Course Up?

[Elessar]

I have already written why i use heading up http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?406672-Course-Up&p=4907365#post4907365

Some picture of the screen of my MFD from this summer cruise, we where sailing in all these cases.

This is with track showing also

Its funny that you use these pics to show why course up is "right". My mind goes "argh" at the thought and would have to go north up. It's the way my mind sees the world. It all proves the point that its a good job the plotter gives us the choice.

 

[GrahamM376]

Its funny that you use these pics to show why course up is "right". My mind goes "argh" at the thought and would have to go north up. It's the way my mind sees the world. It all proves the point that its a good job the plotter gives us the choice.

I agree with him but would never say this is the "right" way. Having spent hundreds of hours trying to relate my ground view to an air chart, I still find it easier to do it that way on the boat. During my youth I also did quite a lot of orienteering and lesson one was/still is "orientate the map". http://act.orienteering.asn.au/coaching/intro/intro1-orientating-map.pdf

 

[knuterikt]

Its funny that you use these pics to show why course up is "right". My mind goes "argh" at the thought and would have to go north up. It's the way my mind sees the world. It all proves the point that its a good job the plotter gives us the choice.

I knew where I was coming from and where I was going. the primary use of the display in this situation is to.
a) check depths (since we where tacking close to shore)
b) Find the next sea mark to make visual confirmation of my position

I don't have that many pictures of my MFD in use, but I think the two first pics show how I use most of the available screen estate for the area ahead of me, as the boat move the chart is automatically scrolled with the boat sitting in the same spot on the screen

The last picture (with track) I had probably pushed the SHIP button centering the boat icon in the screen.

 

[Vara]

I'm with the captain, north up when planning, course up when moving.
May come from background, part 2 army map reading orientate the map.
So no spatial gymnastics required, WYSIWYG.
This approach when combined with my primitive radar which only displays course up, makes life easier.

 

[GHA]

Its funny that you use these pics to show why course up is "right". My mind goes "argh" at the thought and would have to go north up. It's the way my mind sees the world. It all proves the point that its a good job the plotter gives us the choice.

Agree with both
Though in tricky stuff it's the passage plan which gets used most with gps cog & a glance at OpenCpn as a check.

 

[RobbieW]

Just a thought here; my use of N Up is habitual, I've done it so long I dont really try anything else. I find the map twitching about very distracting, thats my experience of head up and mostly why I dont use it. I've no idea how well navigation displays are presented in aircraft as I have no experience of that, using a map on the ground and orienting it to the landscape is going to be a mostly stable image (except of course in strong winds and exposed positions); been there, done that. Theres also the thought in the back of my mind that redrawing graphics is a big way is inefficient, moving a boat shaped cursor on a stable background uses a lot less compute power - older plotters were not good at drawing graphics so the habit gets ingrained.

I can see the benefit of course up, or head with stabilisation as LadyinBed described, but doesnt switching between N and course up as suggested carry its own inherent risks? For me anyway, I think a stable map image is going to be the determining factor in which mode to use - this discussion has prompted a look at the function available on my current plotter.

 

[RichardS]

My car satnav is north up too so it's not a speed thing. I never confuse left and right but i do if on course or head up.

I've never seen north-up on a car satnav before! I didn't even know they could do that in the "active" mode. Does the motorway lane-zoom thing still work in north-up, or perhaps your satnav doesn't do that anyway?

Richard

 

[Elessar]

yeah it happens on the right half of the screen. Head up!

I also split my plotter screen sometimes. North up chart on left and head up radar on right. (because thats how it was when I had a separate radar) Doesn't cause me a microsecond of confusion or hesitation.
I now realise I am not normal.

 

[Babylon]

I now realise I am not normal.

Welcome!