NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Does "Lifeboat Navigation" exist today?
From: Lu Abel
Date: 2015 Jun 17, 20:18 +0000
From: Lu Abel
Date: 2015 Jun 17, 20:18 +0000
I think Francis has hit the nail on the head (or at least sailed past it). Years ago, certainly a century of more ago before shipboard radio arrived, if you were wrecked at sea you were on your own. Nobody knew where you were, nobody knew of your predicament. You had to get out of the predicament all by yourself; the only person who could save you was you yourself.
With the advent of today's technology, you can put out a cry for help that will be heard the world around. There is no need to sail yourself to a safe shore; there is no need for "lifeboat navigation" Press the big red button and help will be on its way.
Concomitant with changes in technology there has been a shift from longboats to lifeboats to liferafts, with the latter certainly able to survive under more adverse conditions than any "boat," but completely unable to sail or significantly change their location except by being helplessly carried by currents.
So I see the loss of "lifeboat navigation" not as a loss, but as being made unnecessary by technology. Sort of like replacing horse feed stores with gasoline stations.
There are of course those who feel they want to have greater control of their fate should they be forced to abandon ship and who therefore might feel a basic navigation capability would be essential. But they would also have to choose a life craft that is less likely to survive in adverse conditions. Life is full of tradeoffs. For me personally, I'd stick with a true liferaft and an EPIRB.
Oh, and if for some reason I did want to navigate, what's wrong with a basic $200 GPS set along with a sealed bag full of spare batteries?
From: Francis Upchurch <NoReply_Upchurch@fer3.com>
To: luabel@ymail.com
Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2015 12:46 PM
Subject: [NavList] Re: Does "Lifeboat Navigation" exist today?
To be quite honest. In extremis, in a life raft or dinghy, probably with innocent family and children aboard,(maybe injured?) I would likely activate the waterproof and largely bullet proof £150 personal epirb, which me plus all my crew each carry. That will tell Falmouth Coastguard exactly where we all are in the world to the nearest few meters and they will expertly organise the rescue.Job done.This Celnav is a hobby. (Good one though!)If I was on my own mid ocean, (like a few years ago) I may put the jury rig up and lee board on my dinghy, take a few meridian altitudes, look at the world chart and head for safe harbour. Just for fun!FrancisFrom: NavList@fer3.com [mailto:NavList@fer3.com] On Behalf Of Gary LaPook
Sent: 17 June 2015 19:37
To: francisupchurch---.com
Subject: [NavList] Re: Does "Lifeboat Navigation" exist today?Well, in a life raft with ballast pockets, you aren't going anywhere except with the currrent. If you can pull up the ballast pockets then there is the possibility of moving with the wind instead of the current and, according to military servival manuals, up to about ten degrees from directly down wind if some sort of sail can be rigged. So, depending on the alignment of the current and the wind, some manovering and navigation is possible just like ballonists using the differnce in the wind directions at different altitudes to fly their balloons to suprisingly accurate landing spots.And not everybody today has an inflatable life raft, some plan to use the dinghy possibly equiped with leeboards, floatation and a sailing rig if in extremis.gl
