TheBoatman
New member
With the introduction of GPS and having read the posts on a previous (running) thread I was wondering whether we actually need Nav marks or, as TH and Ports Authorities like to call them "Stations".
With the introduction of GPS and subsequently chart plotters at affordable prices, even the worst navigators amongst us can now navigate a boat to very low XTE and have at their fingertips an amazing amount of extra information, TTG, VMG etc, which used to take forever to workout and normally in bad conditions, down below with your head down and starting to feel sick even in moderate seas.
If this system is linked in some way to the auto helm it becomes even easier. A navigator/owner can now state with a 95% certainty of his/her position within 10 mtrs.
Now, although I’m from the old school of navigation even I know that’s B****y close. I should mention at this point that I was one of the “close enough is near enough brigade” I.e. passage from Oostende to Ramsgate, if I hit the North Foreland within +/- 3 nm I was close enough to workout the final course to Ramsgate<s>.
For me that has now all changed and I can hit Ramsgate on the nose every time within 10 mtrs.
It now seems to me that we can sit in a harbour/marina or our own homes and make a complete passage plan including all w/points / bolt holes / calculations on point of no return marks, etc, for any trip, of any reasonable length. Having done this we can input the information into the ships navigation equipment and commence the passage without the use of any navigational marks (stations).
However, having said that, I still believe that I would like the Nav marks to be there. They are like a child’s comfort blanket; I can never pass a mark without checking the chart and plotter to see that I’m on course. I seem to need the re-assurance that I’m on course even though the GPS/Plotter tells me THAT I AM?
I have even been known to get the binoc’s out to read a distant mark and check that I’m right, sad!
I for one, have been converted from a paper chart, pencil person to an electronic navigator, I use the available electronics to aid me in getting from A to B safely and with untold precision, this can be achieved with out the use of Nav marks BUT on reflection I would still like to see them “out there”.
What do you think?
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With the introduction of GPS and subsequently chart plotters at affordable prices, even the worst navigators amongst us can now navigate a boat to very low XTE and have at their fingertips an amazing amount of extra information, TTG, VMG etc, which used to take forever to workout and normally in bad conditions, down below with your head down and starting to feel sick even in moderate seas.
If this system is linked in some way to the auto helm it becomes even easier. A navigator/owner can now state with a 95% certainty of his/her position within 10 mtrs.
Now, although I’m from the old school of navigation even I know that’s B****y close. I should mention at this point that I was one of the “close enough is near enough brigade” I.e. passage from Oostende to Ramsgate, if I hit the North Foreland within +/- 3 nm I was close enough to workout the final course to Ramsgate<s>.
For me that has now all changed and I can hit Ramsgate on the nose every time within 10 mtrs.
It now seems to me that we can sit in a harbour/marina or our own homes and make a complete passage plan including all w/points / bolt holes / calculations on point of no return marks, etc, for any trip, of any reasonable length. Having done this we can input the information into the ships navigation equipment and commence the passage without the use of any navigational marks (stations).
However, having said that, I still believe that I would like the Nav marks to be there. They are like a child’s comfort blanket; I can never pass a mark without checking the chart and plotter to see that I’m on course. I seem to need the re-assurance that I’m on course even though the GPS/Plotter tells me THAT I AM?
I have even been known to get the binoc’s out to read a distant mark and check that I’m right, sad!
I for one, have been converted from a paper chart, pencil person to an electronic navigator, I use the available electronics to aid me in getting from A to B safely and with untold precision, this can be achieved with out the use of Nav marks BUT on reflection I would still like to see them “out there”.
What do you think?
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