Visit our Popular Forums

CarlF · 19-06-2011, 20:56

Shhhh! with the pilot idea. A lot of those paradises don't have buoys today in most of their harbors. Good thing that they never thought of charging us cruisers for pilots

mbianka · 19-06-2011, 21:01

Nick you got me wrong. I personally don't care if your cockpit or anyone elses is lit up like a Madam LaRue Pinball machine with sophisticated electronics. Yes they will help you. The thread is about whether Navigational Aids are a waste of money and are they really needed. You might be able to get into a harbor just using your electronics, charts etc... and no navigational aids. Others may not because they don't have the electronics you do or they may have failed and will no longer have navigational aids to help them. My point is if other boats end up on the rocks outside of the harbor spilling diesel, oil etc... on the waters too often because there are no navigational aids. The local authorities may REQUIRE you and all other cruising boats to take on a "pilot" whether you like it or not and no matter how much electronics and experience you have. Of course the local authorities will say it is a safety issue and not just a revenue producer.

mbianka · 19-06-2011, 21:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by CarlF

Shhhh! with the pilot idea. A lot of those paradises don't have buoys today in most of their harbors. Good thing that they never thought of charging us cruisers for pilots

Oops! Sorry. Forget I even mentioned it.

**s/v Jedi** · 20-06-2011, 05:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbianka

Nick you got me wrong.

Pls. read my posts... I just explained how one can enter these bays/harbors without any electronics at all. This is assuming the eyeballs still work...

ciao!
Nick.

**sneuman** · 20-06-2011, 06:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Attached is a screen capture of part of Singapore Straits - we were talking about it in another thread.

Have a look at this traffic seperation zone.

Note my 5nm scale line.

See how FEW nav aids there are? Notice NONE are channel markers! Including where seperated traffic lanes close together again.

Pull it up on your charts and have a look. Its fun

Mark

Those cardinal marks would be very helpful. They seem reasonably close together. I have a buddy whose done this passage several times, single-handed, at night on deliveries from Koh Samui to Phuket. I'd have to ask him, but I suspect he was very happy to have these marks.

**David M** · 20-06-2011, 10:27

Good point, eliminating nav aids makes us dependent on electronic charts being accurate as well as there being any electronic charts for the area.

P_Dub · 24-06-2011, 10:20

Remember there is nothing wrong looking through the window. On the other hand, you can end up into plenty of touble by not doing so.
Regards.
P_Dub

Capt Phil · 24-06-2011, 11:10

Interesting comments from Boasun and MarkJ... I showed them to my neighbor who is a Third Mate deck officer on a tanker that they are picking up in Singapore in 3 weeks. Even with the Nav Aids and control tower, I was told it a nightmare get an LCC or VLCC in and out of that area. MarkJ is correct... much of the rest of the world has little in the way of Nav Aids in the amount or reliability that the US does. Anyone who relies on less than every piece of navigation info available is not acting responsibly IMHO. Capt Phil

Astro · 27-06-2011, 11:02

"...no, I don't know why; but it reads zero volts..."

David Mathis · 28-03-2021, 15:40

When a lightning strike or an electrical malfunction fries your plotter circuits, you may have to rely on those odd floating objects called buoys and may have to look at the roundy thing on your dash that the old boaters call a compass.

Dave_S · 28-03-2021, 17:05

Question......

If you are sailing along a channel with water so dirty you can't see the mud and sand bottom and all the markers seem to be pin point accurate to your GPS. Then the next one is out by 6m or 20' (enough that it may put you aground).

Which one do you work with as you slowly approach ?

rslifkin · 28-03-2021, 17:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave_S

Question......

If you are sailing along a channel with water so dirty you can't see the mud and sand bottom and all the markers seem to be pin point accurate to your GPS. Then the next one is out by 6m or 20' (enough that it may put you aground).

Which one do you work with as you slowly approach ?

I usually have 2 different sets of charts up when in unfamiliar waters. That sometimes answers the question if things don't match up. If it's not apparent whether the buoy was moved intentionally or not, then I'd tend towards the center of the channel, preferably on a path that the charts and buoy both say are safe.