Greg asks about non GPS. I have done many more miles--especially at night or fog without GPS than with. First you plot your course--taking into account compass deviation and variation, plus any current. You then plan your trip in stages. If you are lucky you have a reasonably good paddle wheel, propeller or taft log--if not there are more primative ways of calculating speed (chip log). You record your "D R" position every 15 minutes on the chart--and you keep a log of compass course, speed, estimate current etc. Triangulatoin and other bearing methods on known lights will help. RDF is not perticularly valuable in that there are no longer coastal beacons with synchronized fog horns. You will be using commercial radio stations. You have to be certain what station and where it is located--at night skips may fool you--ie Del Rio Texas, instead of San Diego! You also learn to read the surface of the water, wave patterns, floating material etc. Because of the possibility of loss of modern navigation you still need to do chart plotting. About 10 days ago I was caught in a squall where the visability was about 75 feet. I got the bearing off the GPS, and a chart--then found the compass and depth sounder much easier to steer by than just watching the "boat" on the chart plotter.....I checked the plotter every few minutes. Radar would not have been of much help in a squall that dumped over 3 inches of rain in an hour. I have just negotiated the purchase a 22 foot trailerable cruiser, which has Radar, two GPS plotters, a depth sounder (also this is used in navigation) and a good size table to lay the charts on. I will have a pair of binoculars with a hand bearing compass--and I will swing the boat's compass and compensate it. This boat will be used to cruise the West Coast and inland lakes. In fact I got out my old charts of the west coast--so I can update them to the new light lists and notice to mariner (all available on the web). Bob Austin