Navigating Without Electronics

Humans have an innate capability to find their way around way, but as we’ve become more detached with navigational aids such as GPS, we’ve gotten out of touch with this innate sixth sense. If you can afford a GPS — and most of us can — you’ll never have an excuse for showing up late, or not showing up at all.

In the old days it was called “dead reckoning”, and too often the emphasis was on “dead” when there were no visible landmarks to recognize. The compass fixed that problem, so if you know that the New World was “Somewhere to the West”, that’s the direction you sail.

The problem was you didn’t really know if you were going to arrive at New York or Cuba or somewhere in between.

We can judge direction. There’s a tiny crystal buried in a bone between our eyes that acts like a kind of simple compass, but we need “landmarks” to find our way. Animals can align themselves with Earth’s magnetic field, so why not us? Even if we can’t, there are clues in nature, such as the sun, wind and wave actions that observant boaters can use to hold a straight course. With experience, time, distance and direction, you have all you need for basic navigation. Add a few known landmarks, and you can find your way back from anywhere.

GPS and other miracles of modern science make navigation easy and boating safer, but if the electronics fail, don’t forget that compass on your head.  Knowing where you are and where you need to be is still up to you.

No electronics are needed to keep your boat in a good and safe condition.  Investing in high quality protective Canvas coverings from CMC Canvas LLC is all you need to ensure a safe voyage in a safe boat.