On another forum site I came across a link someone had posted of a link to the 1995 pdf version of Bowditch. They thought they had found gold because it was a "free" link. Well.....the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency makes Bowditch (the latest version, 2002), and every other pub. available in pdf format for free. I keep them on my laptop that I take to the boat with me. You can get sailing direction (pub.120, 140, 160), world port index (150), site reduction tables(vols. 1 through 6), etc. etc. etc. ALL FREE. Here is the link, Maritime Safety Information
Check the "Find..." section on the left of the screen for the publications section. They also list Local Notice to Mariners, and even current locations of MODU (Mobile Offshore Drilling Units). Also check the Nautical calculators link. Very cool site. Enjoy.
They're funny folks who resented being forced to deal with non-military users. For many years they refused to make Bowditch available in one PDF file, claiming no one could handle a file that large. Then, claiming THEY owned the copyright to their version, because it has their logo interspersed in it. Complete with a duplicate chapter number and bad indexing.
As of today they say "The American Practical Navigator can be downloaded as a single file by selecting the hyperlink below. An individual Section, Chapter or Table can be viewed and downloaded by selecting it from the Chapters pull-down list and clicking the Download button." except, there are no hyperlinks to click. (Yawn.)
If anyone wants a one-piece PDF version with no NGIA logos and better indexing, I'll be glad to email it to anyone who can out it on a publicly accessible web site. (Offer limited to US citizens, since I know "we the people" are the copyright owners, and I have no idea if non-citizens are allowed the same free use.) It's about a 40MB file--don't ask for it unless you can take it. FTP or HTTP direct transfer is best, feel free to PM me to set that up to you.
If anyone wants a one-piece PDF version with no NGIA logos and better indexing, I'll be glad to email it to anyone who can out it on a publicly accessible web site. (Offer limited to US citizens, since I know "we the people" are the copyright owners, and I have no idea if non-citizens are allowed the same free use.) It's about a 40MB file--don't ask for it unless you can take it. FTP or HTTP direct transfer is best, feel free to PM me to set that up to you.
hellosailor,
PM me and we can work the details.
I have an FTP enabled web site I can post the manual to. I can make the manual availabel to the publiuc. My only concern is bandwidth. My site limits me to 5GB per month.
I see the hyperlink.......? It says "download publication" and there it is?? Sorry if anyone had trouble with it. Don't try to download the individual chapters from the pull down list, right above the pull down list, in its own section is the "complete download". It's also a single file thats downloaded as a zip at 35MB.
Also all other pubs. are available as single downloads.
Bob Chaisson asked commented on where to download Bowditch in another thread, here was my response. Just thought I'd bump this thread for anyone who would like to know where to download free Pubs.
If you do a search on the web, you can find and download this publication in its entirety free of charge. I did, can't remember from where though.
Bowditch can be downloaded from the National Gespatial Intelligence Agency in pdf format. Also, you can get chart no.1, USCG light List, World Port Index, Sight Reduction Tables (both air and marine), and a few other Pubs. I had posted the links awhile back to almost zero fan fare (i even got a complaint, go figure). The complaint was that you have to download each chapter THIS IS NOT TRUE. You can download the complete Bowditch, 35MB.
From this link choose the Pub you desire in the "Menu Options" drop down list . Bowditch is American Practical Navigator. You will then come to the "Download Publication" selection. You can choose to download the complete pub, or individual chapters. Enjoy
"The complaint was that you have to download each chapter THIS IS NOT TRUE."
It is no longer true--but was true for the longest time. The folks at NGIA said (more or less verbatim) "Our users are military agencies and they don't have the bandwidth for 35MB downloads, we aren't concerned about civilian users and have no plans to make it available as one file." That was maybe 4-5 years ago. It sounded like they were just pissed off because someone told them "Yes, you have to eat your spinach" and they didn't want to bother making a proper PDF file. They also claimed (AFAIK incorrectly) that THEIR version could not be legally copied, because the copyrighted [sic] NGIA logo appears in several place in it. And, they password protected that against changes.
NGIA also had at least two chapters with the same name, different contents, and the PDF version pagination (page numbers in the PDF versus page numbers in the book index and page footers) was totally fubar.
There's an unauthorized single PDF version that might be found on the web, which corrects all those errors. In case the NGIA hasn't gotten around to it yet.
As of today they say "The American Practical Navigator can be downloaded as a single file by selecting the hyperlink below. An individual Section, Chapter or Table can be viewed and downloaded by selecting it from the Chapters pull-down list and clicking the Download button." except, there are no hyperlinks to click. (Yawn.)
......It is no longer true--but was true for the longest time. ...That was maybe 4-5 years ago......... There's an unauthorized single PDF version that might be found on the web, which corrects all those errors. In case the NGIA hasn't gotten around to it yet.
So in your first post you say it isn't available as a complete download, now today you say it is but it wasn't "for the longest time". It has been available as a complete download for at least as long as I posted this thread.
You claim it has a few issues and errors, but I can't seem to find those on my copy. I will look it over more thouroughly just in case though.
You say "that was maybe 4-5 years ago", did you look to see if anything had changed, or are you still going off of your experience from 4-5 years ago? Maybe things changed for the better, maybe not? When you say "In case the NGIA hasn't gotten around to it yet", it leads me to believe you haven't checked though.
Finally, you say there is another version out there on the web that is better (without claimed errors). Do you have the link? If it is indeed better, that would be a great resource for everyone interested in keeping an electronic copy, myself included.
Speaking of NGIA downloads... does anyone know of a free software viewer for their Digital Nautical Chart products? I've got the freebie Offshore Navigator software Maptech hands out with their waterproof chartbooks, but haven't been able to find any information on whether or not it will read the DNC vector charts. Whatever their other virtues, the NGIA haven't gone out of their way to make things accessible, even when they are available.
"the NGIA haven't gone out of their way to make things accessible, even when they are available. "
That's because they don't want to deal with these damned civilians, who act as if they own the government and pay everyone's salaries.
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
Linear Mode
