[Rhodes22-list] Don't Know Squat

[DCLewis1 at aol.com]

Bill & Brad,
 
I think we’re in complete agreement regarding learning navigation skills  and 
the importance of situational awareness.  What I was trying  to convey was 
the relative importance  of GPS vice a compass,  from my perspective.  For me a 
compass is commonly a steering aid - very  useful and I wouldn’t want to not 
have it, but it generally won’t tell me where  I am.  If I can’t figure out 
where I am via piloting skills (landmarks,  been here before, that sort of 
thing) the GPS, not the compass, will sort it out  quickly and also give me a lot 
of useful related info.  Compass  triangulation etc is a fall back that only 
works if you’ve got land marks.   The point I was trying to make was that I’ve 
found a handheld chart plotting GPS  to be very, very useful.  
 
Regarding situational awareness: Again I’m completely with you both.   In 
fact your comments highlight the utility of a handheld charting GPS for a  boat 
like the R22.  I carry the handheld in the cockpit and stash it in a  coaming 
when I’m not using it.  What’s going on “on the water” always takes  
precedence over the charts, GPS, or compass - crab pots, other boats, etc aren’t  on 
the GPS.  I guess I could sit in the cockpit and watch the track evolve,  but 
that’s not why we go sailing - look up, look out, see what’s going on, enjoy  
the day!  Oh, and it’s a lot safer to.
 
As to the additional information on charts that’s not on the GPS display -  
QE2 grounding, the Greek cruise ship that just sank, etc .    The same people 
that make the charts provide the data for my GPS display.   Certainly it’s 
important to correlate the two, but I think I’m just as likely to  pick up 
obstacles from my GPS display as my charts.  The spatial resolution  on my handheld 
can be much higher than the paper charts I have ( the zoom  in and out is user 
controlled) and I hope data to support that higher  resolution is embedded in 
the hand held GPS map data base.  I can tell  you that to date I haven't found 
the data on the handheld to be any worse  than the paper chart data.  But the 
real answer is to use the paper chart  data and the GPS chart data together, 
particularly in water you're not familiar  with.
 
As you can tell, I’m a fan of GPS.  I was just trying to convey that  sense 
of utility to Frazier.  I think our hand held chart plotting GPS has  been a 
good (and fun)  investment, he might consider our experience as he  decides how 
to outfit his boat.
 
Peace,
Dave 



************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.