MOREHEAD CITY -- Few things are more disturbing on dark, cold and stormy nights than not knowing how to find a harbor.
A few weeks ago, long before dawn, awakened by the crunching of ice and seeing a boat's running light, we found a neighbor, after a navigational error, had spent the night aground.
A reminder of how dependent we've become on electronic navigational gadgets came to light in a discussion with Morehead City boatman Mike Lewis. Talking of offshore fishing, he recalled taking some youngsters marlin fishing. Before heading home from the Gulf Stream, he shut down the boat's navigation system and challenged his crew to figure out how to find the inlet.
The result?
Without Mike's assistance, the crew had no idea of distances and directions.
Mike's lesson was that it's a mighty big ocean out there, with very few guideposts, so you had better know what's going on in case some system fails. And those systems do fail - at inconvenient times.
Mariners are getting a reminder of just that - and a sink-or-swim requirement to adopt a different navigation system.
On Monday, the U.S. Coast Guard will cease transmission of the U.S. Long-Range Aids to Navigation (LORAN-C) signal ( www.navcen.uscg.gov). That means U.S. mariners will have to rely on GPS, the global positioning system.
LORAN is antiquated system, the Department of Homeland Security has declared, but LORAN has many fans who consider it to be more robust than the newer GPS, which is based on satellites circling the earth. LORAN can withstand interfering signals that could deprive GPS users of useful navigation guidance. Still, GPS is accurate and simple, providing worldwide coverage, and it's fairly dependable and affordable, with some units costing less than $100.
The shutting down of LORAN probably doesn't worry most small boatmen, but for others, it's losing a long-term reliable friend.
I'm reminded of a late, close friend, Coast Guard Cmdr. Bill Brogdon, who strongly warned against putting our nation's navigational eggs in single system. Brogdon figured that the first thing any major enemy would consider would include disabling our communications systems, and satellites provide easy targets.
But the Department of Homeland Security has decided that LORAN is no longer needed as a backup for GPS.
Plus, "continued use of limited resources to operate LORAN-C is no longer prudent use of taxpayer funds and is not allowed under the 2010 DHS Appropriation Act," according to a statement on the Web site.
So, no more LORAN for U.S. mariners. In many other nations, including Russia, Canada and China, the system will remain in use.
My acquaintance with LORAN began while I served as a Marine Corps navigator. After I spent lots of time chasing up mountains carrying a heavy pack and expended lots of ammunition puncturing paper targets, the Marine Corps decided I would do better in navigation.
Perhaps my navigational instructor's single most important advice was "never fully rely on electronics if you want to get home. And getting home is mighty important, considering the alternatives."
The brain is the navigator's most important tool. Only it can interpret the relationship of time/speed and direction. The sextant, your most reliable navigational instrument, unfailingly relays what the stars are saying, and the heavens never mislead.
I'm not as sure about the Department of Homeland Security.
