The folks at the United Kingdom's Hydrographic Office have been dubbed 'gangsters' by top marine industry sources for racking up their charges for copyright material.
All yachtsmen will have to pay more for their pilot books and charts as the Government office is tasked with raising even more hard cash for the Treasury.
In some cases charges have increased by 2.5 per cent as Britain seeks ever more ways of putting the economy back in the black.
If ever x marked the spot of buried treasure, the UKHO will soon be digging it up.
For the full story see Yachting Monthly January issue out soon.
Have your say!
Latest comments
December 05 13:36
Thierry Danz
How lucky we are in the US, where all NOAA nautical charts can be downloaded from the internet for free!
December 14 09:45
Boatie
Hmmmm, just compare the accuracy of said charts. You get what you 'pay' for...
January 17 20:37
DenC
Disgraceful. Another stealth tax and a bout of social engineering. Ramblers do not have to pay the new chart tax, but sailors do.