depths. We report our findings, whether we find them to be correct or not as shown on the chart.

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Some of you joined in on our Squadron rendezvous 22 July to do a check on a portion of our chart. We don’t have to check everything on the entire chart each year, but we do have to report something annually. The chart we voted to adopt is chart #18444, which encompasses Port Gardner Bay beginning at Possession Point to the south, the Everett water front including the mouth of the Snohomish River, up to the southern tip of Camano Island to the north.

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At that rendezvous, we check several features, both on land and in the water, engaging in a service that the United States Power Squadrons has given to the boating public for some forty years in order to help both recreational and professional boaters. This is another way we contribute to safe boating in our area. We have been supplying this service since 1963.

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Because USPS has been the leader in boating education since 1914, it is another way we serve, in this case working with the government to be sure of the accuracy of our nation’s charts. We stress the importance of using charts in our classes, and teach the various methods of using the information while we enjoy the waters. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. And please consider joining us in 2019 as we once again update the information on ‘our’ chart.  Contact P/C John Tarpley, AP

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