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Author
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Topic: Do you cover electronic navigation in the course?
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David Burch
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posted February 08, 2006 03:52 PM
Yes, indeed we do. Chapter 7 in the coastal nav book is devoted to electronic navigation, including a detailed discussion of the use of various derived functions such as: course over ground (COG), speed over ground (SOG), speed of advance (SOA), etc. Although the bulk of the course materials deals with more traditional chart, log, and compass navigation, the reality remains that we have GPS, and thus should know how to use it.
A good way to start the course is to read through the 4-part series of articles (included in the course) called "The Role of Traditional Skills in the Satellite Age" by David Burch, which were first published in Cruising World magazine. These summarize how to combine the old and the new for safe efficient navigation in all conditions. The final article of the series has to do with navigation in the fog using radar. We cover this particular subject in most detail in our Radar Trainer software tutorials.
We also introduce students to the free OpenCPN echart navigation program and provide our training chart in RNC echart format. This free program includes much of the functionality of expensive commercial products. We also have a supplementary book called Introduction to Electronic Chart Navigation for those who want to fill in more of these details.
The celestial navigation course reviews ocean navigation by electronics in Chapter 11.
From: Starpath, Seattle, WA
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