How do you use a chart plotter?

[Nostrodamus]

When I started sailing chart plotters were not around so all my navigation was with paper charts. In those days you knew roughly where you were (most of the time) and sailed quiet happily with regular updates on the chart and a constant eye on the depth and buoys.

With the advent of chart plotters and the reliability of GPS the way I sail, especially as I am usually in unfamiliar waters has changed and I probably rely far too heavily on the plotter. I still have a chart out downstairs that I will put a plot on but that is about all. Night sailing is so much easier and safer so I do sail more than I ever did in the darkness.

Like a modern mobile phone I probably only use about 5% of the plotters capabilities. Its main use is really to see just where I am, SOG, COG and I have never even entered a Waypoint into it.

My questions are

1) How much do you use paper charts?
2) What functions do you use on your plotter and what functions should I know and be using?

 

[Piddy]

1) How much do you use paper charts?
2) What functions do you use on your plotter and what functions should I know and be using?

1. Although charts are on board and availale, I haven't used one in anger for years.

2. Routes, tidal vectors, output to autopilot (in appropriate places of course - i.e. not off course), bouy identification, WP info to Radar & instruments, distance to objects (CPA, TCPA etc.) and probably more.

Cheers

Piddy

 

[Nostrodamus]

1. Although charts are on board and availale, I haven't used one in anger for years.

2. Routes, tidal vectors, output to autopilot (in appropriate places of course - i.e. not off course), bouy identification, WP info to Radar & instruments, distance to objects (CPA, TCPA etc.) and probably more.

Cheers

Piddy

Now you are starting to speak a foreign language.
How or where can you learn all this stuff?

 

[fireball]

I use it pretty much the same as you do - I could go an enter routes and get it to control the autopilot. It shows a calculated Tidal Vector - based on the GPS speed/heading compared to the log speed and compass heading - but tbh I don't 'use' that info either.
About as much as I do do is to put a waypoint in at the destination and hit 'Goto WayPoint' - that way it tells me how far it is to go and how long it will be - not essential information though!


The other CP does have AIS on it - so it will display a ship - so I can get CPA - Closest Point of Approach - and TCPA Time to CPA ..
Again - this one is used to put in a waypoint and hit 'Goto Waypoint' ...
But it does also display the predicted tidal vectors - which is handy ... and we also use it to interogate the chart (it's colour and quicker at refreshing display - it's also not just in front of the wheel!).

 

[Sans Bateau]

I have a plotter at the wheel for pilotage and charts at the table with a Yeoman plotter (brilliant bit of kit).

Now whilst the plotter is intended as a pilotage tool, coming into Plymouth for the first time, very tired, at 03.30 on Sunday morning, I found that pilotage with the Yeoman a lot easier, lights were much easier to identify. I guess if I could have an A2 plotter that might be the answer.

 

[Twister_Ken]

I have a plotter at the wheel for pilotage and charts at the table with a Yeoman plotter (brilliant bit of kit).

Ditto.

 

[Nostrodamus]

I have a Raymarine C90W at the chart table and helm with a gold card. I have Raymarine AIS and Radar. I also have a Autohelm auto pilot.
I am sure it is a wonderful bit of kit, that is if I knew how to use it!
I have got pretty good at turning it on and off and zooming.

 

[vyv_cox]

I have a Garmin 2010 at the chart table and a digital repeater on the instrument panel above the companionway, tiller steered so no display in the cockpit. The repeater gives me distance and bearing to waypoint, COG and SOG, although Garmin calls them something else. I plot a safe course for every trip, a very simple job using only the visual functions of the plotter. I don't think I have entered a lat and long for about 15 years. When sailing we travel wpt to wpt to avoid obstacles with the option of diverting after consulting the plotter. Altering the route, adding waypoints, etc is very quick and simple if necessary.

We sailed from the Med France/Spain border to Greece, including all of Corsica, Sardinia, some of Sicily and the whole Italian west coast, using only planning charts and the plotter, no detailed paper charts whatsoever. In Greece we have all the small craft portfolios but almost never use them.

We plot our position, conditions and remarks in the log hourly, always. Even in Canal du Midi we logged every hour.

 

[Tranona]

I have 3 levels. Simple litle B&W Navman at helm for waypoints course etc and enough overview of features for pilotage. Laptop at chart table with Imray charts, tides and AIS for planning and monitoring overall progress. Paper Imray chart always on desk with position plotted on regular basis - timing dependent on type and complexity of passage.

Each person has to decide on their own way of working because the permutations are almost endless. I try to do the minimum to keep safe - so can be very busy say going through the Channel Islands to barely looking crossing the Med.

If you want to learn the capabilities, buy yourself a book on the subject, or invest in a days tuition on a one to one basis from an experienced instructor.

 

[Scotty_Tradewind]

I now have a boat full of 8year old Raymarine gizmos with all the instructions in French which tests my 3rd year French no end.
It's probably a case of going to the boat for a quiet weekend on the mooring and getting the manual out and quietly going through and trying to make head n tail of it all.
I did this last weekend with my netbook and an 'emergency' plotter programme I have on it. It wasn't seeing my GPS position and had been like that for months. A bit like being in a darkened room, I settled down with the book of words and in about an hour had it sorted.
I tend to look at the plotter far more than the charts but if sailing in unfamiliar waters then I do a sensible amount of planning with the charts and other guides/almanacs.
On longer hauls I tend to set a timer for half hour checks on my position and record it so that if all electronics 'go down' then I can get the old grey cells and the charts etc to sort out my next move.
I do have a handheld GPS so that is a quick way of helping to find out position but 'what if all the satellites get switched off'..

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

I do all my passage planning on an ipad using Navionics.
I use the plotter all the time on passage for everything.
Never put in a route. I just go to the new point I want via touch screen, using whatever autopilot mode is suited to the situation, or handsteering if i feel like it. The plotter then tells me how I am doing.

All calculations on ETA, ETE, XTE, Tide are done by the plotter and if I want to make alterations to the routing plan I can do the math in my head well enough for the purpose.

Paper charts, almanac and sextant are on board, but they are there only for safety reasons. I occasionally look at them for amusement, but unless world war 3 breaks out, GPS goes down and a Tsunami swaps my backup equipment they are not needed.

 

[Searush]

When I started sailing chart plotters were not around so all my navigation was with paper charts. In those days you knew roughly where you were (most of the time) and sailed quiet happily with regular updates on the chart and a constant eye on the depth and buoys.

With the advent of chart plotters and the reliability of GPS the way I sail, especially as I am usually in unfamiliar waters has changed and I probably rely far too heavily on the plotter. I still have a chart out downstairs that I will put a plot on but that is about all. Night sailing is so much easier and safer so I do sail more than I ever did in the darkness.

(snip)

Like you I started sailing with compass, log, sounder & chart. I saved up for an RDF, but God it was pricey (almost 70 squid! 3 weeks wages) and not that effective.

I am mostly in familiar waters so just keep a chart handy for a good over view & for detail of potential destinations in current weather. If I put it on, the chartplotter confirms my visual location checks, it also gives a clear indication of my actual predicted track, which is seldom where I am pointed due to strong tides. That is probably its greatest benefit to me, If I steer si that the predicted track is to my destination, it is easy to hold that course visually or on autopilot & check it again in 30 mins/ an hour or so & readjust.

Trying to do that with tidal calcs using estimated data is both a pain & inaccurate.

The plotter tends to be poor for overview due to screen size, & scooting off to look at other locations can be a pain, so a paper chart is ALWAYS to hand. I always make sure I know roughly (teacup circle of error) where I am, but I am seldom out of sight of land these days. If I was I would probably plot an hourly fix with course & speed on the paper chart. But my plotter is on a laptop & there can be issues with batteries or power supplies, leads, damp or whatever so I don't trust it to keep working, even tho it has not let me down yet.

 

[Piddy]

1. Although charts are on board and availale, I haven't used one in anger for years.

2. Routes, tidal vectors, output to autopilot (in appropriate places of course - i.e. not off course), bouy identification, WP info to Radar & instruments, distance to objects (CPA, TCPA etc.) and probably more.

Cheers

Piddy

I guess I should say I grew up sailing with my parents in the late 60's and 70's on boats without any of these modern tools - just a chart, trailing log and compass. We still managed to cruise the Channel Islands and Southern Brittany without getting lost.
When crusing any kind of distance, logs are kept with position records taken at least every hour, more when needed.

I love playing with the technology -even if it isn't really needed - running the CP aross the Solent to Cowes on a lovely day might seem uneccesary but it's all practise and it keeps SWMBO up to speed with what she needs to know too.

Piddy

 

[Slow_boat]

I've got my Furuno plotter wired in at last, after two years, but the display is so cluttered and laid out unlike a chart that I can't be bothered with it.

I'm not keen on gadgets or technology at the best of times.

 

[Twister_Ken]

I now have a boat full of 8year old Raymarine gizmos with all the instructions in French which tests my 3rd year French no end.

Pretty confident you could go to the Raymarine www and download English versions.

 

[Scotty_Tradewind]

Pretty confident you could go to the Raymarine www and download English versions.

Done that Ken, just a bit slow in getting to grips with the manuals. Not as user friendly as the Standard Horizon I've been used to.
ta
S.

 

[Jamesuk]

My questions are

1) How much do you use paper charts?
2) What functions do you use on your plotter and what functions should I know and be using?

1) Never
2) Planning, Route, the rest of the usual suspects Oh we also use Track with the Auto Pilot. Changes course for us! Easy! although complicated to set up. Without prior Knowledge.

 

[Goldie]

I bought a plotter (7" only) to replace my fixed GPS when the screen failed and none of the current models offered what I'd enjoyed with by Micrologic over the last 15 years. To get those features (tidal curves, celestial etc) I had to buy a plotter. That said, I suspect I'm missing something as it spends most of its time on the GPS page and not on the chart page! The only time we use the charts to any extent is for pilotage into a strange port if the route isn't immediately obvious from chart and eyeball. I'm sure it does much more.

I dislike having to zoom in to a small range to get the detail of buoyage and contours and only viewing the small area around me. For positional awareness, I much prefer a chart except in the close quarters scenario previously described.

I'm not a technopobe - you should see some of our work systems - but for me, plotters have yet to convince me although putting AIS on the plotter might do it, but for navigation purposes, the jury's still out! Anyway, I ENJOY chartwork

 

[Nostrodamus]

Is it because most sailors are older and we need our children to show us new gadgets. These things cost a few thousand pounds each and accoring to my manual they can do all sorts of things that I don't understand.
It seems like me the vast majority of people have a paper chart on their nav table because they are suppose to but it never gets used and the chart plotter is on to show where they are but that is all.
Is there anyone who uses more functions than thiis?

 

[Tranona]

If you don't understand them and want to then make the effort to find out. Just about none of it is essential for safe navigation which you can achieve with what you learned doing basic navigational theory.

However, many of the features can enhance the process and reduce the amount of work you have to do to plan and execute a safe passage. As you have seen from this thread, most people come to their own optimum set up that meets their needs.

I have a friend who custom built his own PC system with all the latest features which he delights in showing off. When he navigates for real he uses virtually none of it, relying like most people on electronically assisted traditional methods.

So, don't feel bad about only using a tiny bit of what the nerds have included in the package - use the bits that you find useful and are comfortable with. Experiment with features and use them if you find them useful.