Useful for kayaking and trip planning. These charts can be resized without loss of clarity so that one map can provide detailed information about a small area or an overview of a large area. Currently, three charts in this format are available for download. One covers the waters around Nootka Island, including Esperanza Inlet and Nootka Sound. The second covers Cape Scott, the Scott Islands and the northern coast of Vancouver Island including parts of Quatsino Sound. The third covers the Washington Olympic coast from Cape Flattery and Tatoosh Island on the north to Ruby Beach and Destruction Island to the south.

The Washington coast is a difficult coast to map for for the kayaker. The possible landing sites vary widely depending on the tide and the swell.  Beaches often are sandy at high tide and rocky to one degree or another at lower tides. There are a huge number of off-shore rocks that play a role in the kayaking seascape, but their influence is variable depending on the tide and the direction and height of the swell. The relevant “micro” environments are hard to capture on a map.

Therefore it is hard to “plan” a kayaking trip simply off the charts. You really need about 12 versions of a map to match the various commonly encountered conditions. This chart is an initial stab at trying to provide an overview of the coast.