BLUEMOMENT

Ladies and gentlemen hello. May I introduce myself, I am currently a full time employee of the RNLI and am studying for an MSc in Maritime Studies at Portsmouth university. My project of study is to ascertain the use of electronic navigation displays in maritime Search and Rescue(SAR). I am specifically looking at whether by the adoption of this fantastic new technology we have had more accidents or incidents down to it's use/mis-use/failure or limitation. I am looking at the leisure market and the professional mariner in this study. On the flip side I am looking at how SAR Units(both lifeboats and helicopters) use such displays. Do they find them easy to use, greatly assist the search or just another tool to use. I am also asking what information they would like the 'ideal' system to display.
I am also looking for incidents where navigation displays played a good or bad role in the situation and lessons that were learned. A few incidents have arisen such as navigating at 21 kts down a river and hitting a sandbank clearly marked with 6 buoys. An explanation to the CG was 'I was following my waypoints'. I am not trying to ridicule or belittle anyone but am looking for lessons so that others can learn from them. On the flipside the Board of Inquiry into HMS NOTTINGHAM hitting Wolf rock of Lord Howe Island specified that this incident probably would not have happened had electronic charting been in use. Any input will be anonymous and I will be sharing the findings of my project with the RNLI to aid in the saving lives at sea.
My own background was in the Royal Navy spending 13 years as an bridge watchkeeping officer and I have been with the RNLI for the last 4 years as an inspector/manager here in Scotland.
In order to help me compile data I have compiled a survey found here;

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ENS_public

If you are willing to help please click on the link and complete the survey. If you wish to discuss this further or wish to relate a specific story to me please contact me here or leave your email address in the survey. I thank you, fair winds and following seas.

I've completed the survey.

One observation: it might have been useful to include a question such as "what is the maximum operational speed of your vessel?". A test for correlation between this and answers to the questions on data overload might have been interesting.

DaveS thank you very much for that it's a very good point and one I missed. I may see if I'm able to add that

I didn't complete your survey as I don't have a chart plotter, and couldn't answer many of the questions. I do have a GPS (and a hand-held back up), and that is all the navigation aids I use. I sail on the east coast between Newcastle and Wick, so I'm never out of sight of land and tend to use "Mk1 eye-ball" navigation. Not that I've anything against chartplotters, but I get some satisfaction from "traditional" navigation and to me that's what it's all about.

The one and only time I really relied on the GPS was one day I'd sailed to Cruden Bay when the fog decended and I used it to find my way back to Peterhead.

I have sailed on a yacht with all the "bells and whistles" of chart plotter, radar etc, but found that I spent too much time pushing buttons and looking at the screen, and lost some of the perception of what was going on around me. Perhaps it was the novelty factor in having all these gismo's at my fingertips, and I might have got used to a blend of modern & traditional given time, but I don't know.

Hope this is of some help to you, and feel free to PM me if you want to discuss further.

Rowana wrote:The one and only time I really relied on the GPS was one day I'd sailed to Cruden Bay when the fog decended and I used it to find my way back to Peterhead.

I think the times I rely on GPS are when I set the anchor alarm and go to sleep.

I have (and use GPS), but no chart plotter. The survey goes wrong after saying I don't have one, it then asks lots of questions about the chartplotter I don't have.
I use GPS (2 seperate systems), and paper charts.
I admit the huge bundle of charts (have about 50) is heavy and cumbersome. One day might succumb to a chart plotter, but have never had a flat battery on a chart. Never failed to get a "fix", not suffered colourblindness, font too small, screen to little or broken wire. But charts are not cheap. They do last a while when looked after. Oldest chart in normal use is dated 1945, reprinted 1954 and cost 12s 0d. (but rocks don't move much over the years)

I use a laptop which is technically not a chart plotter although it does the same job. If I were to put Toshiba down as the plotter make, would it mess up the survey? I feel Raytheon or Garmin are the anticipated responses.

there was a time when even old technology was new and had to be explained...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muopQvWoGbc

Survey completed. I also use a laptop rather than a chartplotter, but one is on the wishlist! Mainly use GPS and paper charts though as battery life on the laptop is rubbish.

Thanks for help with the survey and stories ladies and gentlemen it's much appreciated. Filling in the survey noting that you don't have a chartplotter is also of use it allows me to indicate that not everyone uses a chartplotter. I hope to be able to provide some useful information back into the RNLI in order to help them provide further advice and training to the public.

I'll be closing the survey on Wed so if you want to participate please do so before then. Thank you all for your participation and contributions. If I'm successful I'll post a link to the paper.

How could you be unsuccessful with such research feedback and end user consultation?

I've never written up a paper such as this so for a newbie I'm never an optimist

Tell em what you are going to tell em

Tell em

Tell em what you've told em

Simples