I always use my instruments North up. I was a surveyor for many years and
had to navigate through dense forest laying out points. All of our plans &
maps were N up so my brain will not function any other way. I navigate the
same way with charts either paper or electronic.

SilverK


"Geoff Schultz" wrote in message
.. .
"Roger Long" wrote in
:

"Geoff Schultz" wrote

I argued that N-up isn't intuitive.

For me, I find it's exactly the opposite. When I started using the
chartplotter, I though course up would be easy but I'm so used to maps
and charts that I kept finding myself confused. My brain wants to
make the conversion and have the stable reference point.

Roger Long

This is the reason that I asked this question. However, please explain to
me how what's in front of you isn't stable. I always know what's in front
of me, but I may not know which way is N without looking at an instrument
(compass.)

When I'm approaching a bouy and it's on my right side, I like to be able
to
look at the chartplotter and see a bouy on the right. I don't like having
to think, "oh, I'm headed S, so the the dislay will show it on the left."
I've also been in enough unfamiliar waters where the R/G have reversed
multiple times, so that I can't trust red-right-returning.

Have you ever entered a busy harbor at night and tried to sort out all of
the navigation lights from the shore lights and vessels operating? That
can be very hard, let alone keeping track of the N orientation.

I'm not arguing with you. I just don't think that way, or at least I find
that it takes a lot more concentration to rotate the chart to match what
I'm seeing. When you have other people on board and they're at the helm,
do they find the display confusing?

-- Geoff
www.GeoffSchultz.org