Cruisers Forum
 


Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on Cruisers Forums. Advertise Here
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Rate Thread Display Modes
Old 26-08-2022, 08:44   #136
Registered User

Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 11,002
Re: How changing habits of navigation affect us

Quote:
Originally Posted by requiem View Post
One feature some nav apps have that I like is adjustable cross track error; legs in open ocean can be set with a large amount of leeway, and it can be tightened up in more confined areas. You then have a visual indicator of what water has been reviewed to be "safe", which allows for minor deviations and even corner-cutting without altering the route.



Ok, I'm mildly curious what products feature this. Sounds interesting, but how does it work; you just tell it to listen and it auto-parses anything that sounds like a coordinate?
I agree, it's nice to see when the bow is pointed at a landmark and the course on the chartplotter is angling off by 5-10 degrees as it clues me in that I have to adjust for crosstrack. Out on long open water crossings, dead on accuracy typically isn't needed. Where I use it most is coastal work where you are maneuvering in tight channels, particularly if the channel is dug out of a wider shallow waterway, so you don't have an immediate visual clue that you are wandering out of the channel.

As far as witchcraft (and it seems like a lot of folks see having electronic navigation at the helm as such), you would be hard pressed to find a phone or tablet that doesn't incorporate it. When you pull up the typing screen, there is a little icon of a microphone. Tap that and when the queue comes up, talk. I find it's really handy when it's awkward to type (like when bouncing around in short steep 6 footers).

I've always used tablet & laptop as my boats have had helms that are out of the weather, so not sure if you can get similar with a dedicated marine unit...but it's silly if they don't offer it.
valhalla360 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 26-08-2022, 09:08   #137
Registered User

Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: SF Bay Area
Boat: Other people's boats
Posts: 1,104
Re: How changing habits of navigation affect us

Quote:
Originally Posted by valhalla360 View Post
When you pull up the typing screen, there is a little icon of a microphone. Tap that and when the queue comes up, talk. I find it's really handy when it's awkward to type (like when bouncing around in short steep 6 footers).
Ah, that! I've been happily ignoring that for ages. It seems to even handle numbers such as "threeve" or "schwifty-five" without complaint. I hope this doesn't turn me into one of those people who talk at their phones.

Incidentally, here's an example of what I was referring to with the adjustable cross track distance. For the first portion I extended the port XTD, and under the bridge both sides are set back to default.
Click image for larger version

Name:	cross-track-distance.jpeg
Views:	18
Size:	389.1 KB
ID:	263463
requiem is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 26-08-2022, 10:07   #138
Registered User
 
thesaltytar's Avatar

Join Date: Feb 2022
Location: Savannah, GA
Boat: 1956 Bud McIntosh 36' schooner
Posts: 279
Re: How changing habits of navigation affect us

Quote:
Originally Posted by dave777 View Post
Yes indeed. But if you think GPS puts marine navigation in a precarious situation, you must be trembling at the domination of "smart phones" (that name must be a joke) in the lives of citizens purportedly responsible for their Community and government.
Actually you're quite right.

There is a lot of discussion about different navigational habits, and I find this to be very interesting and constructive.

I see a lot of posts that are defending technology and very strongly articulated arguments against traditional navigation, but I'm not seeing any posts attacking technology or defending traditional navigation as "better" or "best." I think some nuance has been lost.

Were the old ways better? Obviously not. Were people better navigators? From a skillset perspective yes, but from a safety standpoint you could argue no. Chart errors, either from transcription or cartography, are true across the board, and so don't count as a factor one way or another.

One of the largest issues with navigation (any navigation) isn't an immediate failure. It's a failure that goes unnoticed for a period of time. This is where plots on paper OR modern navigation become susceptible. Nobody in their right mind intentionally sails towards their doom at five knots for the period of time it takes to become fatal while fully aware of the situation. That's simply not how these failures work.

A lost signal without an audible alarm, a miscalculation that goes unnoticed, or a software bug that doesn't refresh an aspect of the program, or a dull pencil on a chart with a transcription error are all far, far more insidious events than oceans turning to glass (in which case you can just get out and walk) because these events occur with much greater frequency.

Multiple sources of navigation are required for the prudent mariner. But then, why should I argue this point? Nobody else is arguing against this point. Everyone seems to agree on these points.

But have these technologies made for more complacent mariners? I think this is a different question, and the answer is, I believe, not necessarily. But what it has done is allowed for more complacent mariners because on the face of it the rudiments of navigation are now more accessible to people without a full situational grasp of what they're doing. Few absolute laymen would look at a sextant and set of navigational instruments and just hop in and take off for some Pacific Island without having a better informed concept of navigation as a discipline.

Of course, there's the story of someone who tried to sail to Hawaii using a placemat with the United States printed on it, so obviously some level of navigational complacency is possible regardless of the technologies involved.
thesaltytar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 26-08-2022, 10:10   #139
Registered User
 
thesaltytar's Avatar

Join Date: Feb 2022
Location: Savannah, GA
Boat: 1956 Bud McIntosh 36' schooner
Posts: 279
Re: How changing habits of navigation affect us

Quote:
Originally Posted by SeanPatrick View Post
It occurs to me that a sextant would seem just as magical to the ancient Polynesian navigators as a GPS would have seemed to Captain Cook.

A wise man once said "There's nothing new under the Sun."
This is a good observation. I wonder if Polynesian navigators would have had these discussions when the sextant and charts began replacing their charts, such as:

https://www.khanacademy.org/humaniti...igation-charts

These people were in touch with the environment around them, no doubt.
thesaltytar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 26-08-2022, 10:36   #140
Registered User

Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Boat: Island Packet 40
Posts: 6,432
Images: 7
Re: How changing habits of navigation affect us

Quote:
Originally Posted by goboatingnow View Post
Really it’s all NMEA 2000 these days. I have no remaining 0183 connections these days , and I never will have in the future. All CAN bus these days.
I haven't used OpenCPN for a while but the last time I looked it did not output in NMEA2000. NMEA 0183 proved perfectly adequate for passing nav data to autopilots.
__________________
Satiriker ist verboten, la conformité est obligatoire
RaymondR is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
navigation

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Watching sailor habits from ashore halfway round the world... sailorcherry General Sailing Forum 0 16-10-2017 11:47
Again (?) about your dressing habits and etiquette as Long-Term sailors TheThunderbird The Sailor's Confessional 67 02-08-2017 10:37
Checking Engine Oil - Bad Habits Wotname Engines and Propulsion Systems 8 14-08-2015 06:34
Bad Habits when at Home and Not on the Boat sailorboy1 The Sailor's Confessional 10 29-07-2011 06:24

Advertise Here


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 09:31.


Google+
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Social Knowledge Networks
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.

ShowCase vBulletin Plugins by Drive Thru Online, Inc.