Modern navigation practice

[QUOTE="RunAgroundHard, post: 8168481, member: 193528

Good information as we move away from paper based navigation to digital navigation.
[/QUOTE]
Why am I reminded of a bloke I met that ran his Amel 53 onto a reef due to some glitz in the maps? Autopilot didn't know the reef was there....
 
[QUOTE="RunAgroundHard, post: 8168481, member: 193528

Good information as we move away from paper based navigation to digital navigation.
Why am I reminded of a bloke I met that ran his Amel 53 onto a reef due to some glitz in the maps? Autopilot didn't know the reef was there....

The link to the RIN recommendations are worthing reading as they are trying to address weaknesses. They state in their book that they cant publish the recommendations within the book (read the intro bits to find out why). The link again.

https://rin.org.uk/page/ENavRec

Autopilots are dumb, they don't know what reefs are but no sure what that has to do with digital navigation. People do hit rocks and reefs using non digital navigation as well, obviously.

One thing that digital navigation is bad at, is getting a feel for the area, where the hazards are, just by looking at a paper chart. Of course, that too can be had by scrolling through a digital chart, but it may be a less intuitive (just an opinion).
 
One thing that digital navigation is bad at, is getting a feel for the area, where the hazards are, just by looking at a paper chart. Of course, that too can be had by scrolling through a digital chart, but it may be a less intuitive (just an opinion).

Digital seems limited and awkward for annotation too - drawing clearing lines etc or making notes.
 
Modern digital navigation software can be set to give a course between two points that will avoid any and all "charted" dangers and obstructions.
And our common disclaimer on our maps was "The absence of a feature on this map does not imply the absence of a feature on the ground". Antarctic mapping is like that, but so is charting away from commercially important areas.
 
And our common disclaimer on our maps was "The absence of a feature on this map does not imply the absence of a feature on the ground". Antarctic mapping is like that, but so is charting away from commercially important areas.

If it aint shown on the chart digital or paper or in the "wrong" place it doesn't matter you could still hit it.
 
If it aint shown on the chart digital or paper or in the "wrong" place it doesn't matter you could still hit it.
Which brings us back to the good old fashioned custom of keeping a good look out. I’ll agree that doesn’t mean that you will see a submerged obstruction, but you’re more likely to if you’re looking where you are going rather than staring at your plotter!
 
Which brings us back to the good old fashioned custom of keeping a good look out. I’ll agree that doesn’t mean that you will see a submerged obstruction, but you’re more likely to if you’re looking where you are going rather than staring at your plotter!

Why would you be staring at your plotter any more than you would be staring at your paper chart?
 
Why would you be staring at your plotter any more than you would be staring at your paper chart?
Because no one stares at a chart - you study the chart beforehand and keep it handy for reference, but because your position isn't constantly visible, you don't look at it much. It's a different style of navigation from a chart-plotter.
 
Nothing compels you to stare at a plotter.
Wives sometimes do, morally at least. There are different kinds of navigational areas, much it being pilotage for many of us. For navigation out of sight of land only occasional reference to a chart or plotter is needed as it is usual to set a course and steer by it, at least for major chunks of it. For myself, I would use the information from the plotter on a repeater, giving direction and distance to Waypoint plus SOG & COG, though others may want XTE or a rolling road. This is quite sufficient to get me from England to France or Belgium, providing I have made the right studies while planning the route.

Closer inshore I might do the same, though my route would be more complicated, nevertheless, I have often done it while coasting. In some situations, as when weaving between islands or rocks, The helm may well want a chart to hand. In the past this would have been a chart, perhaps in a waterproof case, but now a screen will serve the same purpose. It is not something I have often done out of necessity, the last occasion I think being when threading our way out of Treguier using the iPad, which took great offence at being put in the sun and shut itself down.
 
Why would you be staring at your plotter any more than you would be staring at your paper chart?
Like the others have said, it’s a bad habit. It’s the compulsion to know exactly where you are. As you’ll know, you rarely need any level of precision in position finding, especially if you’ve got some visibility, ie it’s not dark or foggy.
 
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