At the end of our first year in operation, October 2012, we were delighted to report there were 27 CSIG members. At that time, some surveying and mapping was complete, IWAI Branches had started to help us financially, and as a group, we were excited and astonished at the huge task we had undertaken.
Today, two and a half years later and thanks to the support of many, we have Charts at various stages for Lough Derg, Lough Erne, Limerick, Lough Ree, Lower Shannon, the Shannon Erne Waterway and the Upper Shannon. We are currently working on the charts for the Grand and Royal Canals, the Green and Silver Route. Our membership has grown to 34 with 79 over 100 (Aug 2015) IWAI members testing the Beta 5 release.
We know IWAI members enjoy using and testing the charts produced by the CSIG and those of us involved in surveying and mapping, welcome your comments and corrections. Here is a recent example of feedback. “In a word – fantastic! ………. Particularly useful is the fact that the buoys are numbered and the depths are impressively accurate. ………. One of my favourite places is the delightful Barley Harbour. On my first visit some years ago, I was not sure of the location of the shallow area just to the NW of the approach, my props found it though! Now I look forward to regular returns to Barley with the confidence of knowing exactly where to avoid, thanks to the CSIG charting. ………. Many thanks for the extraordinary amount of time and effort you and your colleagues have dedicated to the CSIG project. For those of us who enjoy going ‘off channel’ it has opened up whole new areas to explore and enjoy with confidence.”
Come and join us, in our surveying and mapping efforts or by testing and using the Beta releases, “every little bit helps” to make the charts more accurate for all.
If you would like to read about how we got from there to here and about some of the people involved, go to From our PRO where you will find CSIG articles that have appeared in the IWAI’s Inland Waterways News (IWN), in recent years.