Coastal Navigation Using GPS For Sail and Power

We are living in an age where a single idea can change traditional methods, transorm whole industries overnight, and open the door to possibilities that were beyond our dreams only a short time ago. Such is the case with the Global Positioning Sytem (GPS). GPS has transformed navigation. Today, with an inexpensive little black box, in just a few seconds, you can determine your exact positon on the earth is surface to within 35 feet or less. Sailors who navigated the seas over the centuries with only a few mechanical instruments and some crude charts would have perceived GPS as nothing less than a miracle. The tedious calculations associated with navigation are now reduced to the press of a button - and all of this power is available to every boat operator.

Currently, many boat operators are switching to GPS navigation. The available GPS systems range from large integrated setups costing in the thousands of dollars down to a simple handeld set for only a few hundred dollars. In Chapter 12, you will find criteria that will help you evaluate all of the different types of available GPS sets and options and make the best selection for your particular boating needs.

One of the unfortunate aspects of this GPS navigational trend is that few boat operators actually know how to use their sets safely and accurately. If you are one of these GPS owners. this book was written for you. It will help dispel nuch of the technical jargon and confusion that surrounds GPS. Most GPS sets come bundled with so many "bells and whistles" that it could take years to learn how to use all of them effectively - especially for users who have no prior experience with electronic navigation systems and basic navigation techniques.

Fortunately, only a few significant GPS functions provie 95 percent of the navigational benefits. By focusing on these basic navigation functions, you can learn to navigate your boat with GPS like an old a very short time. Those other nice to have capabilities of your GPS can then be learned at your leisure at a later time. ( Related products: GPS Tracking Device )

GPS operating manusls can easily confuse a user because they assume so much prior knowledge of navigation. GPS manuals are not intended to be navigation texts. They show you how to press the right button. but not how to put the GPS functions together into a working navigational process. This book provides the necessary coastal navigation backhround information to help you quickly understand how to use a GPS set to navigate your boat effectively.

Written in an easy to understand style with many illustrations and examples that enhance your learning process, this book is a valuable text. Many chapters provide questions and answers that test your comprehensin and progress, and a multiple leg navigational exercise is threaded throughout various chapters to build up your navigational skills and confidence as you are exposed to each practical navigation technique and new GPS topic.

To get the maximum benefit, read this book chapter by chapter from the beginning. Don it jump ahead. Perform each requested task in sequence. Donit move on to the next chapter until you fully understand all of the information that has already been presented. (This is also true of your GPS operating manual. Stay focused on the one topic that you are directed to read in the manual.) Each chapter of this text is formulated to build on previous subject matter to form the steps for navigating safely and effectively with a GPS system. Complete all of the navigation practice exercises. Use the worksheets and logs for all of your computations. In doing so, in a short while, you will become a competent GPS navigator.

                                 

In the past, the only road map on the sea was the nautical chart. without a chart, you were no better than a bind person. It takes only one little rock or shoal to spoila beautiful boating day or put a large dent in your bank account or put your life and limb at risk, thankfully, today we have electonic navigation tools - LORAN and GPS - to assist us. Columbus would have marveled at the power of today is navigational equipment, Small recreational boats have better navigation capabilities today than many naval ships had during the Second Worly War.

Electronic navigational equipment such as GPS can be very useful when operated corredtly; unfortunately, this great tool often becomes a lethal weapon when the user is not properly trained. The word lethal is used intentionally. In this chapter, the importance of nautical charts is explained so that you can use the wealth of information that they contain to enhance your GPS experiences. GPS features and user tips are interspersed throughout each chapter of this book. Read them carefully to ensure that you are using your electronic navigation set correctly and accurately.

For the purpose of navigation, the earth is considered to be a perfect sphere. When creting a nautical chart, the cartographer or mapmaker faces the problem of presenting the rounded features of the carth on a flat surface -  achart. From a practical point of view, it is difficult to plot courses on a rounded surface. With the adven of computerized charts, this problem may soon be solved. Until then, thechart maker uses a technique called projection to accomplish the transition from the earth is sphere to the flat surface of a nautical chart.

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