SINCE the early 1990s the old tools and instincts needed for navigation have slowly but surely eroded. With technology improving and prices crashing it is no wonder that hand-bearing compasses, sextants, dividers and paper charts have been usurped by radar, GPS, AIS, chartplotters and, inevitably, much greater demand on battery capacity to feed them all.
What has effectively been a major shift from self-reliance to corporate-dependence has attracted many people to boating thanks to their relief at not having to learn anything about navigation before putting to sea.
Techno-dependence is now virtually absolute, leaving many new-age sailors floundering when the electronics are wiped out by lightning, instrument failure, dead batteries and so on. Some newcomers even call up rescue organisations to help them figure out where they were when the…