On Thu, 09 Nov 2006 17:46:01 GMT, in message

"Dennis Pogson" wrote:

claus wrote:
Yes, Captain John, you did :-)

I "should have" added that I have a second Garmin handheld GPS
receiver and in case the Boat's GPS fails or the entire electrical
system fails I will simply use the laptop with the Garmin to carry
on...

And of course, I carry a complete set of paper charts.

So my approach is basically "belts and suspenders"...

Now if Homeland Security switches off the entire GPS system I am
f*****, but I guess so is everyone else (especially commercial
aviation) ...

I have a feeling that your boat would still be afloat. We had sailboats
before GPS didn't we?

And even if only modestly equipped, I would still expect to find
compass, log, and VHF on board which would be plenty to set a DR
course for a decent sized land mass, then communicate with the locals
to find a safe way in.

Ryk