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On 7 Nov 2004 17:46:11 -0800, (Parallax) wrote:
AS my cruise is coming up, I decided to go out night sailing to see
how everything worked in the dark. Havent been night sailing in
several years. Had very little wind, sailed about 12 miles due south
till I was near "O" tower (an AIR Force navigational structure for
drones out in the Gulf) and then back in. Everything went well even
with no moon and nearly total dark till I got back near shore and got
disoriented suddenly. Didnt trust the lights I was seeing so checked
the GPS which confirmed my position. I still do almost all of my
navigation by coastal piloting methods and dead reckoning so the GPS
just confirmed I was right. Still, the sudden disorientation was
freaky. Carabelle does not show up very well from the water and the
plethora of cell towers and radio towers makes finding the correct
flashing red difficult. I was surprised there were NO other boats out
on a Saturday night except a lone shrimper who disappeared to the
south. All in all, a good experience confirming my boat seems ready.

================================================== ==

I've found that losing nav aid lights against the shore clutter is a
common problem. My personal solution is to have key way points set
into the GPS in advance so they are easy to call up when needed. It's
nice to know and use traditional piloting methods but the electronic
aids are a lot quicker and easier when the chips are down. It is
just as important these days to be familiar with your GPS, waypoints
and routes, as it is with traditional coastal piloting. And at
today's prices, no one should be without a spare or two.

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