Chuckles, you're right about the "placemats" they give you for a chart. I remember this from 30 years ago. Being a New Englander, I ordered
charts in advance and brought them. I thought the placemat was a riot, but that's mostly what we used, with paper
charts used more like a logbook to write down times.
My wife and I were two of four "adults" (in our 20's) who chaperoned 19 prep school kids on a 12 day cruise in that area on three 42' charter sloops. Had the potential for all kinds of problems but they never materialized, the kids turned out okay and we all stayed out of trouble on the water and ashore and had fun.