Paper charts vs plotter on a 3 day solo sail down the coast - which one actually saved my ass?

Last month I took my 26 footer from Santa Cruz down to Morro Bay by myself. Had both a Garmin plotter and a stack of old NOAA paper charts my grandpa left me. Plotter died on day 2 with a low battery warning and I had no backup power. Paper charts got me through a fog bank near Point Sur using dead reckoning and a stopwatch. The plotter is great for quick looks but the paper taught me to actually pay attention to depths and landmarks. Anyone else feel like relying too much on electronics makes you worse at the basics? What do you guys use for coastal cruising?

2 comments

2 Comments

nancy5241d ago

You said dead reckoning with a stopwatch. Did you have a backup compass too?

elizabethn561d ago

You said "dead reckoning with a stopwatch" and I'm genuinely curious about something. When you're doing that kind of timing and mental math on the fly, do you ever find yourself second-guessing your speed or drift corrections and then winding up off course more than you expected? Seems like it would get really tricky in variable current or wind.