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Old 05-11-2015, 06:12 PM   #89
Marin
Scraping Paint
 
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 13,745
Quote:
Originally Posted by BandB View Post
So I'm not going to declare it's the simplest, easiest process on the planet, because it isn't for everyone.
Well, I don't really buy that. If a person can't figure out or learn how to do something then they shouldn't be doing it as far as I'm concerned. And navigation, particularly in only two dimensions, is so bloody easy even a caveman could do it. No wait, cavemen DID do it, although their "boats" were a bit crude.

BTW, citing the fact that some ancient mariner went on the rocks as an example of the drawbacks of old-school navigation doesn't really prove much. Exxon Valdez, Costa Concordia, the list goes on and on and on of vessels whose crews had the benefit of all the latest navigational bells and whistles and they still managed to crash their boats.

Which goes to prove that it's not the navigation system that's being used as much as it's the nature of the people using them that determines the outcome of a voyage.

Jeffery's contention that charts are dangerous when used by people who don't know how to use them is certainly true, but it's not any kind of revelation. Hell, the whole damn boat's dangerous if its used by somebody who doesn't know how to use it. A lawn mower is dangerous if it's used by somebody who doesn't know how to use it.

So nothing new here and the premise gets no argument from me.

What I find to be incorrect is the position or implication that paper charts have no place in today's boating. It might be true for Jeffery, but it's not true for the fellow I mentioned in an earlier post who has sailed these waters for decades with a depth sounder, compass, and charts, and still does. So what, is the guy I know wrong? Should he stop boating, or not take his boat out again until he fits it with a complete navigation suite of plotters and radar and AIS and whatnot?

And---- given the choice and knowing what I know about the fellow with the simply-equipped sailboat, I'd go out with him on a long cruise up this coast including exploring places he hasn't been before, as opposed to some fellow with a snazzy boat and a ton of electronics who pooh-pooh's paper charts as being worthless to have on board. As I said earlier, it's not the presence or absence of paper charts that would steer my choice, it's the attitude and character of the boater.
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