Mac Sea Adventure

Mac Sea Adventure 

By Dave Horrigan

Back in 2002, I wrote about a sea voyage wherein I was saved by my Mac while sailing a 45’ yacht. Back then the only navigation applications for Mac were OS 9.  Today, the picture has changed considerably. Here is an updated version of this true tale.

… After some emergency repairs and with a renewed sense of confidence, we set out once again. But we rounded Point Wilson Light only to find ourselves in 14-foot seas and gale-force winds.  The sudden blow had caught dozens of boaters off-guard and the radio was constant with mayday and rescue calls.  Normally, we would have turned around and waited the storm out, but since we were taking blue water over the bow, turning the boat around was too dangerous.  The only safe course was the one we were on—a secure harbor lay 10 miles ahead.

We eventually acclimated to the relentless pounding and bucking of the boat, but with the darkness, the storm brought new trials.  The radar was useless because the seas were as high as anything it might see, and the windscreen was so caked with salt and spray that any light we saw was just a huge blur.  We were holding a course that took us close to sandbars and shoal-infested islands, and while lights marked both the hazards and our course, in the storm it was difficult to tell which was which.  If we headed for the wrong light it would mean doom for our valiant ship.  About midnight, my son came up to the helm and with the saddest eyes I have ever seen, he said, “Dad, I just plotted our position and we are further away then we were an hour ago.”  I explained to him that the tide would soon change, allowing us to zoom right along, but he wasn’t convinced.

It took us 14 hours to cover 10 horrible miles and arrive at the next port.

But where is the Mac in all this?  Well, it ended up being the hero of the day, or more specifically, the hero of the dismal night.

When all else was crashing and sliding in the dark, my PowerBook was a rock steady glow in the night.  It was loaded with all the marine navigation charts we would need for our trip so in the darkness of the storm, I had only to choose a point and then zoom in on it to find out all I needed to know—that yellow light flashing at 5-second intervals bearing 050 degrees meant I was headed in the right direction.  On the 15-inch screen, I could see where I was to within a few meters.  I could also see where I was headed and where the hazards were.  Nothing else could give this reassuring data—not my eyes, not the paper charts, not the radar.  My Mac, in its quiet steadfastness, demonstrated that occasionally virtual reality can be a little clearer and infinitely more useful than a chaotic real reality.

Nowadays GPS has invaded our cell phones and dashboards because we like to get lost when we have the chance. But if you go boating, this technology can be an actual lifesaver. Here is what I use now.

Garmin makes a Mac-native handheld GPS that plugs directly into the USB port and they recently announced that the rest of their product line would be Mac compatible by the end of the year.

To translate charts and GPS signals and provide all the bells and whistles necessary for safe and convenient boating navigation, I use GPSNavX (www.gpsnavx.com  US $59.95).

I don’t sail in heavy storms so much anymore but it is rare that I go to sea without my Mac. It brings with it that warm, fuzzy and safe feeling.