I want to learn how to navigate without GPS

http://users.orac.net.au/~mhumphry/jamescook.html

Info on James Cook

Poida

 

Walrus --are you on medication or something? We are talking about GPS. This clever little device although is clever doesnt tell you whats under the surface. Thats called A 'depth sounder'.

I did actually meet a yachtie who was about to buy a GPS and he --like Walrus though it told you how deep the water was too.

 

Mine does Frosty. You use the depths on the chart as well as the depths on the sounder to find diving spots.

It is not recommended to use a GPS as the only source of navigation. The course should be plotted on a chart.

The coast where I live is flat so a GPS is handy even on short trips as we don't have mountains or big buildings to navigate by.

Poida

 

Stian ole boy nice to see you, where art thou now?

 

Once I was on a Reefer(no frost and walrus) not a smoke kinda joint reefer, and then I invited the officers onto my yacht for dinner, we got talking stars , and so on, the Walker Sat Nav had just come out,the Reefer was Pand O, the mate told me once he had called a yacht to ask them their pos, and hisCaptain had told him in grave English Merchant Navy terms"we dont check our position from a yacht!!"" however the mates went on to explain how they shot morning stars, I never used stars,, but did use moon, Venus down here is excellent for "evening stars"
You lubberly lot, when was the last time you left your TV, WANDERED OUTSIDE AND MARVELLED AT THE STARS?

 

Frosty are you internally or externally circumclipped?

 

Poida,

Like I said, I read a few books dealing almost excluesivly with Cook & also ones on Bligh (the Trilogy ect...) that spoke of the matter. W/O digging them up & some serious searching I cannot say where I recall that from.

I in no way want to try to lessen Capt. Cook as a man. He is one of my nautical heros!
In the day though (& you probably know more than me) punishment was a real part of the RN. Cook does not seem to have dished out any more or less than average. My point was in contrast, Bligh (who history has as some sadist) dished out less. If I remember correctly, this came from the ships log (or Capts.).

Actually I feel history has slighted William Bligh. Though his people skills were suspect, he was an awesome navigator & seaman. Have you read "Men Against the Sea" ? The voyage in the longboat spoken of in it demonstrates his abilities.

I'll try to find the source for my info but can make no promises as my house is cluttered, to say the least.

Take care.

Tim

 

Longliner,

I was in Toledo (US, not Spain) when that happened; got some local info.

Apart from one passenger badly injured, the incident was pretty embarassing. The guy was a licensed charter skipper under contract to the Outdoor Channel. He didn't hit some semi-visible rocks out in the lake; he ran into the breakwater at the harbor entrance. The marine police report listed the cause of the accident as the operator looking at the GPS screen instead of looking out the window to see where he was going.

Regardless of your favored method of navigation: GPS, LORAN, celestial, dead reckoning, I've always thought that bit about looking out the window was a good idea.

 

"Mine does Frosty. You use the depths on the chart as well as the depths on the sounder to find diving spots.

It is not recommended to use a GPS as the only source of navigation. The course should be plotted on a chart.

The coast where I live is flat so a GPS is handy even on short trips as we don't have mountains or big buildings to navigate by."

Just make sure that the datum on the chart you are using and the datum that your GPS is using are the same. You can "run into" (or onto) problems if they are not.

There can be alot of difference in GPS position and chart position if you are using different datums.

 

That what scares me about onboard dash mounted car nav systems!

Anytime the vehicle is rolling the nav screen should default to blank.

Bad enough with the almost constant cell phone chatter some drivers seem intent on (will not mention primary sex involved).

Used to be all you had to worry about were idiot drivers who insist on looking constantly at the front seat passenger while talking.

Tim

 

I read that, Tim. Good read. Imagine repeating his voyage in the same small boat.

 

Tim,

I agree with you about Bligh. The Bounty Trilogy was a fascinating read as a 13 year old. He was a complex character according to all accounts. During the months required for the breadfruit seedlings to grow enough to survive transplanting, Bligh could have sailed away for more exploration and chartmaking. He actually decided to stay in Tahiti to give his crew some R & R. His problems arose, IMHO, from terrible people skills, insecurity, and mixed message communications. He was a superb navigator, however, and, when placed in a situation in which all the fancy stuff was stripped away, i.e. in an overloaded and understocked longboat thousands of miles from land, he rose to the challenge and became a leader who brought all of his crew to safe harbor.

Here is another account concluding that Bligh used corporal punishment less than Cook: http://www.plantexplorers.com/explorers/biographies/captain/captain-william-bligh.htm

 

Alan,

Kept everyone alive if I recall correctly. Hardly the tyrant they make him out to be. But we are getting accostemed to rewritten history, are we not?

Tim

 

Timshwak

It took me a bit of time to work out what you were talking about.

But I don't put chart datums into my GPS.

Thanks for your concern.

Poida

 

Timgoz

You are certainly right there. Since I saw the documentary about Captain Cook and Bergalia disagreed with the information that I placed on this thread from information aquired from the afore mentioned TV documentary. ( Berg said Captain Cook was in fact a female who was sent to Tahiti to meet a man with a big Venus, or as the spelling mistake says) anyway:

I have read a few more articles on CC and they all seem to differ.
Such as, some of his crew did, according to some articles die from Malaria.
Whereas, some say his claim to fame, was none died of Scurvy.
So somehow we got from none died of scurvy to none died at all.

Until I have finished designing my time machine we may never knoa.

Anybody got plans?

Poida