Watching a coast as it slips by the ship is like thinking about an enigma. There it is before you, smiling, frowning, inviting, grand, mean, insipid, or savage, and always mute with an air of whispering, “Come and find out.”
― Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness
Cruising is meant to bring pleasure to its devotees, but it is not without its hazards. Getting where you are going without hitting anything is the essence of successful navigation. TrawlerFest-Pacific Northwest takes a look at the subject from three different directions, including “old-school,” a take that Conrad and Henry would very much have appreciated.
We begin with Capt. Linda Lewis with a seminar on Tuesday, May 1, entitled “Navionics Navigation.” Lewis, a marine trainer, will lead the class with hands-on work with the app for smartphone and tablet in the seminar, teaching the meaning of colors and symbols, how to plan a trip by entering, editing and naming routes, how to find tide and current data, how to adjust app settings for safe navigation and how (and why) to orient the screen and adjust the app’s settings for safe navigation.
Attendees will be asked to download a two-week free trial of the Navionics app prior to the seminar. Just Google “Navionics free trial.”
Robert Reeder follows up on Wednesday with “Old-School Navigation.” Reeder, a Navy veteran who teaches coastal piloting and terrestrial navigation, will discuss how to get home when the ship’s GPS fails, using an integrated approach that includes simple and inexpensive tools, paper charts, electronic charts and radar.
Then on Saturday, you can spend the entire morning with marine trainer Bob Sweet and electronics product manager Eric Kunz as they present “Safety & Navigation with AIS, Radar and Chartplotters.” Sweet and Kunz, senior product manager for Furuno, will discuss the recent and rapid rise of solid-state multi-frequency radar and the demise of pulse technology originally developed during the Battle of Britain, and what this means for today’s radar consumers and operators.
Kunz and Sweet will share navigation techniques and how to get the most from today’s modern multi-function displays, regardless of brand. Do we still need to carry paper charts? Plus, the topic of AIS is hot right now, with an expansion of the kinds of information conveyed through this medium.
The latter two seminars will award “certificates of completion” to attendees. Depending on what type of insurance you have and which underwriter, a certificate can help lower premiums.
SAVE as a VIP
You can attend all the above mentioned seminars and most of the others for fixed prices with a four- or six-day VIP Pass. The cost is $399 for a four-day VIP pass and $499 for the six-day pass. Visit our ticketing site and do some math. You’ll see how being a VIP maximizes your seminar buying power.
SEMINARS: Tuesday, May 1 – Saturday, May 5, at the Kitsap Conference Center at Bremerton Harborside, 100 Washington Ave, Bremerton, WA 98337.
IN-WATER BOAT SHOW: Thursday, May 3 – Saturday, May 5
Open 10 a.m.– 5 p.m. at Bremerton Marina, 120 Washington Beach Ave, Bremerton, WA 98337
360-373-1035
