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his is an SD/MSD electronic compact flash card. (Did I get that right?) It contains all the electronic nautical maps in North America. Manufactured by Navionics, this card gets inserted into a boat’s electronic chart plotter and sets the background for the vessel’s location.

It is magic.

Combined with GPS, these chips are an amazing piece of technology. When working properly, it is almost impossible to get lost. As you can see, it weighs two grams. It retails for about $200.

Accuracy matters; 2 grams on the scale.

Now the math….

Navionics Chips There are 454 grams in a pound. So, at two grams each there would be 227 Navionics chips in a pound at a cost of $45,400 per pound.

Gasoline For those who complain about the price of fuel, a gallon of fuel weighs six pounds. At, $5 per gallon, a pound of gasoline costs 84 cents.

Cocaine? Cocaine has an expensive reputation. In Columbia, a kilo costs about $9,000. In the United States kilos run about $15,000 per kilo or $7,500 for a pound (Phys Ed major math).

I am saying a Navionics chip is six times more expensive than cocaine. Yes.

Gold How about gold? Gold is selling for around $1,900 per troy ounce. There are 12 troy ounces in a pound. So, a pound of gold is about $23,000 – half the cost of a Navionics chip-pound.

Platinum is only $1,000 per ounce; about half that of gold and not even close to a Navionics chip.

At cost per pound….

What I am saying is that per pound, these chips are one of the most expensive things on the planet.

Happy Valentine’s Day?

So, since Valentine’s Day is upon us, instead of something gold, I am going to mount Navionics chips on a necklace, perhaps with matching earrings.

Fair Winds,
Captain John Rahm
(I’ll let you know how it goes with the wife)

Captain's Blog on TownDock.net is all about making your time on the water enjoyable. Captain John Rahm teaches sailing and boat handling at Third Wave Sailing.