Navigation, InDepth-Where It’s At

Introduction

Colin Speedie’s post, It Ain’t Necessarily So, on the dangers of over-reliance on electronic navigation aids, really struck a cord with me (John), and reminded me of an article of mine that Cruising World Magazine published some years ago on the same subject (“A Sense of Where You Are”, January 2005).

I have also been planning for some time to write a series of posts on the new navigation and communications gear that we installed on Morgan’s Cloud during our recent refit. So it seems fitting to kick this series of posts off by reprinting my article (using my original title “Knowing Where It’s At”), which, although now six years old, still captures our attitude to navigation well.

An Old Newfoundland Story

by John March 18, 2010
This retired fisherman and lifeboat coxswain from Clarks Harbour, Nova Scotia, is not the hero of my story, but I bet he could pull off the same trick.

It’s an old Newfoundland story. The details change depending on who tells it but the essence of the story is always the same: A young “come from away” goes fishing several miles offshore with a veteran Newfoundland fisherman in an open skiff. The fog comes down “t’ick as shit in a barrel”. There are no [...]

How We Know Where It’s At On Morgan’s Cloud

by John March 23, 2010
Phyllis in the cockpit navigation area on aluminum expedition sailboat Morgan's Cloud.

So what is it specifically that we do to make sure “we know where it’s at” while cruising some of the world’s more remote places on Morgan’s Cloud, our 56-foot aluminum McCurdy and Rhodes cutter?

Electronic Charting Dangers

by John March 24, 2010
Aluminum expedition sailboat Morgan's Cloud aground in the Bahamas.

Although we are not Luddites bemoaning the take over of electronics and warning of the dire consequence of over reliance on them, we are aware of several dangers in their exclusive use: