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From: Rosalie B. (no email)
Date: Tue Feb 06 2007 - 22:38:00 EST
On Mon, 5 Feb 2007 19:18:48 -0500, you wrote:
>I have stayed out of this long enough.
>
>Not only do I have a sextant, stop watch and almanac, I have a lead line
>(couple actually - different weights and lengths) as well as paper
>charts. Do I have GPS, yes. Do I depend on it, no. I also have a
>LORAN-C, that I use to verify the GPS. There are some places that I
>have been where the GPS does not read accurately.
>
I have been told that the Loran is reproducible (that is you will get
to the same place every time) but not necessarily accurate, and the
GPS is the opposite. To remember this, I was told that reproducible
would be represented by someone shooting at a target whose shots all
were in a tight grouping, but not necessarily on the bulls eye, and
the accurate shooter would be close to the bulls eye, but not all in a
little group. I don't know how valid that is, but it works for me.
>I also use paper charts but I also have electronic charts. And I use
>both. I also keep a log book showing planned and actual course/speed
>changes (as well as updating the lexan overlay on the paper chart).
>
We have both kinds of charts but usually the electronic charts are
based on the paper charts and neither one of them is any more accurate
than the data that was given. So of they are using old Admiralty
charts, the charts may not reflect reality.
When we go offshore, we do mark periodic locations on the chart.
>John, I know that your post was in jest, but unfortunately, there are
>too many of the boaters that don't know how to use the "old ways". And
>when they get into trouble, the question is asked, "where are you" and
>they have no idea.
I think there are clueless boaters that don't use ANY ways, and do not
know where they are. I knew we heard someone calling for help for a
man who had a heart attack someplace like Back Creek or Mill Creek of
which there are several different ones on the Chesapeake. The people
on the boat had no idea at all where they actually were.
I also heard about a couple who were going from the Exumas back to
Nassau when the man fell overboard (in his 70s and with no life
jacket). It was good weather, but the lifeline gave way. He was
alone on deck, and when his wife found that he was missing, she had no
idea where he had fallen overboard. Because she was in beginning
stages of Alzheimer's, she could not remember how to turn off the
autopilot (which was heading for Rose Island), and her sister who was
her companion was not a boater and did not know either.
The story has a happy ending. The SSB was still tuned to Dave Jones'
weather and one of the women called for help on it. Jones was still
on the radio, and he contacted BASRA. Someone went out and located
the boat and boarded it and turned the autopilot off and brought it
into Nassau. They also searched for the old men, and found him still
swimming about 4 hours later.
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