On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 23:08:53 GMT, otnmbrd
wrote:

I'm not seeing too much emphasis on compass entries.

Mine ARE compass entries, corrected to true. Variation is either 10 or
11 degrees W on Lake Ontario...it's hard to screw up if you have even
half a clue about reading a chart.

I'd suggest logging
what info you can .... true, mag, var, dev, compass, courses steered,
courses made good, and any azimuths (land or celestial ) which you can
or may be able to take.

I do this when necessary on a scratch pad next to the compass or (when
raining) on a "magic pad" from a dollar store (the grey plastic
covered rewritable things from Way Back...perfect for wet weather!)

I transfer any "summation" to the log, but in Lake Ontario, it's 95%
coastal pilotage and there's only a few places with shoals, rocks and
big chunks of iron under the boat...Deviation and variation are known
and compensated for on the fly. In blue water or unfamilar waters, I
would make further notes.

This makes for good historical data, especially on repeat trips over the
same ground.

True. I have little pieces of tape at 45 degrees fore and aft to where
I stand for the tiller. That and a stopwatch and the knotmeter give me
a way to tell how far offshore I am. If I pass close by a buoy, using
the same method, I can judge my speedo and current, if any. As I don't
tend to sail more than five-10 miles offshore, I use the GPS
primarily to confirm visual pilotage (is that the landmark on the beam
that I think it is?) and to confirm COG readings for set and drift
(not a big deal here, usually) and ETA to destination.

My wife uses the ETA function to remind me when sailing is over and
motoring must begin G.

I log that in "Comments".

R.

On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 02:24:47 -0400, in message

rhys wrote:

On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 23:08:53 GMT, otnmbrd
wrote:

I'm not seeing too much emphasis on compass entries.

Mine ARE compass entries, corrected to true. Variation is either 10 or
11 degrees W on Lake Ontario...it's hard to screw up if you have even
half a clue about reading a chart.

Quite so.... if you stay in the neighbourhood of Toronto, but it's up
to 13 degrees by the time you get to the other end of the lake ;-)

I transfer any "summation" to the log, but in Lake Ontario, it's 95%
coastal pilotage and there's only a few places with shoals, rocks and
big chunks of iron under the boat...

and most of them are more down towards Kingston. I find that very
little routine nav information finds its way into my log. I always
have a reasonable idea of where I am from following GPS, chart, and
visual cues. That has previously served as an entirely adequate
starting basis for dead reckoning on the locally rare occasions when
the visibility drops to near zero and there was no GPS. Unseaman-like,
perhaps...... but reality in relatively familiar waters.

My log winds up being a combination of local knowledge gleaned and
journal of events that works well in a record book with a wide margin
for noting dates, times and readings beside the narrative. I switched
to that from a fixed format columnar log about 3 years ago.

Ryk

On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 02:24:47 -0400, in message

rhys wrote:

On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 23:08:53 GMT, otnmbrd
wrote:

I'm not seeing too much emphasis on compass entries.

Mine ARE compass entries, corrected to true. Variation is either 10 or
11 degrees W on Lake Ontario...it's hard to screw up if you have even
half a clue about reading a chart.

Quite so.... if you stay in the neighbourhood of Toronto, but it's up
to 13 degrees by the time you get to the other end of the lake ;-)

I transfer any "summation" to the log, but in Lake Ontario, it's 95%
coastal pilotage and there's only a few places with shoals, rocks and
big chunks of iron under the boat...

and most of them are more down towards Kingston. I find that very
little routine nav information finds its way into my log. I always
have a reasonable idea of where I am from following GPS, chart, and
visual cues. That has previously served as an entirely adequate
starting basis for dead reckoning on the locally rare occasions when
the visibility drops to near zero and there was no GPS. Unseaman-like,
perhaps...... but reality in relatively familiar waters.

My log winds up being a combination of local knowledge gleaned and
journal of events that works well in a record book with a wide margin
for noting dates, times and readings beside the narrative. I switched
to that from a fixed format columnar log about 3 years ago.

Ryk