T&T: NAV Mode and Autopilots

[Candy Chapman and Gary Bell]

John Gallagher said:

IMHO the sinking of the ferry "Queen of the North" in the B.C. inside passage
a year or so ago was because of the autopilot. I surmise the "crew" on the
bridge expected the autopilot to make the turn at a waypoint to miss the
island - it didn't. The ship had very recently come out of refit - autopilot
had been replaced.



>>I am sure that some of you recall that I have voiced the opinion that 
>>NAV Mode is a bad idea and I have been soundly thrashed for raining on 
>>the parade. I have just spent 2 weeks watching the FUBAR rally fleet use 
>>this mode. My opinion is unchanged, but my reasons are more refined and 
>>here they are.
>  
>

Of course one can easily feel that this or that gadget 'caused' any such 
accident.  In this and so many other instances, it really goes back to 
the responsibility of the watchstanders.  There is no way to assign 
'responsibility' to a gizmo, only to a human.   Whenever one of us 
places command of our vessel exclusively in the hands of some gizmo we 
are at risk.  In my case I let 'Iron Mike' do the steering almost all of 
the time, but there is always a capable driver sitting on the helm 
bench, punching the plus and minus course buttons.  I never bothered to 
rig up the NAV mode in my 2002 Raymarine autohelm outfit, although I use 
the GPS chartplotter with the radar overlaid to identify nav marks and 
traffic.  I sometimes use the MARPA, mostly to soothe the Admiral about 
a potential crossing situation.  Those of us who drive cars generally 
have no trouble avoiding collisions with traffic, and even though cruise 
control can keep the car at whatever speed is desired, the folks who nap 
and let the cruise control take over all the driving risk a horrible 
crash.  Same for boats. 

Gary