May. 16, 2006 - traditional nav

Should also add to my previous post about passage planning across to Oostende, that this will be the first passage for a long time where its more sensible to work out a course to steer the traditional way, rather than rely on the GPS .I always find that for legs of less than 6 or 7nm, which is what most coastal hops involve if we are honest with ourselves, steering to the rolling road vs a calculated CTS makes ****** all difference in passage times, so I just use the GPS and then keep an accurate logbook and regular plots on the chart.... but on this trip the leg lengths are such that significant time gains are to be made by working it all out properly...

I admit that I am quite looking forward to doing the chart work the traditional way, and seeing how accurate my EPs are.... been a good few years!... I guess at least I have sailed and navigated since long before GPS was commercially available to yachts (I do have fond memories of RDF though!!!!), so the skills are not new to me.... just not used regularly anymore!

May. 16, 2006 - CTS & all that...

May. 16, 2006 - Trad Nav