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Hippocampus said:
Once sorted out in the absence of any navigational aid only than a compass decided to just head due west. Did that. When in sight of other vessels heading west just followed them in. This concern about total electronics failure just seems misplaced to me.
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Did you end up where you wanted? One of the things I love about traveling in third world countries is visiting their market, usually on a Saturday morning. I follow the reverse line of people with shopping bags. But there's only one market......

Peter
 
To incorporate Peter’s post. Unless you’re totally inattentive after a few landfalls you can spot land long way off. Curvature of the earth is the common limitation. Light pollution or its reflection off the clouds. For a isolated island like Bermuda or a chain like the Hawaii or he leewards/windwards the clouds them self. For a continental coast the change in waves and color of the water. Your five senses tell you when you’re close. Even smell works. That’s not the problem. The problem as Peter points out is the landfall. In the Pilot episode even that’s solved. We put water over the batteries. There were two handheld but neither worked. Being a coastal boat no epirbs and this was before the days of PLBs. Still there’s always some form of marine traffic near any shore. Smoke and flares being mechanical work. Or you could just follow some one in. Truly believe your scenario isn’t a reason to carry paper.
 
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Wanted to end up in Duxbury. Ended up in Situate. A town a few miles north. Got yelled at when tied up to the private yacht club dock. Was four of us. All went to the hospital for hypothermia and dehydration but all survived without sequelae. The scariest transit in my entire life and it was coastal.
 
mvweebles said:
I like charts. They carry a lot of useful information that augments all the other data and I often carry them. But I feel perfectly safe without them. I just prefer having them aboard.

Peter
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I like charts too. I just do not like paper. Don't like paper anything. Hate newspaper print all over hands and the smell of newspapers. All available online. 99% of book buying in Kindle or similar. Magazines are mostly electronic. Business reports electronic. We have the ability to print out any chart we want, any time, but no desire to do so.
 
backinblue said:
Yikes. Good thing one of you was watching. Did you try raising him on VHF? Probably wouldn't have helped anyway.
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I didn't even try (or think about it to be honest - It was pretty hair-raising). I'm guessing now that if he didn't react to my air horn he wouldn't have heard the VHF (even if he had it on).
 
DWJensen said:
It apparently happens though. I was nearly run down in my flats boat while fishing early one morning this past summer when a big, fast CC came ripping down the waterway - I could see the blue glow on the helmsman's face as they passed within feet of me - He was steering by and totally focused on the screen and never looked up even after my air horn blasts. Luckily I heard/saw them in time to move out of their path. (I was running full nav lights including a white 360)
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We were anchored in the Keys in a 33 foot sailboat. Not in a channel. Way out of the way and a sports fisher went between the bow of our boat and the anchor. He was on a full plane an hauling a...ss. This was back in the 80's. I don't think they had autopilots back then but maybe they did. He was heading for one of the channels under the oversea highway and he was not gong to turn to port to avoid us. To say we were waked was an understatement. I was hoping he would snag our rope rode but he did not. :mad:

I assume someone was at the helm because of a lack of autopilot and he was going to have to make a course correction or hit a bridge piling or run aground. The guy was just an a... hole.

Later,
Dan
 
I think it is prudent to be able to know your location after a lightning strike. Remember charts do more than help you know your location, they tell you the location of the rocks and hazards. Knowing hot to triangulate or do celestial doesn't help you with where the rocks are. As long as you have some means of determining location and hazard's locations that is 100% able to survive a lightning strike, I don't think you need paper.....but I still like having them. I started boating when I was 8 and I am now elligible for AARP membership and I've never needed a life jacket.....but even if they weren't legally required, I would still carry one. To me its a simple cost benefit analysis. The cost is miniscule so if there is even a slight chance of any benefit, for me it makes sense, even if it is just an irrational peace of mind benefit.
 
My previous boat was hit by lightning twice within 5 yrs (GA & Bahamas). Most electronics were killed both times, including handhelds intended for backup. Paper charts were available to help navigate until repairs/replacement could be done.

I will therefore always carry paper charts as a (relatively inexpensive) backup for that eventuality.
 
We're the backups in a Faraday cage?
 
gholmesbm said:
My previous boat was hit by lightning twice within 5 yrs (GA & Bahamas). Most electronics were killed both times, including handhelds intended for backup. Paper charts were available to help navigate until repairs/replacement could be done.

I will therefore always carry paper charts as a (relatively inexpensive) backup for that eventuality.
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Some put backups in the stove, fridge, etc as faraday cages...has worked sometimes.
 
HTurner said:
If you have a microwave, it is the best vault for electronics.
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Unless it accidentally gets turned on. I thought it was a good place to store my 1 cup coffee maker. I guess my wife was cleaning the face of the micro one day and turned it on w/o knowing it. Made the coffee maker power cord extra crispy. If I was ever to store anything in there again, I would be sure to turn off the breaker.
 
That's what tag outs are for
 
Um... what is a "tag out"?
 
ScottC said:
Um... what is a "tag out"?
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I assume he means to turn off the breaker and put a tag on it to warn you not to turn it on w/o first emptying the micro. I'm familair with the term logout/tagout where a padlock physically locks a breaker in the off position as a safety measure if someone is working on a piece of equipment.
 
Thanks, Backinblue. Makes sense.

I have been aware that a microwave could be a surrogate Faraday box. But I have always assumed the probability of me toasting my electronics in the microwave would be higher than the probability of getting struck by lightning. Circuit breaker is a reasonable compromise!
 
example of an OSHA compliant lock out. You could just use a zip tie instead of a padlock as long as everyone on the boat understands what its for.
 

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Benthic2 said:
I think it is prudent to be able to know your location after a lightning strike....
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Lightning scares the c....p out of me. Too many close calls. Lightning took out all of the electronics on my dads boat but that was 40+ years ago and the only electronics were the lights, VHF and depth sounder. A bit different today. :D

When we are sailing we keep track of our position, not a lat/long position but we are X miles off Y beach or Z miles east of the Safe water buoy. Old habit I have from a career in case you have to get on the radio and call for help. Not likely to be needed but it is a good habit to keep. We are just coast sailing, if it was farther offshore, we are usually no more the 5-6 miles out, we would write down the lat/long position.

Later,
Dan
 
ScottC said:
Thanks, Backinblue. Makes sense.

I have been aware that a microwave could be a surrogate Faraday box. But I have always assumed the probability of me toasting my electronics in the microwave would be higher than the probability of getting struck by lightning. Circuit breaker is a reasonable compromise!
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Agreed. The idea of using a microwave is not the best solution. It is not 100% certain that a microwave will block all of the EMP from a lightning strike in any case. The odds are that one will nuke their own devices.

I read a book on EMP, generated via lightning or man made devices :rolleyes:, that was written by a guy with a PhD in EE. You don't want gaps around the enclosure holding the devices to be protected. Gaps COULD allow in the EMP, it just depends. People often mention using an ammo can to protect devices but there is a gasket on the can lid that COULD leak EMP.

Heaving duty aluminum foil wrapped around the device works or multiple layers. The heavy foil or multiple layers is to prevent a rip/gap in the foil. A metal device with NO gaps is the best protection.

Later,
Dan
 
To test the shielding of a microwave... place a cell phone in it. Call it. If it does not ring it is a fully shielded microwave. If it does ring, then toss the microwave or give it to someone you dislike... you might as well run it without the door on.
 
HTurner said:
To test the shielding of a microwave... place a cell phone in it. Call it. If it does not ring it is a fully shielded microwave. If it does ring, then toss the microwave or give it to someone you dislike... you might as well run it without the door on.
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Yep, still rung
 
dannc said:
Heaving duty aluminum foil wrapped around the device works or multiple layers. The heavy foil or multiple layers is to prevent a rip/gap in the foil.
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Great idea, I’ve been wrapping it around my head so the govt can’t read my mind
 
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