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:
: I believe that not getting into a collregs situation is the
preferred way to
: go; so if there is lots of room to manoeuvre, changing course to one
that is
: obviously not a collision course WELL BEFORE the danger of collision
occurs
: is the way to go
:
I think it's interesting that while GPS navigation has by and large
freed aircraft pilots from having to plod from VORTAC to VORTAC (and
thereby congregating aircraft over the same routes and over the same
marks) that GPS navigation is actually doing the reverse on the water.
Something I've noticed in the last few years when we're on the water
are a lot more unnecessarily close passes, particularly along the
courses connecting major aids to navigation. Frankly, I think it
stems from two things. One is a reluctance to disrupt the
autopilot/gps course enroute to a waypoint, so captain's grudgingly
jag at the last moment and then only as much as they think that they
absolutely must to get around . The second reason is all those boats
using the same waypoints (usually designated on private charts like
Chartkit) and furrowing the same waters to get everywhere. Approaches
to major marks on a busy boating day can be downright dangerous as
everybody has set the same buoy as a waypoint before the course
change.
Personally, I've noticed that whenever I engage the autopilot that the
number of passing and overtaking questions we encounter aboard rise
significantly. That's probably because when I handsteer I'm
constantly background processing to work out the variable geometry
problems to ensure that most right of way questions never come up.
-------------------------------
Rick the Mouseherder - nh2f
Westsail 32 Xapic
Annapolis, MD
A small boat and a suitcase full of money
beat a 40-footer tied to the Bank every time.
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http://www.mouseherder.com
Visit the Xapic Homepage at:
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