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Well, I also had a compass, depth sounder, charts, and the knowledge of how to
use them. RDF is certainly less than perfect, but its a lot better than you claim. It was considered to be accurate to 2 degrees, but I generally assumed I'd get no better the 5 degrees with my small unit. However, when you're running down the coast wondering if you've passed Portland or Monhegan the RDF is very handy. There were a large number of radio beacons back then, so they were quite useful for navigation. A number of them had radio signals synchronized to fog signals, so it was possible to determine distance off. Jaxie, millions of people sailed before the GPS was invented. Just because you're scared ****less to go anywhere without three of them doesn't mean everyone else is. Your story (lets be honest, its a "fantasy," right?) doesn't hold water. The light at Diamond Shoals is miles away from the shoals and visible for 18 miles. If you had any experience in using a gps or even your depth sounder, you would have had no trouble finding it. Getting "within 20 seconds of turning back" is NOT something that happens to an experienced mariner in this situation. As for the sextant, I never, ever made the claims that you say. In fact, I've probably said its not worth learning how to use one unless you really want to. I do think that the rudiments of celestial should be learned by anyone who goes offshore, but it isn't necessary. Sextants are fun to use, and handy for some types of piloting, but I haven't carried a quality sextant on board in many years. "JAXAshby" wrote in message ... jeffies, if you "navigated" through fog off Maine using just an RDF, either you didn't understand just how lucky you were, or you were purposely trying to kill yourself. RDF gets you "kinda close" but that's about it. It is good for know approximately where you are. So, did you understand the danger you put yourself in or didn't you? btw jeffies, why your claim now that you are willing to blunder around blindly in a fog along a rocky coast where in the past you claimed EVERYone needed a sextant as a backup in case "all the electronics went bad" btw-2, we did indeed have a gps etc but we knew enough not to trust the charts as close as we were going. If we didn't find the light where we expected to find it, we would turn around. We found it. you, on the over hand, claim you just blundered on. you were lucky, dumbass. and, it appears, to this day you don't know it. Hey jaxie, you're the one who had three GPS's and Loran and was still afraid of hitting the "rocks" at Cape Hatteras. You even showed a picture of the surf ten miles away from the light to show how dangerous it was. Your first comment on the experience was that it would be impossible without a GPS! I used to cruise the Maine coast, often going 30 miles off shore and making landfall in the fog with nothing more than a Ray-Jefferson RDF. I also carried a paper "lifeboat sextant" but had little occasion to use it. You, on the other hand, are scared ****less of being within 10 miles of shoals, even with 3 GPS's on board! If you just learned how to read a chart and use a compass the world wouldn't be such a scary place, jaxie! "JAXAshby" wrote in message ... dougies and jeffies and others seem eternally worried about NAVIGATING AT SEA without triple redundant gps's, RDF, working C. Plath sextant, Almanac, chronometer and SSB for time clicks. This sailor -- who has sailed something more than a Hunter 19 or training wheels -- thinks a single cardboard beer box is enough. "When we asked what Babe would use to navigate, he pulled out a crude astrolabe-like device he made from the cardboard from a beer box. "With this, I can get my position, without tables or a watch, to within 60 miles." see link for more of the story: http://www.latitude38.com/LectronicL...#anchor1085433 |
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