IT'S A HIGH TECH WORLD

It's a "high tech" world we live in. It seems like only yesterday that we were watching Jane Jetson push a button next to a little door in the wall and hearing her say "George, dinner will be ready in a minute." We all thought "that will be the day." In the next decade, microwave ovens were on the market.

Christopher Columbus would be amazed by GPS (global positioning system) or marine radar, just to mention a few of the things that we all take for granted. That is, if those things worked. If not, we might be amazed about how Columbus would get us back to our homeport without the use of such modern inventions.

I was having a conversation with my friend Captain Bob about the lack of "paper charts" onboard vessels that are equipped with GPS. On many vessels worth a few hundred thousand dollars, equipped with state-of-the-art electronics, you would be hard pressed to find paper charts. Can it be the cost? A chart book can be as much as $100. I doubt that cost is an issue.

What would a mariner do in restricted visibility, bad weather and with no operational electronic equipment? Paper charts and a magnetic compass are your best friends at that point, but only if you have them onboard. The fact is that you cannot count on your electronics working all the time.

There are a number of things that can render your GPS useless. The first is an internal equipment malfunction. If an electronic component goes bad, you will no longer be talking to the satellites. Without the satellites, there is no display of latitude or longitude.

Each GPS unit relies on a chip for the chart plotter. It provides the data for an electronic version of the information on the paper chart. If the chip is defective, or doesn't cover the complete area in which you are traveling, again, you are out of luck. While your GPS will still display latitude and longitude coordinates, you will have no chart to relate them to.

Another factor is the power supply. Your GPS operates on 12 volts direct current supplied by your battery. A bad connection in the wiring or a blown fuse can interrupt the power that the GPS needs. A 50-cent fuse can change the outcome of your day on an expensive vessel.

During my days as a towing and salvage captain, I operated a towing vessel that had a loose connection in the wiring that supplied the power to my GPS. I was in heavy seas and near zero visibility while towing a boat in the middle of the night. As the wave action tossed us around, the loose electrical connection would sometimes power the GPS and sometimes not.

An intermittently operating GPS can give you that "sinking feeling," if you know what I mean. However, I had a paper chart on which to track my progress and proceeded back to port without incident. Between my chart and magnetic compass, I was prepared.

The bottom line is that for a small price, you can have a backup to your electronics. Every maritime authority holds the same view. Keep paper charts onboard. Some day, you'll be glad you did!

Until next time, I wish you clear skies, fair winds, and calm seas!