an alternative view ...
"I would take a compass and a chart any day over a half-dozen GPS devices. Navigating in this manner forces you to be more acutely aware of your location and orientation at all times. It makes you a better sailor. Period."
balderdash - I respectfully disagree with your premise. I know it's the popular mantra used to separate the real sailors from the rest of us Neanderthals, but frankly ... I think it is overreaching and disingenuous. I believe that really good sailors know how to use all the tools available to them, and they are not mutually exclusive. we all get the chart/compass argument and many see it as a badge of honor, but is it actually a safer form of navigation? I think it is not and gladly embrace the accuracy a GPS chart plotter affords me. it allows me to easily evaluate multiple scenarios, flag possible conflicts, precisely navigate to specific points in local waters or other oceans. I argue, with qualifications, that it makes for a better sailor. at least, for the ones that take navigation seriously enough to understand the tools, acknowledge the inherent constraints and required contingencies. as we all should.
I do believe, as a flight instructor, that understanding the compass and chart, dead reckoning, and the essentials of weather are mandatory requirements. as I do as a sailor. I also recognize the benefit and utility of using radio navigation, radar, AIS, and electronic chart plotting in the context of safety.
“Navigating by compass, you already know off the top of your head where you are”
how does that work? dead reckoning makes grand assumptions of where you were and where you now are based on potentially fatal speculative projections and reliance on a point of reference that may not exist. and, if it isn’t a specious proposition, how would that yield greater positional awareness than a GPS chart plotter? as in flying, no matter the means, you must always have an awareness of your approximate position, stay ahead of the boat in determining future actions, and anticipate failure with a secondary plan of action. this has nothing to do with a compass and chart, a passel of satellites, or having Duttons or Bowditch on the shelf.
as an engineer, I understand long-division and how to find square roots. as a pragmatist, I chose to use the tools that afford a faster and far better calculation, attain an accurate solution, and use my newfound time to explore other design ideas and their solutions. the corollary in sailing, is that I can use the tools to be safer and more aware of where I am and what surrounds me.
I understand your position. I couldn't use celestial navigation without a compass. I simply have grown tired of generalizations that presuppose a level of ignorance and displaced cognizance because one opts for an alternative solution, that in my estimation, presents me with a safer, accurate, and more efficient method of navigating.
daniel