On 1/27/10 11:13 AM, Frogwatch wrote:


A hand compass and paper chart of your area FIRST, before ANYTHING
else. Then, I'd spend money on a compass that actually mounts on the
boat(won't cost much). You can learn far more about navigation this
way than by having a gps. Before buying electronics, I'd also buy
safety gear including flares and good life jackets. I'd buy an
inflatable life jacket you always wear before I spent money on any
electronics. Next, consider communication. You probably already have
a cell phone so VHF can wait.
My family (myself, wife and newborn daughter) sailed for years on a
23' boat in protected waters before buying any electronics but we did
have charts and compass. Do not trust gps as your primary
navigation. Instead, use your compass, charts and depth sounder as
your primary navigation.
Now, after sailing for 23 years (and going up to a 28' boat and 2 more
kids), I have no qualms going extensive cruising without gps. I now
can afford electronics and have gps, VHF and even an auto-pilot but I
rarely use them except when out of sight of land or other markers.
Enjoy the boat and wear your life jackets.


I missed the beginnings of this thread (I really do not read many
threads in rec.boats), but I will comment on your comments.

I agree that a boater should have a compass and charts, and enough skill
or training to know how to use both. Without those beginning skills,
though, a compass and a chart aren't going to be that helpful in telling
you where you are. That's why some sort of formal nav instruction should
be mandatory for beginning boaters.

Obviously, if you are out in the Atlantic out of sight of land, and you
want to return to shore, going "west" as the compass directs probably
will get you there under most circumstances. But it might not get you to
a part of the shore where it is safe to land or even approach. A compass
and a chart aren't going to tell you that, either, if you don't know
your starting point "out there."

Spending several hundred bucks on a handheld chartplotting GPS is a good
investment. The GPS will tell you where you are, what course to follow
to get where you want to go, and will help you "track" to that
destination. If you are plying unfamiliar waters, I think you need a
compass, a chart, and a GPS.

Up here, navigation isn't too difficult. Chesapeake Bay isn't that wide
and on a clear day, you can see the Western and Eastern shores from its
middle. There isn't much you can hit that will tear out the bottom of
your boat, but there are plenty of places quite a distance from shore
where you can run aground in sand and mud. So, using a chartplotter GPS
that shows bottom depths or that helps you spot where you are on a paper
chart is a good lazyman's way to keep your boat afloat or find a harbor.

I carry two VHF radios, a fixed radio and a portable. But as you
suggest, I use my cell phone more. There are enough cell towers along
the Bay's shores that I have not once been "out of range" once. But when
we lived in Florida and occasionally went 20 miles offshore, the cell
was not useful.