The end of sattellites

[Alan Wheeler]

Even though there ar ones out there considered "wallies on the water", GPS is not going to weed them out. Look at the number that run aground even though they have GPS on board. As for sailing the world, there are very few "way out there" that would pose a navigational threat to anyone eles. The real threatening ones I believe, are those within the harbours that have no clue as to right of way, lights, which side to pass and so on. A GPS won't solve any of those proplems and won't stop those wallies from getting out on the water.

[dana-tenacity]

I was considering the explosive growth in offshore sailing after the introduction of GPS and the accompanying drop in standards . The need to learn to navigate acted as a natural filter to keep a lot of people at home.

[seafox]

It's those jet skis that I hate.....and they don't have gps.

[dana-tenacity]

Somebody once told me Macadamia nut shells on the surface will get sucked into their impellors and kill them, wish it were true.

[GordMay]

In looking up the meaning of “Wally”, I came across another unfamiliar, but apt, term:


Wafi: Wind Assisted **%#ing Idiots – a nautical term used by skippers of motor boats to describe sailors.

I've been both.

[dana-tenacity]

Aussie/Kiwi slang for a d*ickhead. Don't know the entymology.

[Alan Wheeler]

Hmmmm, maybe we could come up with something for powerboaters. How'bout,
PAM's = Power assisted moorons
I can think of many others, but my mom told me I couldn't use those words ;-)

[coot]

Originally Posted by dana-tenacity

I'm serious, don't understand your comment, callous attitude towards human life?? how so, I'm talking of getting rid of the GPS system and thinning out a few wallies from the cruising world.

GPS is used by many people other than cruisers. If you take it away from the "wallies", you also take it away from container ships, oil tankers, cruise ships, airplanes, etc.

Navigational uncertainty used to be a significant cause of shipwrecks. The navigator made a DR plot as best he could based on a celestial fix from the last day that was not too cloudy. The quality of the DR position can't even begin to approach a celestial fix, much less GPS or LORAN.

The barrier islands of North Carolina used to be called "The Graveyard of the Atlantic". The reefs around Bermuda are filled with shipwrecks. It isn't because people didn't know about the shoaling or the reefs. They just couldn't determine their own position accurately enough to avoid the hazards, and people died as a result.

Recall that GPS was declassified because of the KAL-007 incident. A civilian airliner on the way from Alaska to Korea was shot down in Soviet airspace. A simple navigation error started a chain of events that led to the death of everybody on that airplane. President Reagan realized that the incident could have been avoided if the airplane had a GPS receiver on board, so he ordered the system adapted for civilian use.

Anything that significantly improves navigation will save lives. There must be thousands of professional mariners and airmen who find rescuing a few yachties now and then to be a fair trade for reducing their risk.

[seafox]

Power assisted moorons

Hey alan, shouldn't you spell moron correctly before you call someone one? I suppose if they are moron's they probably can't spell anyway

[Alan Wheeler]

Well if moorons can't spell, maybe I is one. Lets hope they can't reed ether ;-) :-)

[seafox]

aren't moo rons butch cows?

[mudnut]

Originally Posted by seafox

Hey alan, shouldn't you spell moron correctly before you call someone one? I suppose if they are moron's they probably can't spell anyway

The last thing you guys want is raising the Edumacation standards of the average Kiwi.We love ya just the way ya are,it makes the footy more interesting.Mudnut.

[Alan Wheeler]

Yeah, we don't call for the ball in line outs, we grunt.

[dana-tenacity]

Monosyllabic grunts at that.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by coot

GPS is used by many people other than cruisers. If you take it away from the "wallies", you also take it away from container ships, oil tankers, cruise ships, airplanes, etc.

Navigational uncertainty used to be a significant cause of shipwrecks. The navigator made a DR plot as best he could based on a celestial fix from the last day that was not too cloudy. The quality of the DR position can't even begin to approach a celestial fix, much less GPS or LORAN.

The barrier islands of North Carolina used to be called "The Graveyard of the Atlantic". The reefs around Bermuda are filled with shipwrecks. It isn't because people didn't know about the shoaling or the reefs. They just couldn't determine their own position accurately enough to avoid the hazards, and people died as a result.

Recall that GPS was declassified because of the KAL-007 incident. A civilian airliner on the way from Alaska to Korea was shot down in Soviet airspace. A simple navigation error started a chain of events that led to the death of everybody on that airplane. President Reagan realized that the incident could have been avoided if the airplane had a GPS receiver on board, so he ordered the system adapted for civilian use.

Anything that significantly improves navigation will save lives. There must be thousands of professional mariners and airmen who find rescuing a few yachties now and then to be a fair trade for reducing their risk.

So getting rid of GPS would thin out a few professional wallies too. Not to mention airline pilot wallies (and passenger wallies). And apparently the odd "mooron". (Is there any other kind?) All in all A GOOD THING. let's face it, if God had meant us to know where we were going he would have given us sextant organs instead of sex organs.