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Chapter 4

Equipment - Tools

It is recommended that you have the proper tools before you begin to update your charts. The following items are recommended and can be bought from any good stationer who seils brand names such as Pilot G-Tec, Staedtler, Standardgraph, Rotring and Linex.

1. Pens	You need two pens with different sizes of nib - use a 0.18mm nib to insert information and a 0.25mm nib to delete. Pilot G-Tec pens are ideał for this purpose.
2. Ink	Always use violet ink so that your updates can be clearly seen, sińce red ink disappears under the red lighting frequentły used at nighf. Updates will then also be clearly visib!e to Port State, Flag State, Class and Insurance surveyor inspection teams.
3. Pencils	A 7H is suggested for pin-pointing positions when using either a parallel rule and dividers or a tracing. For normal chart work mariners may prefer a softer pencil such as a 2B.
4. Eraser	This should be soft and used only for rubbing out pencil marks or tracks on charts or Notices to Mariners (NMs) recorded in the Paper Chart Maintenance Record (NP133A).
5. Adhesive	This is to be used when sticking NM Blocks and notes onto charts. There are many types of adhesive on the market but the product known as "Positionable Mounting Adhesive Rolls", a 3M product under the brand name Scotch™, is strongly recommended. As there is no distortion to the chart or the Błock, you will find that you can obtain a perfect fit; and it is permanent.
6. Parallel rule	There are two types - rolling and stepping; both are perfectly suitable for the purpose of plotting chart updates.
7. Dividers	Bow dividers are morę sensitive for accurate positioning.
8. Compass	With a pen attachment; this is an essential piece of equipment for updating where you have to draw iarge circles or sectors.
9. Hacksaw blade	A useful tool which you can use to draw the symbol for a cable. The blade should have about 14 teeth to 1 inch (2.5cm). Be careful to use the blade so that the pen will flow over the teeth.
10. Straight edge	A Steel straight edge, preferably 1 metre in length with a true and straight edge, is a useful tool for finding a position on a chart. It is a slower process than using a parallel rule and dividers but there is less room for error.
11. Template	With various sizes of holes; used for drawing symbols for radar and radio beaeons, smali circular limits, etc.

Use of correcting fluid or tape should be avoided, sińce these may fiake or peel during use.

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