Navigation

Navigation of a boat is quite a bit more challenging than following a road cross country.  I have tried to think of an analogy for our land-bound friends (LBFs) with little success.  Let's try picturing a plain in Kansas, perfectly flat, a foot of snow has covered everything perfectly smooth, there are no road signs, fence posts, just white snow.  Think you could find the roadway?  This analogy does have a flaw in that the roadway is the same place it was before.  On the water, the deep water (roadway) keeps changing, it does not stay in the same place as does a paved road.  Oh, our LBFs will say, you have a GPS and chartplotter to tell you where you are and where you should be going; we saw it in your first post.  Remember the remark about the water-based roadways moving.  To make sure you can find the deep water you must check charts, guides, various web sites, ask for local knowledge, and learn to read the water.  Navigation challenges are one of the things that makes cruising on the water intellectually interesting and keeps you alert.

The photo above was taken in Georgia on the Cumberland River, March 2nd.  These sailors are not having a good day.  The spot where their boat lies aground is marked as deep water on the paper charts and the chartplotter.