About the Visual Cruising Guide!

Go Charts Marine's first unique product was its affordable waterproof floating guide book which was designed to show geographically referenced information collected by our team and organized into a unique format called The Visual Cruising Guide. We supply our customers with the opportunity to purchase advertising throughout each guide as well as space online and we also provide the option for them to use our GIS Data for their own GPS or PC.

We believe that the best products are delivered to customers by working closely with both the end-users and marine businesses alike. Consequently, the Visual Cruising Guide enjoys a nationwide reputation as an excellent provider of charts and software with an innovative GPS application.

The Visual Cruising Guide is a unique product that is packed with a wide variety of useful information. It is also an excellent advertising vehicle. Whether used to cruise the open ocean, navigate a river, or hike a new trail, it is an invaluable source of information which allows users to mark their routes, and program their GPS units. It is a valuable tool for recreational boaters, marine businesses, yacht owners, kayakers, scuba divers, fishermen, travelers, cruisers and snorkeling enthusiasts alike.

The Visual Cruising Guide is a platform reaching a qualified demographic. Industry statistics for the United States market indicates a total in 2007 retail sales to be $25,593,409,000 consisting of new/used boats, motors, trailers, accessories, dive gear, and navigational charts. As of December 31, 2007 some 14,782,143 boats were registered throughout the United States, including its territories, with an estimated 69,486,000 U.S. citizens participating in recreational boating.  The Visual Cruising Guide contains all the information boaters and consumers need to know to enjoy their time on and off the water safely.

Coastal population explosion and unprecedented waterway boating intensities are stressing many of our nations water bodies (Nordheimer 2003). Fifty-four percent of the U.S. population (135.1 million in 2001) lives in the coastal zone (U.S. Bureau of Census 2004). While population growth along our coasts has increased slightly above the overall U.S. growth rate since 1960, regions such as the Gulf Coast have experienced double the national rate of change. Florida's coastal population has increased 242 percent, from 4.9 to 16.4 million, four times the national rate. As a result, many inland bay waters in Florida have been transformed into “urban seas.”

Recreational boaters and eco-tourists now use thousands of miles of channels and basins that were originally dredged as by-products of coastal development. These waterways were never designed as a transportation system and since many postdate the latest NOS hydrographic surveys, they do not even appear on NOAA small-craft charts (Antonini, Fann, and Roat 2001). This is why the V.C.G Navigation has been updating government data due the constant shoaling happening in our nation’s waterways daily and lack of current government data. State and local governments in Florida recognize the need to retrofit the thousands-of-miles of dredged channels into an integrated waterway transportation system consisting of arterial, secondary, and feeder canals, and basins. This approach is necessary to address boat traffic management issues and to reduce stress on surrounding natural habitats and waterfront communities.