Maynard G. Krebbs wrote:

snip

I think the biggest problem with all the new electronics is the faith put in
them buy unsalted owners. At times we have new people on the boats that will
lay out a GPS course and go. Then we have to remind them to look outside the
boat as they are making their way from waypoint to waypoint.




It's the mental set of the new boaters. They have been told how
wonderful the electronics are and they never question them or their
performance. It's this "blind faith" that leads to trouble.

In all fairness to the makers of the electronics, they do warn people
about the inherent problems during startup and the like but people
generally don't read that or remember it. There are similar warnings on
charts too.

The reason I want to use celestial offshore is to retain the
uncertanty in the back of my mind. That little ghost-voice saying,
"You're not really at that spot on the chart. You're somewhere around
that spot... maybe."

Great idea! I wonder, when you buy a sextant now does it have a warning
label on it somewhere too?

I never got around to playing with sextants but if I owned a cruising
boat I'm sure I would have one on board and would play with it. And
then I would then look at a GPS to see how well I was doing with it.

Has anyone ever had a GPS that generated a apparently good fix that was
grossly inaccurate? A position that had a typically good EPE but was
just flat way wrong?

If I was going to equip a life boat I might give a modern, waterproof,
handheld GPS and some batteries higher consideration over a sextant. If
I had not been found or grounded by the time that quit working, the sun,
moon, and stars would be the backup. :)

--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA - jacker at midmaine dot com