Channel Waypoint Directory

[Andrew M]

Hi,

We have only been coastal for a year now, moving after years on the Thames, and are absolutely loving it. So we are novices in all things navigation wise but keep reading, studying and working to improve our understanding of it all.

From a previous boat I have a book called Waypoint Directory English Channel by Peter Cumberlidge. It is the 2nd edition and is from 2000. Does anyone know or use this book ?

Really the main question is : is the information in it relevant today or should I bin it and be looking for a more modern or revised version ?

Thanks,

Andy

 

[sailorman]

I would only read off the lat / long from a chart or use a plotter cursor to input waypoints. I would not trust a book publisher

 

[Poignard]

I would only read off the lat / long from a chart or use a plotter cursor to input waypoints. I would not trust a book publisher

The book lists suggested way points. If I decide to use one I plot it on the chart and give it a name.

I must say I have never found any mistakes in the areas where I have used the book.

My only complaint with the book concerns the waypoint numbering system used. The same way point often appears on two, or sometimes three, pages with a different number on each page.

 

[Andrew M]

Ok ,thank you gents, appreciate the comments. I won't chuck it just yet but will try building some routes with those waypoints in and just see if referring to it does help at all. I can practice over winter on the Navionics .

Thanks,

Andy

 

[prv]

I've never understood the purpose of such books. I think they became popular when people first started getting simple GPSes and dealing with lat/long as numbers rather than pencil marks on a chart, but even then a pre-computed list of waypoints seems an odd way of navigating. Nowadays with a plotter, a book of waypoints is an irrelevance.

Pete

 

[Alpha22]

There was also always the risk of having a close meeting at a waypoint with someone else using the same book!!!

 

[Poignard]

There was also always the risk of having a close meeting at a waypoint with someone else using the same book!!!

I suppose the author took it for granted that one would abide by the ColRegs.

 

[guernseyman]

The book lists suggested way points. If I decide to use one I plot it on the chart and give it a name.

I must say I have never found any mistakes in the areas where I have used the book.

My only complaint with the book concerns the waypoint numbering system used. The same way point often appears on two, or sometimes three, pages with a different number on each page.

I used it as a basis for my waypoints in the CI and around Normandy and Brittany. No problems. Except that numbering system. I went as far as tabulating the duplicates, and filled a page of A4 with typescript.

There's a booklet giving directions on circumnavigating Guernsey which suffers from a similar problem. I happen to know the author fairly well, and once suggested a notation to solve the problem. He didn't seem too impressed.

 

[Bandit]

I had one donkeys years ago and don't use it.

I place waypoints with the cursor by "observation" with the cursor ( put waypoint at cursor etc) if I don't know the area well I do it in conjunction with inspecting the chart in the likely area of the waypoint. I prefer to check on a chart as the electronic chart uses different signs and is an edited and reduced version of a chart which has much more detail.

I am nervous about going between two published waypoints in poor viz and meeting someone on a reciprocal course.

 

[LadyInBed]

I am nervous about going between two published waypoints in poor viz and meeting someone on a reciprocal course.

Yes, I wouldn't use someone else's WP's either. Also going headland to headland or port to port I don't go on the drect line, I go parallel a half to a mile off.

 

[gjgm]

Hi,

We have only been coastal for a year now, moving after years on the Thames, and are absolutely loving it. So we are novices in all things navigation wise but keep reading, studying and working to improve our understanding of it all.

From a previous boat I have a book called Waypoint Directory English Channel by Peter Cumberlidge. It is the 2nd edition and is from 2000. Does anyone know or use this book ?

Really the main question is : is the information in it relevant today or should I bin it and be looking for a more modern or revised version ?

Thanks,

Andy

Noting the point that in poor weather you dont want to start worrying if everyone is heading for the same point mid ocean, if navigation is newish to you, then yes, I think they are a useful start because if it is from something reputable, it is probably a good waypoint, lining you up, away from dangers etc. Once you have done that trip before, you probably have the confidence not to follow it too slavishly. Once you have done a few trips, you will be more relaxed at setting your own waypoints.
Just to note many of these guides etc are for sailors who are more concerned with tides and depths etc, whereas in a mobo you have that throttle and usually not that much underneath the waterline !
One thing I would recommend is that if this is new to you, at the destination end put in too many waypoints right up to the marina pontoon (well not really!) so you really can stepping-stone the last bit. Getting there and thinking oo err this doesnt look like what I was expecting, and then wondering if you missed a waypoint, and how close to the rock did I mean to be etc gives for a rather stressful arrival, espcially in the weather closes in a bit. Might be better to have all that in the plotter in advance than in a bit of panic when land,rocks sandbanks and other horrors appear on the horizon.
As you get more confident of course, you can ease up.
One of my favourite replies on this forum was to a question for navigation from Lymington to Plymouth.
Come out of the marina, and turn right-you can't miss it.
Not many waypoints in that one.