Q for RickUSN

[highsea]

Hey Rick,

This is not about Naval Systems per se, but about navigating around USN vessels. A couple years ago I was coming into San Diego. I had a GPS waypoint plotted about 2 miles off Point Loma and overlayed on my radar and plotter. There was a patrol boat out front (maybe an OHP, not sure), and a sub was coming in, a couple CVN's in port, etc. Normal traffic for San Diego.

As I approached Point Loma, the bearing line on my radar (to my waypoint) started diverging from my heading line (the line on the radar display that points straight forward). By the time I was abreast of Point Loma it was off by about 30 degrees. My radar picture wasn't skewed, i.e. Point Loma was still on my port beam by 2 miles, I could see other vessels, the view straight ahead matched the heading line, etc. My AP was still steering the boat to the correct Lat/Lon, etc. The radar has it's own fluxgate compass, separate from the AP, and the GPS/radar/AP are tied together via NMEA bus.

Normally I would just chock it up to current drift, but my speed was 18 knots, and there was almost no current, maybe 1-2 knots max. So I wasn't crabbing to the waypoint like it sounds. But it sure looked like it on my radar, with my waypoint approaching from the starboard side 30 degrees off my heading! And my plotter showed a straight line to the waypoint, not a curved one as if I was being set in by current. Weird. As I got away from San Diego, everything went back to normal.

This has puzzled me ever since, and I have heard other stories about electronics acting up around USN vessels. Any idea what was going on?

[rickusn]

Very Strange.

Could have been interference of some kind from whatever equipment was radiating from the USN vessels.

Was it a full moon day??? LOL

Strange things always seem to happen during a full moon period. LOL

[highsea]

...Was it a full moon day??? LOL

Haha, I would have to go back and look at my logbook.

It could have been a magnetic disturbance from the seabed monitoring system, or something like that. I was using electronic charts, and they are not always updated as well as they could be wrt local magnetic disturbances. That could have thrown off the fluxgate and thus the bearing line, while the AP was still driving the boat to the GPS signal. It was just really weird- I knew my position, and my waypoint was right, and I just sat there and watched it come up from the side on the radar. Lol, if I had steered to the bearing line on the radar, I would have been 5 miles off course.

[rickusn]

Im not much of a Highseas guy.

I drove subs and then 99% of the time underwater.

A totally different enviroment but no less benign . Although it had the tendency to try and lull you to sleep at the most inappropriate moments.

I tried many things to keep my watchstanding and damage control teams sharp.

First of all make it fun!

Second make it challenging!

Third be consistent and do it at every available opportunity even if you feel your not up to it or just dont want to at the moment.

I got the most satisfaction from putting people during drills in positions of responsibility and accountability where they wouldnt normally get the experience.

The look in their eyes told everything!!!!!!!!!

Got in trouble for it more times than I can count. LOL

But my reasoning was always thus:

What if I or those "normally" taking care of business are incapacitated or dead?

Arrogance is a terrible thing but falling into its "siren call" trap even worse.

Always remember: Most likely what you do someone else has already done and when your not around will do again.

I always felt it was my job to prepare those who may have to do what I do when Im not able. As did those before me who were worth a sh#t.

[Franco Lolan]

Good leader.