[wemsail]

With all the excellent information available on today's chart plotters, how could we not see the rocks that were right in front of us?
1. Move the cursor to an area ahead to see the up coming conditions or to find another route.
2. Chart plotter data does not display all data until you zoom in on an area. This leaves you not looking at the imediate area you are in.
3. Chart plotter screens are SOOOOO much smaller than the paper chart for a good over view.
4. Recenter the screen after the cursor has been moved and you loose the present location.
5. Chart Plotter makes it decievingly simple to just get going and not look at the big picture available on the chart, to see the whole route.
6. When Zoomed out you do not get the whole picture of the details of the route you will be crossing.
7. Our depth sounder had been acting up that day and displaying 188.8SD instead of the actual depth.
We were lucky, we carry a spare electric bilge pump with a hose and wires to connect directly to the electrical panel - how many have this? None of our sailboat companions had one to backup ours if it failed.

 

[smackdaddy]

Jeez wem - that hurts. Was the keel a disaster?

It's funny. When you walk through the issues with the chart plotter, and how it limits your "vision" it's almost like the technology has taken us BACK 250 years where we're only seeing what's right around us from the crow's nest.

 

[Faster]

......We were lucky, we carry a spare electric bilge pump with a hose and wires to connect directly to the electrical panel - how many have this? None of our sailboat companions had one to backup ours if it failed.

I'll wager few of us in fact do this...we don't (yet!).. thanks for the heads up.

Noted that on your 'spare parts' thread that the boat was ultimately written off.. can you give us a more detailed scenario on the incident and the specific damage?

 

[JomsViking]

Glad you survived, sorry the boat did not.
Your point below is a great problem on vector charts, as they show a different number of layers depending on zoom factor.
Another reason paper charts is such a great thing to have

6. When Zoomed out you do not get the whole picture of the details of the route you will be crossing.

 

[Bellita]

I was once with a sailor who was so glued into his chartplotter that he totally ignored a reef he was approaching on the nose. when I kept asking him about it he kept saying it wasn't on the chart so not to worry. as we were within minutes of spearing the reef, complete with breaking foam (so it was more than visible), I pushed him aside and did a hard turn to the wheel to avoid a serious grounding scenario. Only then did he begin to use his sensory perception to understand what his elements were telling him vs. the chartplotter.

it's amazing how all of us at one time or another (myself included) sometimes key into what our electric gizmo's should be telling us, verses what reality is screaming at us....

hope your boat is ok. Glad you are still here to tell the tale!

 

[wemsail]

rocks not on the chart plotter

I think a lot of us would like to think that the things we hit were not on the chart plotter - BUT, I think you will find that the object is in fact on the chat plotter - you are just looking at the wrong Zoom level or the wrong area. All this data for the chips and the paper charts comes from the same surveys by the US Government. We need to look at the bigger more whole picture that is offered by the paper chart