My navigation notepad

[Marco Flamingo]

I added a little notepad that really came in handy this cruise. It is a little "dry erase" board next to the helm, complete with a shelf to hold the marker. Usually in the evening, I plot out the next day's potential cruise on Navionics. Navionics generates waypoint numbers and estimated times (based on my input of likely speed). "Likely speed" for our boat can be 4 knots if running against a current up to 11 knots if running with. There are times and places where I don't want to be, in which case my SOG could be -5 knots or 16 knots. I can make notes on the dry erase board that quickly remind me of where I should be when and, if not reaching my waypoints on time (or too soon), when to choose an alternate plan (generally an anchorage). Some of our go-no-go decisions are also based on predicted wind speed, direction, or wave height, also noted on the board.

The notations would only make sense to my wife and I based on our previous evening's planning, but the board really came in handy a few times. Twice, we had fellow boaters radio us about times of slack current and we had them right on the board.

When in port, the board also serves a purpose (with notes like "9V battery," or "coffee"). Probably not a good idea to use my binocular cleaning cloth to erase the board. I'll have to fix that.

 

[Juliet 15]

Great idea. Beats waiting till you're (I am) too close to slow down/speed up/call an audible. I am going to do this.

 

[dhays]

If you have the bulkhead real estate, I think this is a good idea. I am still old school with a small notepad and pencil. I jot down everything that I may need to an anticipated run from headings, currents, phone numbers, and then also use it to write down things that come up such as Lat/Lon GPS coordinates broadcast by the USCG, vessel names that contact me or I am watching on AIS.