NavList:

I don’t know Frank. I circumnavigated on a sextant, a chronometer, and Mercator projections.  Never used them for great circle planning but they sure were helpful navigating between atolls in the Tuamotus!

The Mercator projection is junk. It should have been consigned to the dustbin of history by the late twentieth century, and, in fact, that's where it was headed. But then came the power of the internet, managed and designed by tech-nerds, who brought the Mercator projection roaring back to its rightful place high on the Throne of Stupid Things. It did serve a very small role in the efficiency of early online mapping products. As computing power has advanced, it has once again become possible to consider ditching this beast.