# NGA Sailing Directions, URLs for direct downloads



## TradewindSailing

Cam pointed out in http://www.sailnet.com/forums/private.php?do=showpm&pmid=31028
what a wonderful resource National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is. But I find it rather annoying how they hide the links for downloads, especially if I want more than one file.

I have been maintaining a list of URLs to the files and thought I would share them here.

Unfortunately you still have to unzip the files and run the executable to get to the PDF files.

Please report any broken or outdated links via PM, I will then edit and correct the original post to keep the list current.

Links tested and valid as of 20071124

*Sailing Directions Planning Guide*
Planning Guides include relevant physical, political, industrial, navigational and regulatory information about the countries adjacent to a particular ocean basin in a single volume.

Pub. 120 - Pacific Ocean and Southeast Asia, 2007
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub120/120setup.zip 
Pub. 140 - North Atlantic, Baltic Sea, North Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea (Planning Guide), 2007 
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub140/140setup.zip

Pub. 160 - South Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean (Eroute), 2007 
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub160/160setup.zip

Pub. 180 - Arctic Ocean (Planning Guide), 2007 
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub180/180setup.zip

Pub. 200 - Antarctica (Planning Guide and Enroute), 2007
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub200/Pub200setup.zip

*Sailing Directions Enroute*
Enroute include detailed coastal and port approach information, supplementing the largest scale chart of the area. Each publication is subdivided into geographic regions, called sectors, which contain information about the coastal weather, currents, ice, dangers, features and ports, as well as a graphic key to the charts available for the area.

Pub. 123 - Southwest Coast of Africa (Enroute)
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub123/123setup.zip

Pub. 124 - East Coast of South America (Enroute)
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub124/124setup.zip

Pub. 125 - West Coast of South America (Enroute)
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub125/125setup.zip

Pub. 126 - Pacific Islands (Enroute), 2005
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub126/pub126.zip

Pub. 127 - East Coast of Australia and New Zealand (Enroute), 2004
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub127/pub127.zip

Pub. 131 - Western Mediterranean (Enroute)
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub131/131setup.zip

Pub. 132 - Eastern Mediterranean (Enroute)
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub132/132setup.zip

Pub. 141 - Scotland (Enroute)
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub141/141setup.zip

Pub. 142 - Ireland and the West Coast of England (Enroute)
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub142/142setup.zip

Pub. 143 - West Coast of Europe and Northwest Africa (Enroute)
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub143/143setup.zip

Pub. 145 - Nova Scotia and the Saint Lawrence (Enroute), 2005
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub145/145setup.zip

Pub. 146 - Newfoundland, Labrador, and Hudson Bay (Enroute), 2005
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub146/146setup.zip

Pub. 147 - Caribbean Sea - Volume I (Enroute)
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub147/147setup.zip

Pub. 148 - Caribbean Sea - Volume II (Enroute)
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub148/148setup.zip

Pub. 153 - West Coasts of Mexico and Central America (Enroute), 2007
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub153/153setup.zip

Pub. 154 - British Columbia (Enroute), 2007
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub154/154setup.zip

Pub. 155 - East Coast of Russia (Enroute), 2007
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub155/155setup.zip

Pub. 157 - Coasts of Korea and China (Enroute), 2007
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub157/157setup.zip

Pub. 158 - Japan - Volume I (Enroute), 2007
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub158/158setup.zip

Pub. 159 - Japan - Volume II (Enroute)
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub159/pub159.zip

Pub. 161 - South China Sea and The Gulf of Thailand (Enroute), 2007
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub161/161setup.zip

Pub. 162 - Philippine Islands (Enroute), 2004
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub162/pub162.zip

Pub. 163 - Borneo, Jawa, Sulawesi, and Nusa Tenggara (Enroute), 2005
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub163/pub163.zip

Pub. 164 - New Guinea (Enroute), 2004
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub164/pub164.zip

Pub. 171 - East Africa and the South Indian Ocean (Enroute), 2004
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub171/pub171.zip

Pub. 172 - Red Sea and the Persian Gulf (Enroute), 2007
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub172/172setup.zip

Pub. 173 - India and The Bay of Bengal (Enroute), 2007
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub173/173setup.zip

Pub. 174 - Strait of Malacca and Sumatera (Enroute), 2004
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub174/pub174.zip

Pub. 175 - North, West, and South Coasts of Australia (Enroute), 2004
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub175/pub175.zip

Pub. 181 - Greenland and Iceland (Enroute)
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub181/pub181.zip

Pub. 182 - North and West Coasts of Norway (Enroute), 2007
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub182/182setup.zip

Pub. 183 - North Coast of Russia (Enroute), 2005
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub183_new_edition/pub183.zip

Pub. 191 - English Channel (Enroute), 2007
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub191/pub191.zip

Pub. 192 - North Sea (Enroute), 2007
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub192/192setup.zip

Pub. 193 - Skagerrak Kattegat (Enroute), 2004
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub193/pub193.zip

Pub. 194 - Baltic Sea - Southern Part (Enroute), 2007
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub194/194setup.zip

Pub. 195 - Gulf of Finland and Gulf of Bothnia (Enroute)
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub195_new_edition/pub195.zip


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## camaraderie

I am making this a sticky so it will always be easily available! thanks TWS!


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## sailingdog

Thanks TWS...


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## xort

Why aren't Sailing Directions for the east & west coast of the US included?


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## TradewindSailing

xort

what you are looking for is the "United States Coast Pilot", available in several chapter from NOAA, not NGA. I'll try to compile a list of links for that too.


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## xort

Ahh, of course, forgot about the coast pilot.
Thanks


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## bigoceans

Hi! Is anyone able to do me a really big favour, and copy the PDF's which are embedded in the .exe setups for 120setup.zip? I desperately need to read the contents of the file, but I'm on a Mac. God, I have no idea why the NGA make it so difficult - Why not just distribute the PDF? Why make an installer/wrapper just to show what is a PDF on the inside anyway?

Nick
bigoceans.com


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## btrayfors

Nick,

If you'll shoot me an email I'll send you the PDF.

bill at wdsg dot com

Bill


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## sailingdog

If I get enough requests for this, I could host the PDFs on one of my webservers. BTW, if you rename the file .zip, Stuffit or many of the other decompression utilities should open the file without much trouble. I'm on a mac too.. 

Bill-

Be aware that many mail servers don't accept attachments over 5 mb in size.



bigoceans said:


> Hi! Is anyone able to do me a really big favour, and copy the PDF's which are embedded in the .exe setups for 120setup.zip? I desperately need to read the contents of the file, but I'm on a Mac. God, I have no idea why the NGA make it so difficult - Why not just distribute the PDF? Why make an installer/wrapper just to show what is a PDF on the inside anyway?
> 
> Nick
> bigoceans.com


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## bigoceans

TradeWind.. I made a very stupid mistake - I said 120.zip, but I actually meant 160.zip - I will need 120.zip, but right now I need to get across the Atlantic before the South pacific pilot becomes any use 

Sorry mate, is it possible to help me out again with the contents of 160.zip? I tried to PM you, but I'm restricted as a new user...

-sorry, nick


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## bigoceans

No luck on renaming the .exe to zip or rar... Argh!


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## sailingdog

BTW, IIRC, that trick only works if they were using a Zip file self-extracting file. If they're using some other compression algorithm, I doubt it'll work.


bigoceans said:


> No luck on renaming the .exe to zip or rar... Argh!


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## bigoceans

Ah ok, I figured that might be the case about the .exe.. Anyway, thanks Tradewind, all sorted now!

I had another question - Someone mentioned there are big raster based pilot charts of the South Atlantic from NOAA, or NGA, which you could actually download and get printed for navigation. I have no idea if this is true, or what the implications are, but that's one I've been told. Can any Americans enlighten me on the subject?

nick


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## camaraderie

bigO...pilot charts are planning charts...not navigational charts. There are pilot chart links here...just enter into search...and you will find many that have been added in the last week or so. 
If it is REAL navigational charts you are looking foor, then I am not aware of any free ocean charts BUT the entire USA coast and PR and the USVI are available for both viewing and download for free. Here's a pdf of what you can get for free:
http://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/chartcatalogs/Sailing-General_10_Jan_06.pdf


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## hellosailor

Nick-
"I have no idea why the NGA make it so difficult"
Very simple, really. I had a discussion with someone there some years ago and asked why they were doing something in a particularly cumbersome way. I was told "that's because we're a government agency and we are here to serve the military and other agencies not civilians" and the way it was said made it clear that the huge civilian presence (and burden) was something they had a great distaste for.
If NGA (which really should be called NGSIA or NGIA, but no, they have to compete with the other 3-letter agencies) had their way, they'd cut off access to everyone who wasn't coming from a .mil or .gov address. There's a lot of that mindset in too many agencies, who forget the damned hoi-poloi pay the bills.


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## bigoceans

Ok, well that clears things up for me re navigation charts. As I said, someone informed me the NGA kept high resolution (45mb images) which showed navigational routes, wind statistics, and a lat+long grid which one could navigate on. This was after I told him I was going to spend $90 on gnomic charts for the South Atlantic. Clearly I was excited about the prospect of spending that $90 on something else... However, you seem to have burst that myth - I was somewhat suspect myself.

As for the NGA. Well, that seems like pretty childish behaviour - Intentionally making things difficult. In fact, packaging up PDF's in .exe's would be more work for the agency... If they had any sense at all, they'd simply dump everything in a public FTP folder, and let the public scavenge the bits without complex drop down menus, installers and other oddities. This would be far simpler for everyone concerned.

nick


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## halyardz

Camaraderie, many thanks for the links. I too have struggled a bit with the gov sites and decided to just grab the Explorer Chartbook set for our Feb 07 run from FLA to Abacos.


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## Plumper

This is very handy.

Thanks
Gaz


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## camaraderie

Halyardz...you are welcome...and you got the RIGHT charts! 
Some info on the crossing here:
http://www.sailnet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23916


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## blowinstink

This is fantastic!

I wanted to point out that the links to the Carribean Sea I & II are both not working. If I understood the root website well enough, I would offer new links, but unfortunately I am not able to yet.


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## camaraderie

http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub147/147setup.zip

http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub148/148setup.zip

blowinstink...try these links...I just tested them for Carribean 1 & 2


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## blowinstink

Cam -- you're like my personal guide this evening! Thanks.


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## Martinini

Just go here,( nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/nsd/cpdownload.htm) and you can download Coastal Pilot Charts for anywhere in the US for Free. NOAA Site


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## justonemoreproject

*than*

Thanks for posting. Going to all those links will keep me busy for a long time!!


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## zAr

You should regard anything as suspect when it describes one of the languages of Greenland as "Eskimo".

But I expect no less of US "intelligence" services.

Or actually, of any intelligence service...*sigh*


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## steve95702

I am making this a sticky so it will always be easily available! thanks TWS!


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## Razcar

Firefox has a plugin called DownThemAll that does the tedious work of clicking on links to download files for you. Just an idea.


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## lavidanueva

most of these are 404 page not found errors for me!


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## hellosailor

Maritime Safety Information

NGA has a new portal page, access everything through that.

They could have left "redirect" message stubs on all the old pages but, of course, they are not required to make anything easy.


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## fuddless

I believe that you need 10 posts at least to make links work.


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## jdazey

Found this thread browsing the site. The links don't work, but searching NGA + pub # gets to pdf files, no zip needed. Many thanks to Camaraderie.

Cheers,
Joe


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## Neilnt

Thank you!


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## Washaki

But I expect no less of US "intelligence" services.
You should regard anything as suspect when it describes one of the languages of Greenland as "Eskimo".


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## hellosailor

Joe, after a decade you can expect links to expire and web sites to change. [Note to the mods, really good web sites run automatic LINK CHECKERS to flag and correct that problem.]

AFAIK the NGIA (there's no excuse for the hyphenation in the Colonial language, someone was just stuck on being one of the "three letter" agencies) was formed mainly from classified assets, mainly military imaging, and for years they resented dealing with civilians in any way. They claimed that the PDF form of Bowditch was "their" copyrighted material, because they had logos appearing in it. Hopefully the starched colllars have loosened up or moved on by now.(G)


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## TakeFive

OK, my BS filter is starting to get overloaded.

It's fashionable today to try to tear down all governmental institutions. It's also common to just make stuff up, and to cynically put things, especially references to intelligence, into "scare quotes".


Washaki said:


> But I expect no less of US "intelligence" services.
> You should regard anything as suspect when it describes one of the languages of Greenland as "Eskimo".


I'm not a language expert by any stretch, but can you provide proof that "Eskimo" is not one of the Greenlandic Inuit languages?


hellosailor said:


> ...AFAIK the NGIA (there's no excuse for the hyphenation in the Colonial language, someone was just stuck on being one of the "three letter" agencies) was formed mainly from classified assets, mainly military imaging, and for years they resented dealing with civilians in any way...


Can you provide evidence of this? Several years ago when I was having a hard time tracking down some NGA charts that I wanted, I learned that NGA had gotten in trouble for sharing them too openly with the public because those charts included information that other nations had shared with the US under expectation of secrecy. Those charts were promptly removed from their website. This wasn't done due to resentment, in fact it was quite the opposite, since they had previously been sharing too openly and got their hands slapped by other NATO countries.


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## capta

I couldn't get any to open, but if these are the "Sailing Directions" or "Pilot Books" we had when I circumnavigated, it's no loss that they have been replaced by Cruising Guides and the internet for us. Much of the one I used on the east coast of OZ was based on information supplied by Cook and Bligh; true story.
Hardly "sailing" directions, they were published for commercial shipping and things mentioned such as a 'small boat channel' were plenty big enough for a pretty fair sized yacht (100+ feet). If you could imagine yourself standing on the bridge of a 600 to 1000' plus foot freighter then they could be helpful, as they were the only game in town. But it took a lot of interpolation for small sailing boat use.
The American ones were loose-leaf binders, so updating them was fairly easy as the updates were distributed as pages. The British ones were bound books. Don't remember how we updated them.
I still have a few around just for curiosity's sake, but I doubt that they will be used in earnest ever again.
Say a hearty thank you to all those who put the effort into writing and publishing cruising guides for us. Much more useful and accurate for our purposes than what was before.


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