By Denis Glennon
A man who is not afraid of the sea will soon be
drowned, he said, for he will be going out on a
day he shouldn’t. But we do be afraid of the sea,
and we do only be drownded now and again.
- J.M. Synge, in The Aran Islands
Murphy’s Law Murphy’s Law on laptops and electronic charts aboard cruising boats contends that a computer at sea will one day fail catastrophically, at the worst possible time and in the most hazardous place. My own contention is that sound seamanship will surpass software every time. When the electronics and chips are down, I fall back on pencil and paper charts, and what I call an “innate” sense of position, derived from practice in fundamental navigation techniques. Yet, a laptop and electronic charts are valued pieces of navigation equipment on our 49-foot ketch
Calypso V. Why so?
Midnight Passage Planning It is midnight, and my wife, Una, and I prepare to depart Fremantle Sailing Club, Western Australia, for Bunbury—a 95 nautical miles, coastal/ocean passage. The first hours will be sailed in darkness as we head south into the Indian Ocean. We sail at this time to take advantage of the favourable easterly winds and approach our destination in daylight.
Before departure, I switch on the laptop and check tidal information, weather forecast, charts, optional routes, waypoints, distances, bearings, tracking function, and log. All of this information, and more, is at my fingertips.
Will the 15 to 20-knot easterly wind increase to 25 to 35 knots, turn southerly, and remain there, as it has a habit of doing? If this occurs, tidal information, and a route for an unplanned detour around Coventry and Murray Reefs into Mandurah will be important.
As we will be cruising for at least a week, I print out the four-day forecast chart from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology’s website and open the bookmarked broadcast times and frequencies for marine weatherfax and coastal waters forecasts.
The electronic charts required for the passage are accessible at the touch of a toolbar. All necessary waypoints are entered for the routes selected. If wind or sea state favors sailing inshore or offshore of Bouvard Reefs, or, if weather conditions force us to make an unplanned stopover, we are prepared. Knowing precisely where we are, where we have sailed, time and distance to go, speed over ground, course over ground, and accurate bearing and distance to alternate waypoints, always brings contentment to our cruising. There is less chance of error in determining where we are when we have a continuous display of ‘real-time’ vessel position on the electronic chart. I can confidently provide answers to the inevitable questions “How much longer?” and “How much further?” The information is only a mouse click away.
Selected routes are readily created by simply placing the cursor on a position on the chart and clicking the mouse, each click adding another waypoint. All routes are saved for future use. Within a particular route, range and bearing to the next (or any) waypoint are instantly revealed by the drag of the mouse. The electronic charting software package automatically calculates set and drift.
We are ready for an unhurried departure. We both look forward to the special pleasure of a night sail and recall how daunting the list of features in the navigation software package were initially
Now, the onboard laptop is first choice for position display, route planning, and keeping a running log. As with any new software, a time investment was mandatory to become familiar with its functions and features. The upgrades installed over time have made it even more user-friendly.
As
Calypso V sails south in the darkness, we discuss how the electronic navigation system adds to the pleasure and peace of mind we enjoy, whether we cruise
Calypso V in coastal or offshore waters, in daylight or in darkness. I mention how the system has functioned faultlessly for so long and recall the sound advice we received when selecting the system. Una suggests that this experience might be of interest to other cruisers. Thus, this article was spawned.
Choice of Computer When considering the installation of a computer, Murphy’s Law proponents contended that computers commit suicide off navigation stations that jump around and die if doused with salt water. Furthermore they are the cause of heart attacks as they attempt to “drop in the drink” every time they are taken off or on board. Some of those contentions could have been put to bed if we purchased an up-market computer such as the A-760 model from Getac, which is designed for use in extreme temperatures, is waterproof, and will survive extreme shock conditions. It is available with a built-in GPS (no interface uncertainties), making it especially attractive for electronic navigation and use on boats. However, the price made this an unappealing option.
Instead, we installed an inexpensive, ex-leased, low mileage, IBM ThinkPad 15-inch LCD active screen model, with 320Mb RAM, 12GB hard drive, Windows 95 software (now Windows 2000 Professional), modem, CD, and floppy drives, powered through a 12-volt adapter or from a 240-volt
inverter. It is left permanently on board and is firmly held in place by 50-mm-wide Velcro.
Fortunately, the navigation station on Calypso V is very well protected from rogue seas. The laptop is connected, through a simple four-way serial port distribution box, to: (i) a choice of two GPS’s (for navigation), (ii) an eight-watt output mobile phone (good for email and weather information up to about 20 miles offshore),
(iii) an Icom MC 710 HF radio (for e-mail and weather fax, using Easyfax software);
The fourth port is spare (see the diagram below). The printer is a “discarded,” perfectly sound, Canon BJC 80. The computer has crashed only once in five years, fortunately when we were in port. The cell phone started life with a “truckie” hauling heavy machinery across the Nullarbor desert. A marine antenna fitted to the top of the mizzen mast greatly assists the transmission range and receiving signal for the phone.
Software for Tide Tables By downloading from the Internet and trialing a number of US and British tidal prediction programs, I concluded these programs were more suited for use in waters surrounding their respective country of origin, and instead purchased the excellent New Zealand program, “Tidecomp 2000.” It runs on Windows 95 or later versions and is available from www.pangolin.co.nz. Cruisers can download a trial version from Pangolin’s website and test it for 30 days, free of charge.
Loading and using this program could not be easier. It gives rapid 24-hour graphs showing rates of rise and fall and spot tide heights at any time throughout the day and hours of darkness. If hard copies are preferred, monthly tables of high and low tide in familiar format may be printed. It computes under keel clearances at any tide state. The calendar is valid until 2011 and the pack contains an extensive “Help” section on tide principles. For personal use, purchasers may make as many backup copies as they wish. A database of over 4,000 locations can be rapidly searched under local names or latitude/longitude positions.
Choosing the “Best” Electronic Chart Software Choosing the “
best” software did
not mean selecting the one with the greatest number of features, incorporated in the one system, e.g. weather-routing,
radar-overlay, photo charts, the ability to overlay weather information on a chart, 3-D charts, etc.
Instead, I sought out a system that:
- Contained functions for the kind of cruising we were doing and hoped to do.
- Was easy to learn and use,
- Had demonstrated its reliability at sea in the harsh conditions peculiar to small vessels, (i.e. in fishing boats and yachts),
- Had high quality technical help available from a local supplier, and
- Had features other sailors, and local commercial crayfishermen, found they were using most.
- Was fully compatible with the Australian Hydrographic Service “Seafarer” electronic charts.
Seafarer is the electronic charting service providing coverage of Australian and nearby waters. The charts are high quality CD-based reproductions of the official Australian charts, and are generated from the same database as the paper charts familiar to Australian cruisers.
Not all programs listed are compatible with “Seafarer” and “downunder” cruisers exploring electronic charting for the first time should check the “Seafarer” User Guide (www.hydro.gov.au) for an up-to-date list of compatible navigation systems. We chose Navmaster, which is approved for use with the “Seafarer” Raster Nautical Charts (RNC).
Security Key (Dongle) Navmaster (like all similar programs) uses electronic chart data that are the copyright of various national Hydrographic Offices. A removable security key supplied with each purchase, when connected to the printer port, protects this data. Once purchased, the navigation software can be installed on any number of computers for personal use. The software is also installed on my home computer—convenient for exploring and planning new routes, and revisiting and refining old passages, in the comfort of my study during winter nights!
Under the terms of their agreements with national Hydrographic Offices, suppliers of navigation software are only permitted to issue replacement dongles, if they again charge the full cost of the software originally purchased by the registered owner of the security key. Lost dongles become expensive and ideally, they should be included as a specific item in the vessel’s insurance policy.
Installing the Navigation Software on Calypso V The software program was supplied on CD-ROM. It installed like most other “Windows” applications by simply ensuring the computer date and time were correct (same as the UTC time in the GPS),inserting the CD into the CD-ROM drive (Windows detected the CD and automatically ran the installation program), entering the installation code number provided with the CD-ROM, when prompted, and following the on-screen prompts to complete the installation.
A double click on the Navmaster shortcut screen icon created during installation started the program. Sending the registration card to PC Maritime ensured the automatic provision of information on upgrades, (which can now be downloaded directly from their website).
Installing “Seafarer” Charts The first installation of the “Seafarer” electronic charts presented a greater challenge, but turned out to be relatively straight forward, when I restrained my urgency to see the system running instantly, and instead carefully followed the directions for usage of the Licence floppy disk and PIN number, and, paid particular attention to the instructions for first-time installation of the charts.
NMEA Data Cable Connection Navmaster accepted position information via NMEA data input from either of the previously installed GPSs (Shipmate and Garmin). Both GPSs were connected (one as a backup through a changeover switch), and the serial port of the laptop was linked to the NMEA data distribution box. On first starting the Navmaster program the serial port recognized the NMEA input, and the vessel’s position plotted automatically on the selected electronic chart upon receiving valid data. The “Autoscroll” function opened a dedicated window for plotting Calypso V’s position on the most suitable scale of chart selected from those loaded into the computer.
There is almost a quasi-mystical feeling witnessing your own boat “tracking” across an electronic chart for the first time. The feeling does not fade with time.
Autopilots & Electronic Charting Navmaster (like other programs) will send bearing and cross track error data, in NMEA 0183 format, to a compatible autopilot to enable it to follow a pre-defined route. For reasons primarily associated with what I like to think are seamanship, caution, and old-fashioned common sense, I chose not to use this function as the primary autopilot control on Calypso V.
Instead, the original, very reliable and proven, Shipmate chartplotter/Robertson autopilot interface was retained, and linked to the new electronic chart/laptop. Selected waypoints are up-loaded from the laptop to the chartplotter, and sequentially used to engage the autopilot for each “leg” in the particular route being sailed. This approach has continued to be foolproof.
Uploading waypoints from an electronic chart to the chartplotter faithfully follows the practice, honed over many years, of transferring waypoints from a paper chart to the chartplotter. Except now, it happens electronically and is error-free every time!
Perhaps, the approach adopted on
Calypso V will be seen by some as over cautious, but if Murphy’s Law prevails and the laptop goes down, there is the backup chartplotter display of present position, as well as the list of waypoints in use at the time. As a backup to that backup there is, of course, the second
Garmin GPS.
Yet, the real backup is the ageless skill of using a pencil, paper charts, and a hand-bearing compass for coastal navigation, and for ocean navigation, a paper log updated by periodically writing down the time, and latitude and longitude calculated with the help of a Tamaya sextant, and an Easynav permanent almanac.
Different skills are required for paper plotting and electronic charting. The former is a time-honored art form; the latter (for amateur computer drivers at least) is shrouded by an opaque veil of mystery. I respect each, but, not at the expense of the other. Not dismissing either set of disciplines, since they can work in harmony, has kept my navigation honest. Neither is a foe; both can be good friends of cruisers.
Dawn and Destination At 5 a.m. the first rays of light appear exactly on cue. Sipping our coffee, we sail in the splendidness that surrounds us. The golden rose light of morning is unveiling a beautiful panorama all around. For about 30 minutes, the shimmers of red to the east progressively replace the fading darkness, before the sun breaks through the membrane of the horizon. A new day is born.
About the author: Denis Glennon sails his 49-foot ketch
Calypso V off the Western Australian coast. He has learned that even on a boat fitted out with an array of electronic systems, it is critical to cultivate the state of mind that says the systems are nice to have as long as they are working, but in no way will their failure be permitted to interfere with the essential pleasure of precision cruising. Always keen to adopt new lessons that can add to that other state of mind dubbed “seamanship,” he has also learned that if the new lessons are
true sea lessons, they will be laced with a touch of fear of being “drowned.”
