"port hand beacon" & "starboard hand beacon"/ Garmin App and Blue Charts
This is making me crazy and Garmin is no help. It may be meaningless but I
thought someone might have the same issue.
We have the Garmin IPhone app and purchased the BlueChart Maps and love
them. Works for both Iphone and Ipad and has Active Captain data integrated.
When you open a red day beacon it is called "Starboard Hand Beacon". When
you open a green it is called "Port Hand Beacon". Seems to make no sense
because, when you travel the other direction, the "Starboard Hand Beacon"
will then be on the port!
What am I missing here? Seems like it will make things very confusing. Has
anyone else noticed this?
Confused,
Chas & Bev McKeown
...and Everywhere
43 Mainship
Ft. Myers
Hi Chas,
The only thing confusing here is that a computer geek evidently programed that
iPhone app without knowing too much at all about anything to do with navigation.
That is why over the course of the computer age so many computer systems have
failed, when geeks thought that they knew better than the customers who they
were building the systems for.
And yes, while this is certainly an issue regarding lateral ATONs (i.e.,
laterals = ATONS that mark a channel), this has nothing to do with IALA-A vs.
IALA-B as a previous responder said. And also, that is "IALA-B" not "sector B".
In reading your post, it seems you have a good grasp of what is correct, and
unfortunately that app sure doesn't cut the mustard with its terminology. If you
continue to use it, you just have to think each time you see that bad text that
the poor dummy who programmed it is sure missing out on the good life in his not
being exposed to our wonderful life on the water! :-)
Regards,
Kevin
www.BoatMoves.com
-----Original Message-----
.......
We have the Garmin IPhone app and purchased the BlueChart Maps and love them.
Works for both Iphone and Ipad and has Active Captain data integrated.
When you open a red day beacon it is called "Starboard Hand Beacon". When you
open a green it is called "Port Hand Beacon". Seems to make no sense because,
when you travel the other direction, the "Starboard Hand Beacon"
will then be on the port!
What am I missing here? Seems like it will make things very confusing. Has
anyone else noticed this?
To me, the Garmin app is using perfectly standard terminology - a red
bouy or daybeacon is a starboard-hand mark.
Lateral marks are placed and named assuming you are proceeding
"upstream" - from sea, inland - up a river or into an inlet. In North
and South America (and a couple of other areas) we use IALA system B,
which is Red Right Returning to harbour. (IALA system A used in most
other areas is Red Right Retuning to sea.) (IALA is the International
Association of Lighthouse Authorities, who apparently believe that if
one International Standard is a Good Thing, two must be better! :-) )
Since we have red starboard hand marks on our right when returning to
harbour, they must be on our left when leaving harbour. This is not a
problem of confused computer geeks, it is just the nature of things.
Since daybeacons are fixed aids, it may be possible to place some
daybeacons so that you always have red marks on the right whether
entering or leaving harbour, but you can't paint one side of a bouy red,
and the other green, and hope the thing will remain oriented correctly,
so we'd best keep the red marks on the right when entering harbour, and
remember that they go on the left when leaving.
On 2013-04-26 6:53 PM, KevinR wrote:
Hi Chas,
The only thing confusing here is that a computer geek evidently programed that
iPhone app without knowing too much at all about anything to do with navigation.
That is why over the course of the computer age so many computer systems have
failed, when geeks thought that they knew better than the customers who they
were building the systems for.
And yes, while this is certainly an issue regarding lateral ATONs (i.e.,
laterals = ATONS that mark a channel), this has nothing to do with IALA-A vs.
IALA-B as a previous responder said. And also, that is "IALA-B" not "sector B".
In reading your post, it seems you have a good grasp of what is correct, and
unfortunately that app sure doesn't cut the mustard with its terminology. If you
continue to use it, you just have to think each time you see that bad text that
the poor dummy who programmed it is sure missing out on the good life in his not
being exposed to our wonderful life on the water! :-)
Regards,
Kevin
www.BoatMoves.com
-----Original Message-----
.......
We have the Garmin IPhone app and purchased the BlueChart Maps and love them.
Works for both Iphone and Ipad and has Active Captain data integrated.
When you open a red day beacon it is called "Starboard Hand Beacon". When you
open a green it is called "Port Hand Beacon". Seems to make no sense because,
when you travel the other direction, the "Starboard Hand Beacon"
will then be on the port!
What am I missing here? Seems like it will make things very confusing. Has
anyone else noticed this?
--
Peter Bennett, VE7CEI Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Vancouver Power Squadron: http://vpsboat.com
This is not a "Garmin" issue. "Port-hand" and "Starboard-hand" are the
official terms used to differentiate day beacons as well as buoys in the
IALA Maritime Buoyage System (which includes day beacons). This
terminology can be found in many places, not just on chartplotters (by
Garmin or anyone else). You can find this terminology defined in "U.S.
Chart #1", which is the key-chart for all other marine charts in the
U.S. system. It is in section Q, where you will see explained in
parentheses "entering from seaward". Everyone who uses U.S. charts
should have a copy of Chart 1, which can be downloaded free here:
http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/chartno1.htm
So Garmin is just picking up the official names for these aids from the
ENC chart files published by the chart-issuing agency. The
parenthetical "entering from seaward" is assumed.
HTH,
-Sean
m/y Vector
lying Morehead City, NC
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com
On 4/26/2013 4:43 PM, BevChasMcKeown wrote:
This is making me crazy and Garmin is no help. It may be meaningless but I
thought someone might have the same issue.
We have the Garmin IPhone app and purchased the BlueChart Maps and love
them. Works for both Iphone and Ipad and has Active Captain data integrated.
When you open a red day beacon it is called "Starboard Hand Beacon". When
you open a green it is called "Port Hand Beacon". Seems to make no sense
because, when you travel the other direction, the "Starboard Hand Beacon"
will then be on the port!
What am I missing here? Seems like it will make things very confusing. Has
anyone else noticed this?
Confused,
Chas & Bev McKeown
...and Everywhere
43 Mainship
Ft. Myers
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On my boat, I've got two round ropes (decorative) that came with the boat
on the shift controllers (throttle and gears are separate on this boat) ...
One is painted red and that's my Head's UP - red markers on the (currently)
port side. It orients me to the direction I'm headed and is (at least for
me) a no-brainer. That they are easy to swap over (at inlets and such) is a
bonus.
Another visual aid are couple little cup hooks on the over head have a red
crochet round piece with one bell, while the green has two jingle bells on
the starboard. Sure, we all know these things but a visual reminder is
handy -- and for dirt dwellers, simplifies things that after years we take
for granted.
Anyway, nothing to add re the smart phone issue (don't have one) but
perhaps this will be helpful to someone...
Janice aboard Seaweed
N29 51.034 W084 40.168
On the iron balls of my mechanical compass, I have one covered with a red sock and one with a green sock
I swap as required...
(Baby socks, got from a local bazar fo less than $1.00 for the two pairs)
Now, it is easy for all who are at the helm to remember what needs to be remembered.
Lee
On Apr 27, 2013, at 18:27 , Janice Marois wrote:
....rOne is painted red and that's my Head's UP - red markers on the (currently)
port side. It orients me to the direction I'm headed and is (at least for
me) a no-brainer. That they are easy to swap over (at inlets and such) is a
bonus.