24 May Eureka! Episode 2

Do you remember we were having problems with a couple of writable compact flash cards for Navionics charts? The first card was corrupt which affected the chart plotter. The second card was also discovered to have a corruption again causing the plotter to malfunction. After a long Internet live chat with the help desk in Massachusetts it was determined the card was not fixable and we could have replacements and they would load the US east coast on to one of the cards so I wouldn't have to spend another 2 GB of data. A small hitch was that Navionics would only post them to an address in the US.

On a trip to the supermarket we passed a shop offering next day freight service from Miami to Nassau. Could this be the solution? It was. I signed up for an account and for $8.39 we could have the parcel forwarded to the shop. Navionics dispatched and two days later I had a text saying our parcel had arrived in Miami, could I upload a copy of the invoice and it would be on it's way. The invoice showed both the unit value at $249 but there was no charge because they were replacements. Total charge to me zero so it was a surprise to be presented with a bill for $109.45 import duty and customs fees when we to pick it up from the freight company.

Customs at Nassau airport saw unit value in the description and overlooked total invoice of $0 invoking $60 duties, $40 fees and some tax. After a shark intake of breath I recovered sufficiently to question the charges. Lucky I did because the assistant agreed it was a mistake and all I had to pay was their $8 freight charge. Phew!

Did the new chip work? Yes. No problems and the had kindly loaded all the US coastal areas we'd asked for. For us far better than relying on an android tablet for navigation in busy sea lanes.