Well, at least in this part of the world where iron deposits ashore (and below) can cause a compass to go nuts, not infrequent fog, wild storms in the spring and autumn, I would not leave port without a good suite of paper charts, depth sounder, radar, and chartplotter, coupled with close attention to the weather forecast. Other electronics aides are good, but those noted are crucial in my opinion. Could be different where you boat. YMMV (and as Arild notes -- VBG). DHS Duluth ********* On Sun, 7 Jun 2009 07:09:39 -0600 "Jim Ague" <ague@usa.net> writes: > >... But, since the advent of modern electronic nav > > aides, the rate of shipwrecks can be counted on one hand with > fingers > > left over. Sure, you can go without radar, but you proceed at your > own > > peril. > > So ranking the electronic nav aids, which has been most responsible > in this > reduction? > > Depth Sounder > VHF Radio > GPS/Chartplotter > Hailer > Weather Forecasting > Autopilot > Radar > > ____________________________________________________________ Now accepting future chefs! Click to take your cooking skills to the next level. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/BLSrjpTIvlAgWubea0ZSJ4l8ww4KSIAhtbvv8v6cF10ZUNZm0yEP1sU82GU/