"otnmbrd" wrote in message
ink.net...
Jim Donohue wrote:



Got it...3AM blowing 35...12 foot seas...Check for the disturbed waves
and current swirls...yeah right. Watch the little birds...if they land
it probably is not deep.

Still at the old game otnmbrd? Would you really reverse course under
those conditions? Would you turn the boat across the wind?

Jim Donohue

LOL I see you're still looking for the simple cure-all answer to
navigation.
Sorry Jim, it doesn't exist.
You'll note I said use ALL means at your disposal. Sometimes those means
are limited due to conditions, be they visibility or sea conditions.
However, frequently there are any number of things you can look for under
many varied conditions which may help you determine that you are "standing
into danger" and your god, GPS will not tell you these things.
So, yes, I'm still up to the old games ..... if in doubt, stop, turn
around, sail across the wind, if those things are possible.
Don't keep going blindly based on a GPS fix ..../ use whatever other tools
may be available to you, be they natural, mechanical, or electronic.
Only a fool relies on one means of navigation and only a bigger fool
discards all the older methods which served and still serve, many of us
well, even if in a limited capacity.
G Maybe someday you'll learn to take your eyes off the GPS and see
what's going on around you.

otn

You are still full of BS otn. I make no suggestions not to use all
techniques...just that under many conditions all you got is the GPS.

Survival at sea is probabilistic. If the Gods are on your case no amount of
deciphering the currents and wave shapes will save you. You really think
you can detect a floating container when you can't see the bow?

In most circumstance it is probably 80 or 90% GPS/chart...10 or 20% to all
of the other things you can do. In heavy weather and deep water it is
pretty close to 100% GPS.

Under any circumstances the chart situation in some places is pretty sad.
For instance of the errors in the Pacific Coast of Mexico have been known
for many years...but we still await a fix. The purveyors deny responsibilty
shifting it to the charting agencies. The charting agencies show no desire
to fix the problems in our lifetime. Mostly Gov at its worst.

And to risk a broach because you feel uneasy? Because the waves don't look
right? Becasue you think you hear something? Sometimes I think you have
never been to sea...the number of people who hear or see things at night is
well known. Had a Captain on one occassion deploy his anchor in a 1000
fathoms because he could hear the freeway and knew we were about to go
aground. Sure he was extreme but virtually everyone has the problem to
some degree. It would take a very clear indicator before I risked my boat
against a GPS/Chart position.

Jim Donohue