Back to basics

[kdf]

Now I'm a technology man - I have plotters, PC's, multiple GPS's etc but I have, in the past taken their availability for granted. Anyway I took a boat across the Irish sea last week but this time I decided I'd switch off the chartplotter and do it the old fashioned way - tide tables, drift calculations, EP's etc. I switched on the plotter from time to time only to confirm my paper plot.

What did I find:
-It was fun.
-I was rusty.
-I got better as the day progressed
-I need to do it more often.

It was nice to get back to real navigation!

 

[rogerroger]

so was yours the boat sticking out of Fastnet Rock as we rounded it last Monday?

Roger Holden
www.first-magnitude.co.uk

 

[Guest]

Max Frisch said of technology :-

" The knack of so arranging the world that we need not experience it "

There is no doubt that we have a slightly less feeling of achievement than our grandads did but on the other hand we stay drier longer and have more toys to play with !

 

[Guest]

It's true to say that all the gizmos are merely aids to navigation, and should be treated as such. Using them instead of navigating the vessel yourself will only end in tears, as you have already found out when you discovered how rusty you can get by not using your basic skills more often.

 

[cgull]

Was that on a Challenge yacht? Which one.and who was skipper?

 

[billmacfarlane]

Funnily enough my wife and I were just talking about the very same subject last night. We were talking about our proposed Irish trip this summer and I said I'd like to navigate without using the gizmos and electrickery , not that I've got anything against the gear. What we're going to do is simulate a total electric failure and navigate using mechanical log , compass etc , but keep writing the GPS derived position in the log. Then we'll compare results . Bet you I'll be miles out.

 

[rogerroger]

Yup, McNicolas - formerly TeamSpirIT. Skipper Pauls Horsford, blummin good bloke.

Great trip - just didn't sleep so still catching up!

Roger Holden
www.first-magnitude.co.uk

 

[kdf]

I think we take the availability of GPS for granted- What if it doesn't work. I don't have a decca any more, or a RDF (useless anyway) so GPS or DR is the only way to figure out where you are. Now I wouldn't go to sea without a GPS and a backup on board and I always transfer the gps position to a paper chart at regular intervals but that only works if you have a working gps. What's being lost is the ability to work out drift, leeway etc and all the other factors that come into play and still get an accurate fix.

I think that working out your position manualy and then comparing it to the gps is the best and safest way - you get to validate your own maths and work on improving the result while at the same time being reassured that you are where you think you are.

 

[billmacfarlane]

Yup , I agree that we all take the availability of GPS for granted and we all should navigate from first principles but I bet a lot of skippers use GPS derived positions on their charts with only a cusory check to see if it looks OK. I do , which is why I want to do it using DR only to see how bad I am.

 

[tcm]

Re: How basic is basic?

I wonder how many vikings scoffed at the idea of paper and pencils? These new-fangled ideas would have meant that sailors would lose the time-honoured methods of navigating by stars, by sniffing the air, tasting the sea, checking seagulls, sitting on tops of masts and so on.

Flying aeroplanes, somewhat more dangerous if lost, one oftern uses single rdf beacons rather than a load of gps satellites.

Finally, doesn't one have to be fairly long-handed(?) to afford a crew memebr who knows what s/he's doing to concentrate upon navigating full time?

Unsurprisingly, I use gps-derived positions transferred to paper.

 

[tome]

Last year I took my sextant for an outing on a x-channel trip. Hadn't used it for donkeys years so v rusty, but managed a sun-run-meridian eventually using Tom Cunliffes excellent astro-nav book to crib from, and compared results with GPS on return. EP Results were within a couple of miles of GPS so not too bad, but it took me a long time to get used to handling the sextant and to bring the sun down to the horizon. Also, I used GPS for time and the electronic log for run distance so didn't fully simulate a blackout.

Now resolved to do this at least once a season to keep my hand in, it's surprising how quickly you lose basic skills. Might also invest in a mechanical log as backup. I've also been rating my chronometer and wristwatch against GPS time.

Interesting thread! As Cornishman says, the gizmos are only aids and can/will fail.

PS I wouldn't want to go back to RDF!

 

[billmacfarlane]

Agree about the RDF. Why did we bother ? I was in thick fog on a Channel crossing and I took back bearings on a couple of French RDF stations. The derived position agreed almost perfectly with my DR position. I should have known better. Both were MILES out.

 

[Guest]

If you want to have fun all of the time, I could help by taking all of your electronic gizmos for you

 

[bedouin]

Yes - however it is only the men who are topless

 

[cgull]

was 1st mate Michelle?