"Jack Erbes" wrote in message
...
Ted wrote:

snip
I don't put much faith in the cry of the geezers about the undisputed
reliability of the simple magnetic compass and the paper map. I don't
believe that most of them even go boating. They just sit on the internet
and run their mouth.


snip
..why I don't have much patience for geezers who ignorantly sing the
praises of paper maps as the be-all and end-all in marine navigation and
why I don't believe that most of them have ever been to sea.

Thanks for the details. You seem a little fixated on older people and
people that use charts. I have nothing against either one of those
groups.

When I go to sea it is usually to deliver someone else's boat and my focus
is to do it without damaging the boat or getting lost. I usually have at
least three frames of reference available for navigation and I use them
all. But I never put my trust in any one of them exclusively.

Jack, the subject line says "...why do we use GPS to track buoys??"
Do you use your GPS to navigate to buoys?
With how many of them have you collided?


Coastal Maine is not a good place for relying on one thing, I like the
warm fuzzy feeling I got when I have two or three things telling me that I
probably am where I think I am.

Between the navaids, the chartbook, and the GPS chart plotter, I'm the
only one that has to be right all of the time.

Jack

--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA - jackerbes at adelphia dot net
(also receiving email at jacker at midmaine.com)

Ted wrote:

snip
Jack, the subject line says "...why do we use GPS to track buoys??"
Do you use your GPS to navigate to buoys?
With how many of them have you collided?

You changed the subject to read that way, and you asked "Now that we
have GPS, why are buoys needed anymore?" The subject, the rhetorical
question, and the following posts lead me to conclude that you meant
that buoys are unnecessary with GPS. Did I get that wrong?

I have used GPS to navigate to within a reasonable distance of buoys.
If I put a GPS waypoint near a buoy, I offset the waypoint from where
the GPS thinks the buoy is. And if I or the autopilot steer to the
waypoint, I don't expect that to hit the buoy or count on it to miss it.
I use my eyes and/or maybe radar to do that.

I've not hit one. Not yet anyway. I can remember a couple of times of
bad conditions and equipment breakdown or uncertainty when I would have
been glad for a very near miss on one though. Just to acquire it
visually, read its markings, and get that warm fuzzy feeling again.

I'm one of the old geezers that is looking at charts too. I've not kept
a pure DR plot on paper in a long time but would do it if was the only
way I could get a warm fuzzy feeling.

To answer your question, "..why are buoys needed anymore?" I'd say they
they great for inducing warm fuzzy feelings in the hearts and minds of
those of us who consider it unwise to put all our eggs in one basket.
Hey! That's almost an Easter joke.

Jack

--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA - jackerbes at adelphia dot net
(also receiving email at jacker at midmaine.com)