In fact, I've been making BSB-formated charts for our charting program from geo-referenced Google Earth pictures for a couple years now. Those were invaluable when exploring deep into the Aves and around the Rosarios. You can even control the transparency and overlay them on regular charts. It does require good Google Earth images, so a lot of the San Blas isn't available. A fellow cruiser has even written software to make it all very easy to do. Google GE2KAP for his software (PC only).

Our iPod running Navionics is never connected to the internet (ever) and we have not had any issues running their software app or using their charts at all. Both the app and purchased charts have operated flawlessly for a year now.

I did a quick, cursory google search for problems with Navionics and came up empty. Yours is the only problem I have heard about.

You will be waiting a long time for software apps that allow you to use charts already purchased for another purpose. After all, for $15, Navionics sells the exact same charts for the iDevices as they sell for chartplotters and computer software for $300+. I don't know what the future of the traditional fixed chartplotter and computer navigation will be, but Navionics is certainly pricing products well for handheld devices. iNavX is the same - they make you pay again for their iDevice NV charts, even if you already have their $300 sets on your computer or chartplotter.

It costs them money to reformat and compile those charts for iDevices - they aren't just the same charts on another platform. I don't begrudge them making me pay $15 to duplicate my $300 set of charts on an entirely new form factor, hardware platform and operating system.

And what company allows you to move your charts all around? My Cmap, NV and BSB charts on my computer are not transferable to my Furuno chartplotter, and Coastal Explorer will not let me use my Cmap charts at all. I don't know about others - does Raymarine, Garmin and Simrad allow any chart of any format that one happens to have on another chartplotter or computer to be used on their hardware? Do they give you a free unlock code for duplicate charts if you already own those charts on a different hardware platform?

I think your stand on principal will cause you to miss out on some interesting opportunities in the near future.

Mark