Hi All, Here's another approach to navigation that we beginners plan to use: While we both work in the software development and installation business, we don't want to use a computer on the boat for the first year. (Hmmm...maybe that's a result OF working in the ...<g>). Actually, being rank novices, we want to learn to navigate with paper and hand compass so that we know how to do it when the power fails. We plan to do this as a result of reading the experiences and advice on this list for the last year. (We will be mostly weekending on the Chesapeake Bay). However, it seems silly these days to not have a GPS on board. But entering the waypoints by hand is a real pain and (as was recently posted) subject to error. We have a Macintosh at home. We plan to decide during the week where we will cruise the following weekend. We bought NaviMaq Viewer ($29.99 from Capt'n Jacks). This program opens and views most of the common CD charts that are available. It has a range of magnifications (10 - 100 percent) and the cursor reads out the Lat/Lon as you move around the chart. It also has an A-B funtion that gives the course (and recip course) and the distance between two points you select. You can't print from it directly, but there are lots of apps that provide that. We bought a chart CD of the ChesBay ($175, also from Capt'n Jacks). Ok, so now we have the waypoint Lat/Lons for our proposed cruise. (And yes, I've checked its results by hand plotting.) We bought another application called MacGPS Pro ($29.95 from James Associates, http://www.sni.net/~lwjames/GPSPRO.html) that lets you upload and download waypoints between the Mac and the GPS. (BTW, James Associates seems to have the lowest prices we've seen on Garmin products, for those interested). MacGPS Pro gives you the format used by the GPS so you can built a list of waypoints (or a route) in either a spreadsheet or a wordprocessor document. It makes checking for errors quite easy. It lets you load the waypoint name, description, lat, lon, icon, and what info is displayed. At this point, with a loaded GPS, we are ready to go cruising. Yeah, you say, but what happens if you want to/have to change destinations? Well, isn't that what happens while cruising in boats? That's when we'll really learn something. In summary, for a little over $200 we have a quasi-electronic (emphasis on quasi) charting system that minimizes some of the drudgery of data selection and entering and keeps us from being dependant on the 'puter until we become more experienced. While this is Macintosh specific, there are apparently equivalent Wintel products. Oh yeah, the disclaimer, we have no interest in the above products/companies. We do our research and select products/companies that provide value. Comments or recommendations appreciated. HNick&Sherri (HNMorgan@tasc.com)

At 10:01 PM 1/2/99 -0500, Nick Morgan wrote: Highly snipped for brevity >Here's another approach to navigation that we beginners plan to use: > Actually, being rank novices, we >want to learn to navigate with paper and hand compass so that we know how to >do it when the power fails. >However, it seems silly these days to not have a GPS on board. >HNick&Sherri (HNMorgan@tasc.com) Arild comments: Nick and Sherri have done an admirable job of providing the best of both approaches. By creating the database at home they eliminate the potential problems of having a computer on board. Hand held GPS are designed for the conditions found on board; and thus are more rugged. One addititon to their routine that I would recommend. Mark all key headlands and turning pionts with the corresponding waypoint number stotred in the navighation computer or GPS. User one of those littel sticky dots madeby Avery with a distinctive colour. write the waypoint number on the dot. Now you know at a glance which waypoint is which. Overlay the paperchart with a transparent sheet of mylar and mark the lines with erasable colours. In this way you make the chart last longer and at the end of each trip you do not have a clutter of lines which may interfer with your next navigation plotting exercise. IT has been my observation that most beginners tend to focus mainly on the Lat/Long display of a GPS. In reality this may be the least useful piece of information. Having selected the next waypoint you are proceeding towards, there are many more pieces of data available that change moment by moment. Speed over ground and cross track error are useful in determining how much tidal current is affecting you, If you maintain a constant heading as originally plotted and the speed over ground is higher than what the knotmeter says, plus the cross track indication says you ar steadily moving away from your rhumb line then you can easily figure the current is doing this to your vessel. If you have done your homework and figured the exact time you should hit the narrows or the ship canala to make atransit at slack tide then the time to go (TTG) or Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) will tell you if you are on schedule. Winds and wave may slow toy down or speed you up compared to the calculated speed. No sense burning extra fuel just to arrive too soon and jill around in a circle with the other early boats. On the other hand being just a little too late might mean havin gto wait for another favourable tide cycle. As you proceed along , headlands and key nav aids come into sight. Take a compass bearing on them and plot the position but at the same instant also calll up the distane and bearing to that point using your GPS. Remember you have prestored the key headlands and nav aids as waypoints in memory as well. Now you have an electronic backup to verify your manual plotting skills. IT also helps when you acidentally misidentify a nav aid or location. Garmin has a feature called the compass. Its is a graphic compass display with the direction to the next waypoint shown as an arrow. It is not a true compass and will only work when you move. IF you stop in one location and rotate it will not point acurately. Other manufacturers like Magellan are now also using a version of this graphic interface. Cheers Arild