UK sibber drifts to Ireland

[Fenlander]

>>>I'm taking it you have a dedicated GPS

Yes. Had the small 2.2" screen Etrex with full UK marine maps for near on 15yrs. Then as I found the small screen harder to read unless close to me I upgraded and now have the 5" screen Montana 700. It's still a stand alone as far as power supply goes but I have it on a seat mount where I can easily see from the tiller position. I still carry the Etrex though as a backup as it fits in a lifejacket pocket, also discrete to carry if offered a trip out with someone who might be a little more uncertain in their Nav situation.

[Pikey Dave]

This is where a lot of confusion arises re. GPS units & compass. Many folk think that their GPS unit has a compass in it, because it shows them in which direction they’re heading. A basic GPS does this by calculating the previous position (a typical GPS now updates around 10Hz I.e 10 times/second) and comparing it to the current position. From that, it can give you a direction travelled. What it can’t do is tell you which direction you’re pointing if you’re stood still, to do this you need a flux gate compass sensor. Some higher end handhelds have these built in, most marine GPS plotters need a separate “puck” similar to a GPS puck.
It’s basically the difference between the direction you’re travelling & the direction you’re pointing, there’s a subtle difference.

[tinker]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

This is where a lot of confusion arises re. GPS units & compass. Many folk think that their GPS unit has a compass in it, because it shows them in which direction they’re heading. A basic GPS does this by calculating the previous position (a typical GPS now updates around 10Hz I.e 10 times/second) and comparing it to the current position. From that, it can give you a direction travelled. What it can’t do is tell you which direction you’re pointing if you’re stood still, to do this you need a flux gate compass sensor. Some higher end handhelds have these built in, most marine GPS plotters need a separate “puck” similar to a GPS puck.
It’s basically the difference between the direction you’re travelling & the direction you’re pointing, there’s a subtle difference.

Sounds like this is what was happening with my phones gps program, I have an Iris 50 which works well but a pair of binoculars with a bearing compass built in would be my pick, in a perfect world with plenty of space to store it all.

[Fenlander]

>>What it can’t do is tell you which direction you’re pointing if you’re stood still...

Yes indeed, when I bought the small Garmin Etrex all those years ago I wasn't aware of that issue. It wasn't a problem with my use of that device but when I upgraded to the Montana 700 I made sure it had an electronic compass. I think the electronic compass must have potential for slight error as the 700 mapping/software changes to GPS compass when you reach a certain, but unspecified, speed. As well as the electronic compass being available on its own display I notice it works to orientate the triangle pointer on the map to the correct heading even when static.

As a matter of interest the small Etrex shows a GPS generated heading on its compass display after I walk three paces.

Images below showing the comparison between the two devices. The first where I've walked a few paces and they both correctly show a bit east of north. The second where I've walked north then stopped and rotated on the spot pointing south but the GPS compass on the small Etrex remains showing north.

[spartacus]

Bit more information. Still nothing about how he ended up in Ireland though.
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/w...irish-30315696

He's set up a RNLI fundraising page.

[willk]

Originally Posted by spartacus

He's set up a RNLI fundraising page.

Well done, that man!

It was a VERY small SIB to be crossing the Irish Sea in, even under ideal circumstances. Depending on his drift, he was out of sight of land for a VERY long time, with occasional heavy vessels to raise hopes and anxiety. I've accompanied various unsuitable craft on open water passages and I wouldn't fancy it myself.

[Fenlander]

Thanks for the link, I'd not noticed that despite looking every day to see if there was more on the story. However to offset Willk's comment...

Is it just me being somewhat ill at ease he's asking others to donate to the RNLI to, I'd guess, offset the guilt of making mistakes leading to the huge search costs?

On top of that he's withholding the explanation of how and why it happened saying "one day I will share my story" yet waxing lyrical about the guy who took him to the police station being "someone with little money would give his last penny to help a stranger" and the B&B owner where he stayed "introducing me to his selection of fine ciders".

It would have been so simple to have admitted what caused his engine failure, why that escalated to "drifting" so far and how he'd made a mistake being unprepared for such eventualities at sea. He could have made a substantial private donation within his personal affordability to the RNLI and that would have tied it all up.

I do wonder though if in time through some media outlet he's going to try and profit from the experience.

Cynical maybe but not unreasonable thoughts.

[Fenlander]

It's interesting that article does at least give his exact landing point for the first time. Seem's he travelled as far north as he did west.

[willk]

Originally Posted by Fenlander

It's interesting that article does at least give his exact landing point for the first time. Seem's he travelled as far north as he did west.

Yes, but as I know where Wicklow starts I was aware of the scope.