The Great Loop consists of the circumnavigation of Eastern
North America by water which is between 5,000 to 7,500 miles (8,000 to 12,000
km) in length, depending on the route taken.
Obviously navigation is a critical part of this trip thus we’ll need to
be sure that we have the tools to successfully complete it. Below you’ll find the list of the possible tools
as well as the ones that we have decided to use during our upcoming trip:
·
Paper
Charts & GPS Chartplotter – Paper Charts are basically paper based maps
used by a boater to navigate the waterways.
A Chartplotter is a device used in marine navigation that integrates GPS
data with an electronic chart very similar to an automobile GPS system. On the water there are many more factors that
have to be considered since there are no “roads” to follow. There are many different ways to obtain this
functionality from obtaining an iPad application to purchasing a dedicated
marine chartplotter and electronic charts.
Below is the list of tools that we’ll have in our tool box:
o
Paper Charts
- We currently have the paper charts for most of the Canadian part of our
loop, however we’ve decided not to purchase paper based charts for the rest of
the Loop. They take up a lot of room and
become obsolete after you purchase them.
o
GPS
Chartplotter - We have a number of devices that will provide us with this
functionality. We have 2 Lowrance GPS
Chartplotters with Navionics charts, a handheld Garmin chartplotter and an iPad
with the Navionics application. We have
chart coverage for Canada, US & the Bahamas.
·
Marine VHF
Radio with AIS –a VHF radio is used for a wide variety of purposes,
including summoning rescue services and communicating with harbours, locks,
bridges and marinas, and operates in the very high frequency (VHF) range,
between 156 and 162.025 MHz. We have 2 fixed
VHF radios and one handheld. One of the
VHF radios has AIS (Automatic Identification System) which is interfaced with
one of our chartplotters. AIS is used on
ships for identifying and locating vessels by electronically exchanging data
with other nearby ships. Our
chartplotter will display the nearby ships in our area which will be extremely
useful to identify and call large vessels on the river system to identify how
to pass them (which side of their vessel and where). If you pass one of these large vessels on the
wrong side in a turn then their powerful propulsion system can push your boat
into shore and leave you stranded.
·
Marine
Radar - Marine radar provides bearing and distance of ships and land
targets in the vicinity for collision avoidance and navigation at sea. This is a great tool in poor visibility conditions
such as traveling in fog, heavy rain or at night. We’ve decided not to invest in this
technology since we will not be on a specific schedule and will only travel on
good weather days with good visibility.
We plan to travel with other boats during any night crossings and expect
that others in the group will have radar.
·
Marine
Autopilot – Autopilots are self-steering devices that can hold your vessel
on a pre-set compass course and those integrated with your GPS chartplotter can
perform more sophisticated functions. Autopilots
do a great job of holding a steady course in light to moderate conditions with
minimal helm movements. They don’t get tired like their human counterparts and
have an infinite attention span. We do
have an older Autopilot on our vessel, however I’ve never used it since I’m one
of those guys that would rather drive the car/boat then be a passenger. (ie. It gives me something to do during our
travels) I also religiously check the
engine instruments as a way to identify potential problems. (ie. Overheating, low voltage, low oil
pressure, etc.)
·
Depth
Finder & Forward Facing Sonar – These devices are used to help you see
what’s under and in front of your boat.
They typically have alarms to warn you that it’s getting too shallow so
you can take immediate action to avoid hitting the bottom. Thousands of dollars of damage can be done if
bottom contact is made, especially if the bottom is made out of rock! We have 2 depth finders and one forward
facing sonar unit.
·
Crowd
Sourcing – Crowd sourcing is defined as the process of obtaining needed
services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of
people, and especially from an online community. Active
Captain is an application which many boaters use to identify and rate
marinas, anchorages, services, etc. This
will play a critical role to plan our stops along the way for overnight stays
etc.
