[Rhodes22-list] GPS and Depth Finder

[Bill Effros]

Mark,

The GPS is a great toy, but can be purchased later -- after you really 
understand how to do a lot of other things.

Stan's joke about the centerboard depth finder is related to my 
anchoring comments about traveling 10 feet per second.  By the time 
information about your bottom coming from your depth finder registers in 
your brain, the centerboard will already have hit it.  You don't need a 
depth finder to tell you you've missed something.

Learn to read charts.  Develop "positional awareness" -- the knowledge 
of where you are on the water at all times, and what hazards are nearby. 

Several years ago the QEII grounded not far from the waters where 
Michael sails.  The captain was doing around 20 knots.  Of course the 
boat had the latest depth sounders, gps, radar, etc..  He ripped out 
more than 100 feet of hull, and did over 10 million dollars worth of 
damage not counting putting the boat out of commission for close to a year.

When asked how this happened, he blamed his charts.  "That rock was not 
supposed to be there." he said.  The fanciest depth sounder in the world 
won't protect you if you don't already know where you are and where the 
bottom is.

I'm with Rummy on this.  KISS.  Learn the fundamentals first.  Learn how 
to use your boat.  Only then, if you're bored, start to learn how to 
play with the toys.  Don't start with the toys.

Bill Effros



mputnam1 at aol.com wrote:

>As I mentioned in an earlier email this evening, I just attended my first boating safety course, where the instructor (a power boater who spends most of his time on the Chesapeake Bay) insisted I needed a GPS and a depth finder.  
> 
>I didn't see anything about this in the FAQ, so I thought I'd raise these questions here ...
> 
>I will be spending most of my time on the Potomac River (I won't be trailoring, as I have a slip on the river), although I hope to be spending a weekend here and there exploring downriver in areas I won't be familiar with.  
> 
>Stan seemed pretty confident that I wouldn't really need a depth guage, given the centerboard's ability to alert me to shallow water ... and I don't remember what he said about GPS.  
> 
>Anyway, what do you all think?  Since my recycled boat is still at GB, it would be far easier for me to have them install a GPS and depth finder now, rather than trying to do it myself.  And the best reason I can think to have a depth finder is to help me calculate, from a safety perspective, how much anchor rode to use ... rather than trying to use the rode itself to judge the depth.
> 
>And how about GPS?  I've heard there are combination GPS/depth finders out there (I'm planning a trip to the neighborhood West Marine).  If I were to get a combo unit, where would you recommend installing it?  The recycled boat I'm getting already has a compass installed just to the right of the cabin door (on the cockpit side).  Maybe I could install it just above the compass, but are GPS units waterproof?  Should they be inside the cabin where you can't see it?  That doesn't make sense to me.
> 
>Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
> 
>-Mark
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