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StormJib said:
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GoneSailing said:
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StormJib said:
Each day, boat, and crew on your boat and on the dock supporting your departure will be different. I suggest Chill!. You are on holiday or vacation not working for the management of FedEx or UPS for the day. When all is done and ALL are ready to go look as the wind, weather, mood of ALL the crew and the time on the clock the head out in the easiest direction to meet your entire crews need for the evening. Very little is gained other than sweat and hassle in the "race" to try and leave the dock.

If the insurance companies and real lawyers get involved all the GPS plotters will disappear from the boats. There is simply no way to train a crew on the "safe" use of the tool and toy with the available staff on the docks. Like the swell in an unprotected anchorage using a GPS and chartplotter as your only and primary form of navigation is a time bomb that will go off with use over time. From the US Navy to the recent Volvo round the world race. Using the GPS and Chartplotter combo for actual navigation is a proven recipe for disaster. It is just a matter of time for every boat and every crew who simply follows the chart plotter around.


Dock staff are expected to explain the operation of the equipment which is materially different than training someone on how to operate the equipment. As for chart plotters they are very valuable equipment that has a role on modern sailing vessels. I will guarantee you that more mistakes are made using a sextant than using a plotter. The Volvo event was human error not plotter error. The navigator did not follow standard practice and suffered the grounding as a result. using your logic I guess I should go out into the garage and rip out my nav system in both cars. I can just imagine the conversation with the car salesman who wouldn't show me how to use my nav system. And, btw I bought the car here in the US where lawyers are clearly involved.


For the record the Vesta accident happened due to inadequate navigation planning, loss of situational awareness by the skipper, and most importantly reckless and improper operating of the chart plotter by Wouter Verbraak one of the best sailing navigators on the planet. There were no issues with the GPS. It was the reliance and improper used of the chart plotter for navigation that wreck the boat. Any crew that simply follows the chart plotter around and uses the chart plotter as the primary tool for navigation is an accident waiting to happen. Only the ignorant and inexperience will deny that. I personally would not referenced I was trained on anything by a car salesman or boat salesman for that matter.

Back to the chart plotter it would easily take more than one hour for skilled instructor to teach the knowledgeable navigator the limits on any one specific GPS and Chartplotter combination. Those talents nor time exist on the standard charter dock. The GPS and Chartplotter on the standard charter boat in not a safe nor proper tool for primary navigation and is nothing more than a toy. The person(prudent mariner) on the dock was more than correct if he or she said "I will not show you how to use this for navigation".


With all due respect you are being arguementitive and critical of people who have a different point of view. Good luck with that endearing trait.

Be Happy or Leave