![]() Be sure to either set the bearing function to read in magnetic rather than true degrees, or correct the hand bearing compass reading for variation. The fix can be plotted on a paper chart for comparison, or you can move the DCS cursor on your laptop to the charted object ashore and compare your visual bearing to the electronic one. Shooting a quick round of bearings on identifiable shoreside targets is an easy way to double check what’s playing out on a digital plotter screen. I also use conventional parallel rules and a #120 roller plotter, along with an isosceles right triangle to quickly scribe parallel and perpendicular lines.ĭig deeper into my nav-to-go bag and you’ll uncover a pair of Steiner 7x50 binoculars with a built-in hand-bearing compass, along with a simple hockey puck-type HB compass that I regularly put to good use. My preference, when it comes to dividers, is the gear-synchronized, one-hand-span locking Weems & Plath CP0176-a favorite among pro navigators. My “analog delete key” is an art gum eraser, which I use regularly to rid charts of previous plots that can confuse current work. I prefer push-button mechanical pencils rather than the familiar old wooden standbys that always seem reluctant to keep a sharp point. My goal is to have a versatile alternative at hand, just in case the vessel’s navigation suite is lacking-or if all the lights and electronic equipment go dark. In fact, some of the most important equipment is the same stuff navigators have been counting on for decades. Much of the gear I haul from boat to boat in my portable nav kit requires no batteries. For a grand total of about $150 you can turn your laptop into a portable chartplotter. A SiRF III GPS fits into a PCMCIA slot in a laptop and costs another $49.95. Maptech’s Offshore Navigator Lite sells for $99.95 and comes with a DVD that includes a complete set of U.S. waters are available for free from NOAA (/staff/chartspubs.html) makes the entry into digital navigation both easy and affordable. The fact that all of the raster and vector charts covering U.S. Then go home and download the free trial version that many companies offer. The best way to tell if a program is right for you is to spend time at a boat show being walked through its features by one of the company’s software gurus. ![]()
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