Monterey Bay, California 3D layered wood map in laser-cut Baltic birch, shown framed against a light wall
Monterey Bay, California 3D layered wood map in laser-cut Baltic birch, shown framed against a light wall
Monterey Bay, California 3D layered wood map in laser-cut Baltic birch, shown framed against a light wall
Monterey Bay, California 3D layered wood map in laser-cut Baltic birch, shown framed against a light wall
Monterey Bay, California 3D layered wood map in laser-cut Baltic birch, shown framed against a light wall
Monterey Bay, California 3D layered wood map in laser-cut Baltic birch, shown framed against a light wall

Monterey Bay, California 3D Wood Map | Laser-Cut Birch Nautical Chart

$ 298.00
Size
Frame
24.5 x 31 in
Baltic birch, hand-stained water
Up to nine laser-cut birch layers
Carved bathymetric relief, laser-etched labels
Soundings: NOAA nautical survey data
How the Water Becomes Wood

A chart is a stack of flat sheets until the water's real soundings tell it what shape to take.

  1. SurveyReal bathymetric sounding data sets every contour line before a single cut is made.
  2. CutEach depth band is laser-cut from its own sheet of Baltic birch, up to nine layers deep.
  3. StainWater layers are stained by hand, reading darker the deeper the water runs.
  4. StackThe sheets are registered and stacked in sequence, and the bed's true shape rises out of the wood.
  5. EtchDepths and place names are burned into the grain itself, never printed on it.
  6. FrameA solid Baltic birch frame and acrylic glass finish the piece, ready to hang.

Monterey Bay in stacked Baltic birch, 24.5 by 31 inches: the bay, the towns, and the underwater canyon that makes this water world-famous, carved one depth contour per layer.

The bay hides a chasm. Monterey Submarine Canyon plunges from the harbor mouth at Moss Landing to depths rivaling the Grand Canyon's scale, hauling cold, rich water up against the shore, which is why the whales feed within sight of the beach and the sea otters raft in the kelp off Cannery Row. Steinbeck's sardine street became the aquarium's address, and the whole bay became the heart of a national marine sanctuary. On the chart, the canyon is the showpiece: the layers collapse abruptly into an engraved gorge right where the flat bay floor should be.

Each contour is a separate laser-cut sheet, stacked by hand and engraved, behind acrylic glass in a solid Baltic birch frame in Dark or Light.

Kayakers float sixty feet above a canyon rim without knowing it. This chart is the reveal.

The engraving spans Santa Cruz and its wharf, Moss Landing and the canyon head, Monterey harbor, and Pacific Grove's point. Companions: Carmel and Monterey and the California Coast.

  • 24.5 × 31 in
  • Solid Baltic birch frame in Dark or Light
  • Acrylic glass front, ready to hang
  • Free next-business-day shipping on orders placed by 2 PM EST
  • 14-day returns
View details