The Navigator’s Challenge
position fixing and decision making in an all-electronic-era
Presented by- Ralph Naranjo ©
A cognitive exercise
Electronic screen watching
Maintaining the thought process
Way finding
► Sense
of direction
► Limbic system
► Hippocampus
► Perceiving location
B
Signposts in the sea
► Swells
► Waves
Trade winds
► Currents
► Back
wash
► Fringing reefs
► Sea birds
Equatorial current
A
Innate sense of where to go
Pre Electronic Navigation
► On
going navigation engagement
► Last fix validity
► Extension of DR
► Chart check
End of an era
Contemporary Cruiser
Sat Nav
GPS (SA)
Remove SA
GPS (Gen III) WASS
GLONASS
GALALEO
CHINA/INDIA
A new solution to an old puzzle
Measuring certainty
► Visual
fix
•
► Electronic
fix
•
► Estimated
position
•
► Dead
Reckoning (DR) •
Flinders Islet Incident
CYC Photo
Outcome…
► Grounding
► Vessel
a total loss
► Two crew members dead
The contributory factors identified are:
a. General navigation
i. Lookout and sea room
ii. Reliance on chart plotter and GPS
iii. GPS inaccuracies
b. Organization of the boat
c. Fatigue and overload.
Networked Digital Charting System
Dilution of
Precision
Horizontal dilution of precision
Paper and digital charts
Chart Accuracy
Zone of
Confidence
ECDIS
ELECTRONIC CHARTING AND DIGITAL INFORMATION SYSTEM
What lies ahead
The shorthanded mandate
► Streamline
navigation process
► Add accuracy to position fixing
► Concerned about accuracy
Scrutinize the ZOC / Source Diagram
Touch screen, roller ball and tablets
► Wifi
sync to a Network
► Added portability
► Remote data access
Smart phone interface
From the experts
► Navionics
President Giuseppe Carnevalle, “less than 10% of
the seas are charted to the same resolution and accuracy as
the Moon and Mars.
► NOAA
dubs 500,000 SNM as navigationally significant but
only about 46,000 SNM have been surveyed with modern
full-bottom coverage
Crowd Sourcing
► Your
depth sounder
► Your chart plotter
► Your GPS
Radar
overlay
Equipment designed for the environment
I agree button
► “electronic
charts are inadequate as a primary means of
navigation”
Nobeltec software
The navigator’s amalgam
► Intuition
► Sense
of direction
► Vector awareness
► Relative motion
The Goal
► Knowing
where you are
► Defining where you want to go
► Monitoring progress
Taking bearings
Compare visual bearing
with cursor bearing line
to same object
Simplicity and Tradition
A well connected crew
DR and Piloting
Graphics and detail
The nighttime routine
► More
frequent plots
► Multiple types of fixes
► Visual acuity enhancers
Plotting becomes a reflex
Overlay capability
AIS networked
Back to the basics
Old School
tools of the trade are
not yet obsolete
RJ Naranjo © 2016