T&T: (no subject)

[Rich Gano]

"Doesn't anyone take a compass bearing on two points on land anymore?"

Good point, Georgs.  You'd think from the discussion such was not the case,
but we are just discussing ONE aspect of the process.

And on the other hand....

Last week I was delayed departing Cedar Key of Florida's west coast while
sitting on a sandbar (in the middle of the channel nonetheless), totally
unrelated to the anchorage I had used farther upstream.  That meant the end
of the planned route to an anchorage at St George Island 123 miles distant
was going to happen well after dark instead of as planned at sunset.

We were on instruments (under the hood, as aviation folks say) with two
chart plotters running (and radar overlay on one of them) from several miles
at sea all the way through the inlet and over to the anchorage.  The
low-lying island offered no visual clues in the pitch black, and lights on
the mainland several miles away were useless as drag bearings.  So, no, we
took no bearings, honked back on the 150 feet of chain and 45-pound plow
anchor until the 15-foot 3/4-inch twisted nylon snubber screamed for help,
set the GPS anchor alarm for 300 feet and went to sleep.  Checks during the
night showed a nice smiley face :).

Rich Gano
CALYPSO (GB-42 #295)
Southport, FL (near Panama City)