🧠Are traditional navigation skills still essential?
With GPS, chartplotters, and navigation apps at our fingertips, it’s never been easier to find your way at sea. But has this made old-school skills like plotting a fix, taking bearings, and using a compass redundant — or are they still crucial for confident sailing?
What do you think?
🔹 Yes – every sailor should learn traditional navigation.
It’s a vital safety skill in case of tech failure or emergencies.
🔹 No – GPS is reliable and all I need.
Modern electronics have changed the game. Traditional skills are nice, but not essential.
🔹 It depends – a basic understanding is enough for most people.
I’d want to know how to get home if the GPS goes down, but I don’t need to be a chartwork expert.
👉 Click the answer that best matches your view — we’d love to know where you stand.
Electronice are great, I have them of course. But, there is always the chance that your kit could fail, say in bad weather when you are out of sight of land, & many miles from home.
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Bryan Hughes we also believe that understanding tradition techniques helps us better understand the electronic tools 😀
It's safer and more interesting to understand how traditional navigation techniques relate to what a chart plotter is doing for you.
It’s your life 300,000 people die at sea every year RNLI. So it may help to do a little more studying to help avoid adding one’s self to the list.
