Quote:
Originally Posted by Stillraining
IMHO:
I would rather have the Chartplotter at the helm and no radar at all if I had to make that choice...My cruising waters here in the PNW and BC waters is riddled with tricky slots and passes to navigate...myriads of submerged rocks and narrow cuts make for some interesting cruising...
My GPS/Plotter is truly a God send around here..The depth contours are so darn accurate I would almost..  choose it over a depth sounder if I had to make that choice... My Radar will only keep me off visible land and help avoid other boats in the fog...both of which I can pretty much avoid by simply staying anchored in a cove when its foggy..I dont sail at night.. |
I might be a bit of a contrarian but I take the opposite view towards my navigating. If I'm relying on either a
GPS or a
chartplotter to keep myself off the rocks or transit a narrow passage, something is wrong. I don't feel safe without more spatial awareness than what is provided by
GPS/chartplotter and
radar can give that to me in the absence of visual indicators. I don't ever want to be in a situation where I have to
rely on
GPS for safe navigating. In my view, as long as I treat it the same way that I would a celestial fix, ie...where all I need to know is my position within a couple of miles, I think the
GPS is worthwhile and being used properly. Absent
radar, anchoring is a delightful option!