sat navs/chart plotters

gregandginas said:
Hi Lisa,

Apologies if I've come across as having anything against anyone "asking questions [...] some of [which] are going to sound absurd": I'm also here to learn from the experience of others... and this time last year I was asking absurd questions on the navigation front - in my case looking for overly complicated navigational solutions.

I guess I took exception to what seemed to be a desire to skip the learning curve: to have a "simpleton's" chartplotter simply remove all the responsibility for actually being a skipper - an attitude which does seem all too common around the coast, not least amongst folk who seem to think a powerful motor and a vessel that shift at a great rate somehow turns the sea into a big-kid's playground.

Seems to me there's no shortcut to experience... and that screwing up along the way is (alas) part and parcel of learning through experience... but as I see it there's never any real excuse for not understanding the theory - hence suggesting dayskipper.



Putting it into practice is obviously a whole different ball game... and is obviously the more important ball game... but at least if you know what you SHOULD be doing, you can struggle purposefully when things start going wrong :)

Greg.
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Thanks Greg.

Absolutely no offence taken:)
I will ask for and take all the advice I am given and any constructive criticism I get along the way. It's all part of the learning curve which I am really looking forward to so I don't plan to skip any of it.
The plan?...Simply to make slow and steady progress so we can enjoy what will hopefully be a lifetime of boating.
First stop...Norfolk!! (just kidding :D)

Lisa
 
navman 5500

Hi buy yourself a tom tom & i will gladly make you an offer for your Navman 5500,regards mm1.ps.p m me if you want to sell it,mm1.
 
lisilou said:
the stringy things (ropes i think they're called)
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Ahem. Not sure if you said that with your tongue firmly in cheeks, but considering what you wrote in your profile (Need to learn boating jargon and QUICK!), I hope you don't mind if I point out that...

[pedant mode on]
...nope, they're actually called lines! :D
[pedant mode off]

PS: welcome to the madhouse!
 
Blimey, and I called myself pedant!... ;)
...shall we also say that when stored they are still ropes and not yet lines, and that there's a rope attached to the bell?
Or possibly that there are belt ropes, halyards, sheets...

But don't worry Lisa, you don't really need to learn the whole boating jargon.
After many years and some thousands miles, my wife still says left for port and right for stbd, and she's happily afloat regardless!
 
MapisM said:
Ahem. Not sure if you said that with your tongue firmly in cheeks

[pedant mode on]
...nope, they're actually called lines! :D
[pedant mode off]

PS: welcome to the madhouse!
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Tongue definitely and quite firmly in cheeks :D and lines, ropes, warps, stringy things...as long as they hold the boat securely, I'm a happy bunny :)

Thanks MapisM, pleased I found the madhouse as I have a feeling I'm gonna be ever grateful for it.

Lisa
 
I m sure all will be clearer after your course, but I would second the idea of buying a chart for your local area. They cost about £15. On your boat, it will be damn hard to use under way, but lay the chart out on the kitchen table at home and spend a little time looking at what all the symbols mean (usually on the reverse side), the actual coastline,particularly any overfalls, bouys into harbour mouths etc. There is a staggering amount of info.
What you do get from a paper chart is the perspective. I think you ll find the plotter much easier to grasp once you have even a basic understanding of a chart.
I tended to use Garmin, but my plotter now is Raymarine. It took me ages to get get to grips with it, but its a bit like mobile phones.. you just need to get used to each manufacturer's menus !
But no, its not point and go ! You make a route by building stepping stones if you like(called waypoints), and then link them together to form a route. The simplest would be start and finish, but usually there is some land or dangers en-route that its a good idea to skirt around!
 
Also get a copy of Chart 5011 - its not really a chart, but a booklet of all the chart symbols. Very useful when learning (and even afterwards).
 
lisilou said:
Now, bearing in mind this is our very first boating venture, we honestly thought it would work the same way as a car sat nav (yeh yeh i know there are obvious differences ;) ) i.e put in your destination and it would plot the route for us.
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With all the argy bargy no-one seems tyo have taken the trouble to explain the fundamental difference between and in-car SatNav and a GPS/Plotter in your boat.

Your TomTom or similar you put in the postcode or whatever and it computes the route for you and holds your hand thru the journey - left here - right here etc.

With a boat's GPS plotter you have to do the donkey work - you put in waypoints (checkpoints by any other name) that join-the-dots make a route to your destination. What the GPS then does is tell you where you are in relation to that route - you can set it up to show you how far off course you have gone, it shows how far you have yet to travel, and lots of other useful stuff.

The key is - it is - or can be - complex. The training course you are going on will show you the basics but there's no substitute for getting out the manual and getting to grips with it to see what it can really do. One tip - don't try to implement all you read in one go - get really familiar with two or three major or key functions and then expand your repertoire as you go. When you find it does all that you need it to do - stop reading. :)
 
I went to the IoW the day after I bought my chartplotter. It's not that difficult - truly.

A lot of people seem a little too risk averse IMO. I took no risks and had no trouble and learnt a lot.

Jump in at the deep end I say - just use your common with regards to weather, currents and hazards.
 
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