Ive installed the latest 13 in air alongside my Garmin Display and have the VNF Navi app, Google or Apple Maps and teh Victron battery app up on that most of the time. Currently playing around with getting the boat fluid levels up too via the Gerbo.Of course maybe i pad is out of date / fashion
A sensible approach, Ok for bigger boats but given your fog scenario, I aim this at mainly paper chart navigators, let's say it's a small open mobo out for a day's fishing and the fog comes in. A compass and local knowledge will get you in, but now that you can put charting apps on a smart phone, using that and knowing with confidence when to make any turns and know exactly where your destination is, what's not to like?
Yes, I too have been using radar for over twenty years but I was really thinking of its use for inexperienced sailors sailing in clear daytime weather, when AIS can still be useful and a great reassurance.
That’s not a consequence of the technology. That skipper would be in trouble regardless of the decade.
I think it is. The skipper might not have gone to sea without the help from his tech. Alternatively, he might have taken charts, but then again, possibly not.
How’s that different? Idiots have always been overconfident and underprepared. Tech changes nothing in that regard.
The question is whether the technology was the cause of his predicament. I would say that it was the presence of his technology that tempted him into going beyond what was sensible or prudent. Of course, charts can blow overboard and various mishaps occur, but very easiness of navigation today must be very tempting to the less prepared.
You’re suggesting nobody was overconfident with a chart. You’re wrong. Tech isn’t the issue here, you’re showing a bias against tech.
Not at all. Although no pioneer, I got my first Decca in 1988, GPS in 1999, radar/plotter in 2000 and class B AIS about ten years ago. The point is that tech makes a major aspect of sailing much easier, which itself may lead a few without traditional skills or equipment to overstretch themselves. Of course there have always been reckless nutters such as Chay Blyth and not all of them got away with it. It is just that new tech has removed some risks, but in a few cases may have introduced others.
Owning a chart and compass had the same effect previously. Just like reading a map, how hard can it be? Nothing to do with technology despite your obvious feelings on the subject.
Wrong , to suggest that where some with ability succeed are “ reckless nutters “ because some others without ability fail is a particularly jaundiced attitude , never doubt others because of ones own limitations . This is one of the malaise of the new age
Of course Chay Blyth was bonkers, setting off without even knowing how to sail, but he was savvy enough to take a book with him to tell him how to do it. Needless to say, I only introduced him to lighten the mood. He was, though, an exceptionally resourceful individual, which most of us are not, and those who go to sea include the whole spectrum of common-sensenesses. All the advances in boating, from cheapest fibreglass boats and small diesel engines to modern navigation have helped, or tempted, many of us to take up sailing. I have no doubt that all any of us want is for sailors to enjoy the sport in safety. The large numbers involved means that a fair number of Captain Calamities will get into difficulties of their own making. The place of tech in their lives is hard to assess. I am only suggesting that as well as helping the majority it may also occasionally tempt others into going further than their abilities justify.Wrong , to suggest that where some with ability succeed are “ reckless nutters “ because some others without ability fail is a particularly jaundiced attitude , never doubt others because of ones own limitations . This is one of the malaise of the new age