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Overuse of technology

7K views 23 replies 15 participants last post by  nolatom 
#1 · (Edited)
We were talking about using GPS in another thread, and it reminded me of a funny kayaking story. I'm a Sea Kayaker and was leading a novice on a quarter mile crossing to an island, that involved strong cross currents. He had a brand new kayak and hand held GPS unit, which he had proudly attached to the deck of the Kayak. I told him he would have to aim high (using a "Ferry Angle") and really dig in with the paddle in order to reach the Island. I left shore and made it to the Island, only to look across and see him right were I had left him! I waited for a while, he didn't leave shore. Finely, I returned to find out what the problem was.
He told me "Well...my GPS said I wasn't making any progress. It said I was moving half a Knot back wards". I said: "Looking over at the shore could have told you that! Now...turn the *&^%ing GPS off, aim high and dig in with your paddle. Follow me!" He did, and we made it to the island.
Point being, technology is great and certainly has it's place. However, when it is used in place of common sense it can be outright dangerous. IMHO!
Anyone have other sea stories of techno mis-application?
 
#2 ·
No complaints from me. I think the GPS system is one of the great inventions of the 20th century. I often wonder how many accidents it has helped prevent by giving voice directions rather than driving looking at a map trying to find street signs or reading from a mapquest print out while driving. At the same time it is nice to not use one on my HD and just wander nice country roads and just see where you wind up.
 
#3 ·
This summer I was going into Morro Bay for fuel pre-dawn in pea soup fog on transit from San Francisco to San Diego. I told crew I wasn't going in blind and would wait for some visibility. Fog lifted a little as sun rose and I was able to see the entrance bouys. Crew with his new GPS in one hand and map in the other started to insist I should go into an area I knew to be foul. I pointed out the bouys, said I'm just going to keep the greens to port and reds to starboard, thank you very much. He kept insisting I run up on the beach, I couldn't get him to look up and see the obvious. He didn't have a clue about navigation, I swear sometimes he was looking at the map upside down.
Also had to explain that the thing on the boat's GPS was an oil rig, not a moving ship, since we don't have radar NOTHING on the screen was moving except us.
 
#4 ·
People seem to forget that technology is an information tool. All it does is give you another version of what we already know. Plus it is only as good as the information entered, which in some cases has been shown to be WRONG. I use GPS, Charts and when possible local knowledge to figure out how to get to where I need to go.
 
#5 ·
I had the opposite in the Grenadines last April when my Father in law saw dark water in front of us thinking there was plenty of depth. I consulted my handheld and the chart to find that the dark area ahead of us was a reef, not deep water. I had set the course for the day earlier but he thought he could take a short cut. Luckily the crew trusted my navigation skills over his so he was forced to comply.

This is a guy who hit the same large rock twice in his home waters. I asked him why he did not mark the rock on his chartplotter the first time and he said because he did not know how. So I asked if he took any visual bearings to elp avaoid the rock and he looked puzzled.

In these cases the technology would have kept him out of trouble if he had chosen to use them.

For the record, I am USPS advanced Piloting certified and often use paper chart and GPS for navigation.
 
#9 ·
This is a guy who hit the same large rock twice in his home waters. I asked him why he did not mark the rock on his chartplotter the first time and he said because he did not know how. So I asked if he took any visual bearings to elp avaoid the rock and he looked puzzled. In these cases the technology would have kept him out of trouble if he had chosen to use them.
If I hit a rock and didn't have the skills to note it's location (or detect and avoid it on a chart in the first place), I would at least avoid the area altogether after the first incident. It makes me shudder to think how many people like this are in charge of vessels! In this case I think throwing technology into the mix might just confuse things even more! Possibly providing a false sense of security while not understanding how to use the technology. You know the old story about the guy who activates the cruise control in his RV and goes into the back for a nap? I never really believed it, but then, hitting the same rock twice and still not knowing where it is? I guess anythings possible!
 
#6 ·
on a quarter mile crossing to an island that involved strong cross currents.

He told me "Well...my GPS said I wasn't making any progress. It said I was moving half a Knot back wards". I said: "Looking over at the shore could have told you that! Now...turn the *&^%ing GPS off, aim high and dig in with your paddle. Follow me!"
I've said for YEARS that GPS makes people dumb. Well, not really, just leads them to do dumb things.

WTH do you need a freaking GPS for anyway when your destination is in sight? MAYBE if a really thick fog rolls in, but hey, a COMPASS will guide you then too.

Too many people spend too much time w/ their heads down instead of looking the hell where they are going.

I scared the crap out of a guy who was the GIVE WAY vessel one time. Can't prove it but it appeared he was A) only looking on the windward side of the sails, B) looking down at a handheld GPS.

I altered course to miss him and called HEY THERE as we passed. He was so freaking engrossed in whatever he was doing he about fell off the cockpit seat.
 
#10 · (Edited)
WTH do you need a freaking GPS for anyway when your destination is in sight? MAYBE if a really thick fog rolls in, but hey, a COMPASS will guide you then too.
I agree with every point you made sailordave except for this one. A compass does not compensate for the effects of wind or tide on a vessel's course. It simply tells you in which direction the boat is pointed. This reminds me of one of my favorite sayings: "When fog descends, an anchor becomes a navigational device. It keeps you in a place where you are not sinking". I don't have GPS and therefore can't talk about using it in fog. However, I would trust it much more than a Compass. I do have a compass (of course), and anchor. I'll be choosing an anchor in fog. Having SF Bay as my home port, I would have thought fog would have been more of an issue as a recreational skipper than it has been. If it was a frequent issue, I still think my weapon of choice would be radar. Most of my dock mates who have radar say they have rarely, if ever, used it. It's my understanding that this in itself, can be a problem when it is used, as it takes practice to use effectively. If I had to work on the bay,or was cruising, I would have all four "navigational devices" at my disposal.
 
#8 ·
Given that 13' is a fraction of the length of most boats using GPS I doubt it would have much of an effect, unless you need a chartplotter to get from your bunk to the head at 2am. On the other hand, it might drive the geocachers to distraction.
 
#13 ·
This thread is misnamed. It isn't about the overuse of technology, but the misuse of technology associated with the underuse or lack of brains.

I started out as a Luddite, sailing a boat that didn't even have an electrical system. I would go on short trips anchoring at night and sailing in daylight. We had a handheld VHF from the start, and as time went on, a handheld LORAN, a battery and running lights, cabin lights, and electric bilge pump were added. We had a good compass, charts, and Eldridges tide tables (for New England waters). We got caught plenty of times in fog that crept in on Block Island Sound, but were smug about the accuracy of our dead reckoning in acquiring passages in the reefs southwest of Watch Hill.

Then we moved up to a real cruising boat with sailing instruments, plotting LORAN and GPS, and autopilot. Sailing was a lot more enjoyable, but you had to know how to use all this stuff--not just what the buttons did, but how all this stuff plays out in the real world. (Your GPS doesn't know about currents, but it does know where you are over the bottom, so you want to use this new information and plug it into your dead reckoning process.) We learned, for example how to finesse the currents into and out of the eastern end of Fishers Island sound. Before then, we didn't know the current vectors took a decided turn in the area of the reefs--Eldridges tables and charts were too coarse.)

Then we added radar. What an eye-opener. We thought we'd supplement our early plotter (non charting version) for navigation purposes, but what we found was that it was much more useful for avoiding other boats and ships--not only in the fog! We also realized how vulnerable we had been--pre-radar--to unseen idiots moving through the fog at unreasonably high speeds. We also used it to be aware of those folks who simply drop their anchors in channels in the fog. Long story short: We use 2 charting displays when caught in a fog. One is for a radar watch, and the other is for regular navigation. (Our newer displays (2010) will allow a radar/chart overlay, but if you are using the radar for self-defense, the picture is less confusing with separate displays.)

As time moved on, our electronics advanced and we had an integrated sailing instruments, chartplotters, radar, and autopilot system. We had left the Luddite days in the long ago past. Now we didn't have to pick off waypoints with divider and calculator to enter a new waypoint. We could simply move a cursor and click. Our integrated autopilot/chartplotter system could show us the effect of time-varying currents on our sailing strategy and alert us to a condition leading to a stall in close hauled mode. All the while, we were verifying the accuracy of our electronic charts, sometimes by means of comparison with paper charts to reconcile channel location with respect to buoys. (We actually had a situation in home waters where the channel was indicated outside the buoys. We used our radar and paper chart to determine the buoys were accurately placed and the channel was in error--but this was a no-brainer in home waters!)

All that said, we have had 2 lightning strikes that took out all of our electronics in an instant--actually, 2 separate instants, 10 years apart. The silver lining in this cloud was that we replaced our electronics with then-current electronics, which amounts to significant technology upgrades. At the same time, we became acutely aware that you had better have current paper charts and a good compass and know how to use them.

Unfortunately, it is too easy for some folks to be over-reliant on technology and be totally lost in a lightning strike situation or due to another kind of electronic malfunction. And then there are the folks who never understood the limitations of their technology or its proper use in the first place--like th kayaker at the beginning of this string. Proper use of technology can add significantly to your safety and sailing knowledge. We're better sailors for all this technology, as long as we understand how to use it properly and how to manage when it malfunctions.
 
#14 · (Edited)
This thread is misnamed. It isn't about the overuse of technology, but the misuse of technology associated with the underuse or lack of brains.

Well....against my nature, I was trying to be diplomatic!

All that said, we have had 2 lightning strikes that took out all of our electronics in an instant--actually, 2 separate instants, 10 years apart. The silver lining in this cloud was that we replaced our electronics with then-current electronics, which amounts to significant technology upgrades. At the same time, we became acutely aware that you had better have current paper charts and a good compass and know how to use them.

I wonder how many "digital natives" (learned the term on NPR!):) will take the time to learn the basics. My hunch is they will have little patience for it.

Unfortunately, it is too easy for some folks to be over-reliant on technology and be totally lost in a lightning strike situation or due to another kind of electronic malfunction. And then there are the folks who never understood the limitations of their technology or its proper use in the first place--like th kayaker at the beginning of this string. Proper use of technology can add significantly to your safety and sailing knowledge. We're better sailors for all this technology, as long as we understand how to use it properly and how to manage when it malfunctions.
Well said. A thoughtful informative post (which I shortened here)!
 
#15 ·
I've pulled 2 boats off that were using GPS to navigate a channel in good daylight. They were watching the chart plotter, not the color of the water.

One of them ran on the same spot 5 minutes later; he couldn't believe the GPS was wrong (it wasn't--the channel moved).
 
#19 ·
A compass is great if you are the only uncharted object in the area. If you are knowledgeable about local currents and are competent at dead reckoning, you can get by. But a compass (or GPS) won't tell you about the sailor who's parked in open water at anchor, nor will it tell you about the tugboat hauling a barge on a 1/2 mile hawse line (a frequent scenario in our home waters). The tugboat scenario is particularly scary. You might sight the tugboat, but not the barge, which might not be tracking directly behind the tug due to current and wind. Nor will you see the hawse line below the surface. In thick fog (<1/8 mile visibility) you need to worry about these things plus the yahoo in his powerboat doing 20+kts. I've seen too many large powerboats taking evasive turns in fog to ignore the risks they present. At least 2 of them did so in response to my securite call in reaction to seeing them (on radar) closing on me!

L124C is right on about knowing how to use your radar--it isn't as easy as some folks think. You need to practice in clear weather to understand the different kinds of returns you get from different kinds of vessels and other objects. The electronic bearing line is a particularly effective tool to determine whether you are on a collision course. I use it in places like Massachusetts Bay to evaluate closing situations in clear weather--let alone fog. It's also fun for sailors to use radar to determine gain or loss against other sailboats on the same tack.
 
#23 ·
People with less than adequate skills have been on the water since long before GPS. You can't fix that.

I somewhat disagree that you can overuse technology. Even the days before inexpensive technology, we learned to use multiple sources and senses to find our way.

Cruising guide can be worth it's weight in gold, but paper charts are a waste of space when there are electronic versions on the cell phone, laptop, ipad, Plotter, AIS, Radar, etc. I have yet to hear an argument that is not already mitigated.

They have been moved to dry land along with the Sextant and my old trusty slide-rule. Common sense, prudence, and good planning never give way to technology, just enhance it.
 
#24 · (Edited)
how did folks (my dad the yacht broker, and the new owners) trust a 17 year-old kid and his friend to deliver their new 30-footer from Marblehead down to an unfamiliar harbor on Buzzards Bay? But they did. no radio, compass "to be compensated after the delivery", no depth sounder, nothing but compass, charts and DR. Boston Lightship was my first "buoy" on this long buoy-hop. And I had to figure out when to leave and arrive so the Cape Cod Canal would be fair current. No cell phones either, you were just plumb out of touch til you got there and phoned home from shore.

I had taken Power Squadrons at age 14, it was invaluable. And I had been sailing since age 8, and I believed I could do it, and it turned out I could. But the technology I had was about the same as what sailors had had for 400 years.

Fast-forward almost 50 years. I had picked up a small Coast Guard license along the way, and was drafted a fill-in second captain on the night watch on a 100' dive boat with 30 souls sleeping as I took her out from Texas to the Stetson Bank sanctuary offshore. All the electronics of a large ship--AIS, two radars, two GPS sets, ECDIS with AIS overlay, autopilot, three radios-- plus 3 engines and 1800 hp (me who thinks 45 hp is really a lot). And, oh, a compass, almost forgot ;-)

And yet--you still have to remember to *look out the windows* now and again, and not get mesmerized by these multiple "maritime TV sets". Not every other vessel (or platform) has AIS radio, radar, etc, etc, or even lights sometimes, or makes a discernible radar target.

So technology is good, as well as a possible distraction or even a source of possible error. And "old school" is not to be forgotten, if you went to one. On the delivery trips up to Rye or Portsmouth NH from Mass Bay, if the fog rolled in and I had not just a questionable compass, but the latest fad--a depth sounder! I could after sailing north from Cape Ann, make the left turn to shore early, watch the depth, turn right at 40 feet, then keep her at 40 heading north until I saw or heard the Seabuoy off Rye Harbor. Shazam! In the old days they would use a sounding lead, and effectively too.

Old is good. New is good. Sailing is good. Being entrusted with someone else's pride and joy is a big responsibility--but good. ;-)
 
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