Going to start a new topic in praise of GPS. I couldn't do the sailing that I do without the assistance of GPS. I once counted that I have more than 25 independent GPS engines on the boat. I use Navionics charting and have three active plotters running at all times. ie The Raymarine built in plotter is used with radar overlay with its default setting tracking the vessel at high zoom. at a glance you can see whats coming up in the next mile. The big screen desktop uses Navionics PC Plotter with AIS overlay and audible alarm. Also has the weather routing software and Satellite internet connection plus Google earth all interlinked by GPS cordinates. The desktop is the primary navigation device. Also have ipad which can talk to other devices and which is used for pilotage and stays with me when I am off watch.
The autopilot is linked to and steers by GPS, and have a GPS tracker that broadcasts my location via satellite for family and friends to follow.
If **** hits the fan then my satellite phone and broadband, and VHF radio are GPS enabled and my PLB and EPIRB will broadcast a GPS location. Even if the GPS is 30 metres out and they are not they are a very usefull device.
Have you gone mad? 
(even if your post is in jest, what you write is deeply worrying 
)
I had a tablet(1) on board and the phone(1), both with MemoryMap after my plotter died and l did not bother replacing it.
Those TWO electronic gadgets - only TWO! - took my attention away from sailing the boat so much, that it made the trip unpleasantly stressed because the operation of those gadgets sometimes became overwhelmingly difficult.
HOW ON EARTH CAN YOU OPERATE ALL THOSE GADGETS EFFICIENTLY AND SAIL THE YACHT ACCORDING TO GOOD SEAMANSHIP AND KEEPING PROPER WATCH AT THE SAME TIME IS BEYOND ME!
I am afraid is beyond everyone.
Have you a chart, pen and paper aboard? 
Sir G, Frant's record proves that he's got an extremely good "feel" for sailing, so he's almost certainly able to sail the boat very efficiently without thinking about it at all. That would allow him to concentrate on other things.
On the other hand, I'm more on your side about the number of GPSs. We have a tablet and two phones, and that's it. We used to do Sydney-Hobarts and coastal passages before GPS was created without hitting ships or Australia.
Select to expand quotesirgallivant said..
Have you gone mad?
(even if your post is in jest, what you write is deeply worrying )
I had a tablet(1) on board and the phone(1), both with MemoryMap after my plotter died and l did not bother replacing it.
Those TWO electronic gadgets - only TWO! - took my attention away from sailing the boat so much, that it made the trip unpleasantly stressed because the operation of those gadgets sometimes became overwhelmingly difficult.
HOW ON EARTH CAN YOU OPERATE ALL THOSE GADGETS EFFICIENTLY AND SAIL THE YACHT ACCORDING TO GOOD SEAMANSHIP AND KEEPING PROPER WATCH AT THE SAME TIME IS BEYOND ME!
I am afraid is beyond everyone.
Have you a chart, pen and paper aboard?
S-G please draw by your selfe and for your selfe on the paper with pen (some people need well detailed instuctions)
draw a box/squere for every item mentioned, link those boxes to each another with lines corresponding with the usege of them in real time and events of use.
If you are real person (not a robot) you have oportunity to accept the reality.
Select to expand quotesirgallivant said..
Have you gone mad?
(even if your post is in jest, what you write is deeply worrying )
I had a tablet(1) on board and the phone(1), both with MemoryMap after my plotter died and l did not bother replacing it.
Those TWO electronic gadgets - only TWO! - took my attention away from sailing the boat so much, that it made the trip unpleasantly stressed because the operation of those gadgets sometimes became overwhelmingly difficult.
HOW ON EARTH CAN YOU OPERATE ALL THOSE GADGETS EFFICIENTLY AND SAIL THE YACHT ACCORDING TO GOOD SEAMANSHIP AND KEEPING PROPER WATCH AT THE SAME TIME IS BEYOND ME!
I am afraid is beyond everyone.
Have you a chart, pen and paper aboard?
Of course I have a full set of charts on board, all currently updated and annotated, plus paper, HB pencils, sharpener, eraser, parallel rule, dividers, protractor,magnifying glass, sextant, reduction tables, logarithm tables for complex calculations & a couple of little ditties in my head to go from magnetic to true and vice versa. Of course I get my compass swung annually, have the correction tables on hand and carry a lead line and knot board. I HAVE GOOD SEAMANSHIP when I use that stuff, otherwise I am just a hack!
ps last night I came around Wilsons Prom, weaved my way through the islands at the peak of tidal flow and anchored in Oberon Bay. Admittedly I "cheated" by letting the autopilot steer to a previously saved track that I had done in daylight while I kept a sharp lookout and attended to the physical chores of sailing.
I forgot to add that I carry a wind up chronometer as well, cant trust those new fangled digital watches.
Select to expand quotesirgallivant said..
Have you gone mad?
(even if your post is in jest, what you write is deeply worrying )
I had a tablet(1) on board and the phone(1), both with MemoryMap after my plotter died and l did not bother replacing it.
Those TWO electronic gadgets - only TWO! - took my attention away from sailing the boat so much, that it made the trip unpleasantly stressed because the operation of those gadgets sometimes became overwhelmingly difficult.
HOW ON EARTH CAN YOU OPERATE ALL THOSE GADGETS EFFICIENTLY AND SAIL THE YACHT ACCORDING TO GOOD SEAMANSHIP AND KEEPING PROPER WATCH AT THE SAME TIME IS BEYOND ME!
I am afraid is beyond everyone.
Have you a chart, pen and paper aboard?
SirG, have a closer read of Frants post. He includes a GPS tracker such as Yellow Brick, an Epirb, personal ELT devices, a Satphone, GPS enabled broadband, seemingly has S-AIS as opposed to VHF derived AIS, so he is now down to 19.. Most of these devices would NEVER BE TOUCHED therefore will not be distracting from grants enjoyment of sailing or more importantly as you seem concerned with, Frants "GOOD SEAMANSHIP AND KEEPING PROPER WATCH AT THE SAME"
With everybody having smartphones and tablets these days, most boats will have at least two GPS devices. That is two more than my first sailboat which had none. Currently I have 7 GPS devises that go along with the boat. If I starts counting iPhones and iPads that usually go along on my average sail (not all mine but the families) there would easily be 13.
I do question though whether some items on Frants list are individual GPS devices or if they are just connected to another GPS device (such as the autopilot might just be connected to the GPS Plotter).
Select to expand quoteToph said..sirgallivant said..
Have you gone mad?
(even if your post is in jest, what you write is deeply worrying )
I had a tablet(1) on board and the phone(1), both with MemoryMap after my plotter died and l did not bother replacing it.
Those TWO electronic gadgets - only TWO! - took my attention away from sailing the boat so much, that it made the trip unpleasantly stressed because the operation of those gadgets sometimes became overwhelmingly difficult.
HOW ON EARTH CAN YOU OPERATE ALL THOSE GADGETS EFFICIENTLY AND SAIL THE YACHT ACCORDING TO GOOD SEAMANSHIP AND KEEPING PROPER WATCH AT THE SAME TIME IS BEYOND ME!
I am afraid is beyond everyone.
Have you a chart, pen and paper aboard?
SirG, have a closer read of Frants post. He includes a GPS tracker such as Yellow Brick, an Epirb, personal ELT devices, a Satphone, GPS enabled broadband, seemingly has S-AIS as opposed to VHF derived AIS, so he is now down to 19.. Most of these devices would NEVER BE TOUCHED therefore will not be distracting from grants enjoyment of sailing or more importantly as you seem concerned with, Frants "GOOD SEAMANSHIP AND KEEPING PROPER WATCH AT THE SAME"
With everybody having smartphones and tablets these days, most boats will have at least two GPS devices. That is two more than my first sailboat which had none. Currently I have 7 GPS devises that go along with the boat. If I starts counting iPhones and iPads that usually go along on my average sail (not all mine but the families) there would easily be 13.
I do question though whether some items on Frants list are individual GPS devices or if they are just connected to another GPS device (such as the autopilot might just be connected to the GPS Plotter).
Correct. I was counting every device on board that has a GPS chip. Not all active of course. ie have a spare Raymarine GPS antenna, a couple of my old speedsailing GPS handhelds, a few old phones, 5 GPS PLB's, etc etc, any one of them could be fired up to get a GPS fix however. Some items that share a GPS antenna from another device, eg autopilot from chartplotter and computer from the AIS GPS antenna. There is a lot of redundancy and independent battery power supply.
Select to expand quoteFreeRadical said..
How do you get a fix from a PLB?
You pull the activation pin and wait for the helicopter to come and get you. They will give you the GPS coordinates of where they found you. Same with an EPIRB. Thats when the benefits of GPS really come to the fore.
^^^ I don't think he is talking about the ability to take a fix as such, but the benefit of GPS devices on a whole such as an EPRIB.
Select to expand quotetroubadour said..
Don't like to nit pick but pencils should be 2B not HB for chart work
forum.woodenboat.com/archive/index.php/t-44400.html Well that's open to debate!
As Shakespeare said, "2B or not 2B, that is the question ......"
Hamlet, Act 3, scene 1
2B is the standard for chart work. Is easily rubbed out or erased for the PC among us and causes least damage to one's charts.
Select to expand quoteBristolfashion said..
As Shakespeare said, "2B or not 2B, that is the question ......"
Hamlet, Act 3, scene 1
What!! No Hand Held RDF or hand bearing compass . Sorry it would be a bit risky sailing with you . We could get lost at sea!
The fog could roll in and then where would you be or you may not be able to ascertain visually what lighthouse the loom is from.
On the other hand no need to go on deck just set everything electronically and lay back.
Select to expand quotefrant said..
Going to start a new topic in praise of GPS. I couldn't do the sailing that I do without the assistance of GPS. I once counted that I have more than 25 independent GPS engines on the boat. I use Navionics charting and have three active plotters running at all times. ie The Raymarine built in plotter is used with radar overlay with its default setting tracking the vessel at high zoom. at a glance you can see whats coming up in the next mile. The big screen desktop uses Navionics PC Plotter with AIS overlay and audible alarm. Also has the weather routing software and Satellite internet connection plus Google earth all interlinked by GPS cordinates. The desktop is the primary navigation device. Also have ipad which can talk to other devices and which is used for pilotage and stays with me when I am off watch.
The autopilot is linked to and steers by GPS, and have a GPS tracker that broadcasts my location via satellite for family and friends to follow.
If **** hits the fan then my satellite phone and broadband, and VHF radio are GPS enabled and my PLB and EPIRB will broadcast a GPS location. Even if the GPS is 30 metres out and they are not they are a very usefull device.
So Frant, what weather routing software and Satellite internet connection are you using.
Select to expand quoteBananabender said..
What!! No Hand Held RDF or hand bearing compass . Sorry it would be a bit risky sailing with you . We could get lost at sea!
The fog could roll in and then where would you be or you may not be able to ascertain visually what lighthouse the loom is from.
On the other hand no need to go on deck just set everything electronically and lay back.
I've been watching this RDF for awhile. It's tempting to re live the past!
www.ebay.com.au/itm/Vintage-Brookes-Gatehouse-Direction-Finding-Radio-Unit-Compass/323049493976?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649
That is a class piece of kit Ramona. Are signals still transmitted from stations that the unit could receive??
Last one that I used had a timber pistol grip handle making it easy to use as a hand bearing compass as well.
I bet you have a nice collection of nauticalia including a Walker log no doubt.
Select to expand quotecisco said..
That is a class piece of kit Ramona. Are signals still transmitted from stations that the unit could receive??
Last one that I used had a timber pistol grip handle making it easy to use as a hand bearing compass as well.
I bet you have a nice collection of nauticalia including a Walker log no doubt.
They just use the AM radio stations up and down the coast. I used to have one of those Dick Smith radios that had the rotating aerial on the top. Probably accurate to 10 degrees or so! No Walker log, too expensive for me. I started looking for RDF units when the Golden Globe race rules allowed them. I was curious to how many were still about. I was trying to explain what RDF's were to my mate, his eyes just glazed over!
What's this! Thread hyjack by the learned members of the Flat Earth Society??? Pythagoras is often credited as the Greek philosopher that deemed that the Earth was not flat although the Egytians with their sundials are believed to arrived at a similkar conclusion. Clearly these ancient philosophers were sadly misinformed and the Earth is indeed flat. How else could we have the perfect representation of the Earths geographic features depicted on a flat sheet of paper?
All we ask is that a few punters move from the right to the left or the Earth is going to tip over.
That's my political rant for the day.
Select to expand quotefrant said..
What's this! Thread hyjack by the learned members of the Flat Earth Society??? Pythagoras is often credited as the Greek philosopher that deemed that the Earth was not flat although the Egytians with their sundials are believed to arrived at a similkar conclusion. Clearly these ancient philosophers were sadly misinformed and the Earth is indeed flat. How else could we have the perfect representation of the Earths geographic features depicted on a flat sheet of paper?
All we ask is that a few punters move from the right to the left or the Earth is going to tip over.
That's my political rant for the day.
Not me! I'm firmly in the Seaclear 2 camp. Don't own any charts except digital.
I have just about cleared ll the charts out of my Icon waste of space really, had charts to go to tassie in my Seaprincess and. When **** hit the fan the Garmin hand held plotter saved me and my yacht there was no way I was going to get charts out as I couldn't leave the wheel. Since then it's been East coast of oz , lizard island , outer barrier reef, Thursday island , cape York, etc . The only chart I have is a original from captain cook which is not complete!
Select to expand quotefrant said..
What's this! Thread hyjack by the learned members of the Flat Earth Society??? Pythagoras is often credited as the Greek philosopher that deemed that the Earth was not flat although the Egytians with their sundials are believed to arrived at a similkar conclusion. Clearly these ancient philosophers were sadly misinformed and the Earth is indeed flat. How else could we have the perfect representation of the Earths geographic features depicted on a flat sheet of paper?
All we ask is that a few punters move from the right to the left or the Earth is going to tip over.
That's my political rant for the day.
The earth is flat, and this guy proves it!
Hey Frant , Are you in the Nolex 30 again on this trip ? Are you fully crewed or short handed ?
Select to expand quoteCrusoe said..frant said..
Going to start a new topic in praise of GPS. I couldn't do the sailing that I do without the assistance of GPS. I once counted that I have more than 25 independent GPS engines on the boat. I use Navionics charting and have three active plotters running at all times. ie The Raymarine built in plotter is used with radar overlay with its default setting tracking the vessel at high zoom. at a glance you can see whats coming up in the next mile. The big screen desktop uses Navionics PC Plotter with AIS overlay and audible alarm. Also has the weather routing software and Satellite internet connection plus Google earth all interlinked by GPS cordinates. The desktop is the primary navigation device. Also have ipad which can talk to other devices and which is used for pilotage and stays with me when I am off watch.
The autopilot is linked to and steers by GPS, and have a GPS tracker that broadcasts my location via satellite for family and friends to follow.
If **** hits the fan then my satellite phone and broadband, and VHF radio are GPS enabled and my PLB and EPIRB will broadcast a GPS location. Even if the GPS is 30 metres out and they are not they are a very usefull device.
So Frant, what weather routing software and Satellite internet connection are you using.
Satellite broadband using Inmarsat Fleetbroadband 150 service. It is hellishly expensive at US$355/month for 25Megabyte plus a US$50 activation fee. Inmarsat do not support this low end use of Fleetbroadband, by their pricing policy. The similar Fleet One service runs about A$30 month and A$10 megabyte data. It uses similar but not compatible hardware so I am stuck with Fleetbroadband rates. Then have to add approx $250 for 3 months email compression service and $99 for 3 months Predictwind subscription. Although expensive I think that the satellite broadband is a worthwhile investment for offshore travel. For coastal I use Telstra Prepaid data and one of their WiFi routers. This is good for up to 10 miles offshore down most of the East Coast.
Weather routing I use a Predictwind standard subscription running on their Offshore App (low data designed for satellite). I have uploaded the polars for a First 44.7 and can make an adjustment factor from fully crewed race mode. For cruising I use 85% plus a motorsailing at 6knots if the wind is less than 8 knots. Predictwind generates 4 models and gives the derived polar routing for these models. I then loosely base my routing on these models and have a virtual race against the forecast boats.
Also have shoreside contact with my sons and get routing and weather advice by email and text. In Fiji one of the event organisers by name of Nadraki runs a Fiji based weather routing service which would be particularly valuable for Tropical Storm warnings.
However even with all the routing and forecast advice you still have to consult the barometer and look out of the window. Beyond 72 hours weather forecasting is akin to looking at chicken entrails.
Select to expand quotefrant said..Crusoe said..frant said..
Going to start a new topic in praise of GPS. I couldn't do the sailing that I do without the assistance of GPS. I once counted that I have more than 25 independent GPS engines on the boat. I use Navionics charting and have three active plotters running at all times. ie The Raymarine built in plotter is used with radar overlay with its default setting tracking the vessel at high zoom. at a glance you can see whats coming up in the next mile. The big screen desktop uses Navionics PC Plotter with AIS overlay and audible alarm. Also has the weather routing software and Satellite internet connection plus Google earth all interlinked by GPS cordinates. The desktop is the primary navigation device. Also have ipad which can talk to other devices and which is used for pilotage and stays with me when I am off watch.
The autopilot is linked to and steers by GPS, and have a GPS tracker that broadcasts my location via satellite for family and friends to follow.
If **** hits the fan then my satellite phone and broadband, and VHF radio are GPS enabled and my PLB and EPIRB will broadcast a GPS location. Even if the GPS is 30 metres out and they are not they are a very usefull device.
So Frant, what weather routing software and Satellite internet connection are you using.
Satellite broadband using Inmarsat Fleetbroadband 150 service. It is hellishly expensive at US$355/month for 25Megabyte plus a US$50 activation fee. Inmarsat do not support this low end use of Fleetbroadband, by their pricing policy. The similar Fleet One service runs about A$30 month and A$10 megabyte data. It uses similar but not compatible hardware so I am stuck with Fleetbroadband rates. Then have to add approx $250 for 3 months email compression service and $99 for 3 months Predictwind subscription. Although expensive I think that the satellite broadband is a worthwhile investment for offshore travel. For coastal I use Telstra Prepaid data and one of their WiFi routers. This is good for up to 10 miles offshore down most of the East Coast.
Weather routing I use a Predictwind standard subscription running on their Offshore App (low data designed for satellite). I have uploaded the polars for a First 44.7 and can make an adjustment factor from fully crewed race mode. For cruising I use 85% plus a motorsailing at 6knots if the wind is less than 8 knots. Predictwind generates 4 models and gives the derived polar routing for these models. I then loosely base my routing on these models and have a virtual race against the forecast boats.
Also have shoreside contact with my sons and get routing and weather advice by email and text. In Fiji one of the event organisers by name of Nadraki runs a Fiji based weather routing service which would be particularly valuable for Tropical Storm warnings.
However even with all the routing and forecast advice you still have to consult the barometer and look out of the window. Beyond 72 hours weather forecasting is akin to looking at chicken entrails.
Did you look at using an Iridium Go. They have unlimited data for &US140/mth and comes with 150 min of phone talk. There are also Apps for your phone and email. No need for compression.
www.predictwind.com/iridium-go/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIxJPOy6z63gIVjYRwCh1yWAyaEAAYASAAEgIPZfD_BwE
Select to expand quoteCrusoe said..frant said..Crusoe said..frant said..
Going to start a new topic in praise of GPS. I couldn't do the sailing that I do without the assistance of GPS. I once counted that I have more than 25 independent GPS engines on the boat. I use Navionics charting and have three active plotters running at all times. ie The Raymarine built in plotter is used with radar overlay with its default setting tracking the vessel at high zoom. at a glance you can see whats coming up in the next mile. The big screen desktop uses Navionics PC Plotter with AIS overlay and audible alarm. Also has the weather routing software and Satellite internet connection plus Google earth all interlinked by GPS cordinates. The desktop is the primary navigation device. Also have ipad which can talk to other devices and which is used for pilotage and stays with me when I am off watch.
The autopilot is linked to and steers by GPS, and have a GPS tracker that broadcasts my location via satellite for family and friends to follow.
If **** hits the fan then my satellite phone and broadband, and VHF radio are GPS enabled and my PLB and EPIRB will broadcast a GPS location. Even if the GPS is 30 metres out and they are not they are a very usefull device.
So Frant, what weather routing software and Satellite internet connection are you using.
Satellite broadband using Inmarsat Fleetbroadband 150 service. It is hellishly expensive at US$355/month for 25Megabyte plus a US$50 activation fee. Inmarsat do not support this low end use of Fleetbroadband, by their pricing policy. The similar Fleet One service runs about A$30 month and A$10 megabyte data. It uses similar but not compatible hardware so I am stuck with Fleetbroadband rates. Then have to add approx $250 for 3 months email compression service and $99 for 3 months Predictwind subscription. Although expensive I think that the satellite broadband is a worthwhile investment for offshore travel. For coastal I use Telstra Prepaid data and one of their WiFi routers. This is good for up to 10 miles offshore down most of the East Coast.
Weather routing I use a Predictwind standard subscription running on their Offshore App (low data designed for satellite). I have uploaded the polars for a First 44.7 and can make an adjustment factor from fully crewed race mode. For cruising I use 85% plus a motorsailing at 6knots if the wind is less than 8 knots. Predictwind generates 4 models and gives the derived polar routing for these models. I then loosely base my routing on these models and have a virtual race against the forecast boats.
Also have shoreside contact with my sons and get routing and weather advice by email and text. In Fiji one of the event organisers by name of Nadraki runs a Fiji based weather routing service which would be particularly valuable for Tropical Storm warnings.
However even with all the routing and forecast advice you still have to consult the barometer and look out of the window. Beyond 72 hours weather forecasting is akin to looking at chicken entrails.
Did you look at using an Iridium Go. They have unlimited data for &US140/mth and comes with 150 min of phone talk. There are also Apps for your phone and email. No need for compression.
www.predictwind.com/iridium-go/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIxJPOy6z63gIVjYRwCh1yWAyaEAAYASAAEgIPZfD_BwE
The Iridium Go package looks good. I did consider same but decided that my 3 month outlay was least sticking with the package that I have. I will look at upgrading to the next G of equipment for future.
The tracker that I use is a SPOT tracker. These are great and for approx $100/year give unlimited tracking via satellite to the internet plus a preprogrammed SMS/email message to selected recipients and a higher level (I call the PanPan level) message by SMS/email again to selected recipients and finally an SOS message which is effectively an EPIRB alert.
Also have an IsatphonePro handheld satphone with prepaid airtime $150 for 90 days for approx 100 minutes of airtime. I have heard claims that it is possible to use a handheld satphone as a modem but low data speeds and dropout, particularly on a moving boat make that next to useless.
The AIS signal can be followed on Marine Traffic. When in range of the shoreside repeaters all of the boat identifiers are broadcast, when in satellite range only an unidentified vessel position is shown. However someone following your progress is able to keep track particularly if they are also watching SPOT. Its a bit weird to get PROPER WATCHKEEPING assistance that there is a ship 30 miles of your port bow via SMS. Then at about 20 mile sure enough up it pops on the AIS screen and at 10 you can just find it visually because you know where to look. When the vessel is nearing the CPA you can radio up by vessel name or directly by MMSI. In all cases (and that was 4 vessel crossings in AIS range outside of the Australian shipping lanes between Aus and FIji return) the ships were able to confirm that they had seen me on AIS, radar and then visual.
