With GPS systems and other geographical technology being as sophisticated as it now is, do lighthouses still serve an integral purpose? Are they more now just in case the captain/crew lapses on the monitoring of navigation systems? Obviously lighthouses are more immediate and I guess tangible, but do they still fulfil a purpose beyond mitigating basic human error?
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Even if all cars had GPS that gave directions and told you which streets you have to stop at, you’d still want the signs up wouldn’t you?
Safe navigation requires more than one way to fix your position.
It is pretty unlikely (yet possible) that all your electronics including handheld GPS or smartphone fail at the same time, but even if they don’t, GPS can lead to faulty navigation. Several possible reasons come to mind:
– Programming the wrong waypoint, easily done by making a typo.
– Using the wrong chart datum. Sea charts use different reference systems (datums) that have to coincide with the datum used on your GPS.
– GPS position accuracy varies, so in some narrow channels, it might not be sufficient.
When you are at the wheel steering, landmarks give instant and precise feedback while GPS always has some delay and uncertainty.
This makes steering easier and more accurate especially because boats and ships need some time to react to movements of the wheel.
Even if all cars had GPS that gave directions and told you which streets you have to stop at, you’d still want the signs up wouldn’t you?
Additionally, most light houses are fully automated now. Since they’re not just an old man climbing a tower with a torch every night now it would make sense to keep them on even if every boat has perfect gps awareness.
Giving peace of mind and a solid backup plan in a storm or equipment failure is priceless.
Never rely on the thing with electronics to be your only means of figuring out where you are.
Safe navigation requires more than one way to fix your position.
It is pretty unlikely (yet possible) that all your electronics including handheld GPS or smartphone fail at the same time, but even if they don’t, GPS can lead to faulty navigation. Several possible reasons come to mind:
– Programming the wrong waypoint, easily done by making a typo.
– Using the wrong chart datum. Sea charts use different reference systems (datums) that have to coincide with the datum used on your GPS.
– GPS position accuracy varies, so in some narrow channels, it might not be sufficient.
When you are at the wheel steering, landmarks give instant and precise feedback while GPS always has some delay and uncertainty.
This makes steering easier and more accurate especially because boats and ships need some time to react to movements of the wheel.
Additionally, most light houses are fully automated now. Since they’re not just an old man climbing a tower with a torch every night now it would make sense to keep them on even if every boat has perfect gps awareness.
Giving peace of mind and a solid backup plan in a storm or equipment failure is priceless.
I have a friend who is a captain with the Canadian coat Guard. He says that they are experimenting with virtual light buouys and lighthouses. Channel markers and such. Most if not all large vessels have computer navigation with so much redundancy that the lights aren’t needed. Part of his job is servicing the lights. Virtual ones will save a ton of money. Inshore small vessels still use them of course but less and less. My brother in law is a urchin diver. He has a small boat that spends a lot of time very close to shore but even he navigates with his laptop.
Light houses are some of the most useful aids to navigation. They blink a certain pattern so you can tell what light house you are looking at. The major advantage is range. They are built high and bright so you can see them from miles. While something like a bouy you can’t see it, and especially read it until you are darn near hitting the thing.
As for why? To verify your location. GPS is great until it’s not there, or it’s wrong. It does go down sometimes too. I was co-pilot in a private plane once and the GPS system just disappeared. We were flying IFR so had to switch to VFR and other instruments for navigation. Later we find out it was a military drill.
You can’t just follow a GPS you always need to be tracking your position with as many tools as you have available. Things go wrong and you need to be prepared to deal with it.
It’s an excellent safety measure – a second data point, a way to calibrate and verify whatever you’re using to navigate.
If you see a lighthouse you weren’t expecting, or Don’t see one you were expecting, that’s your warning that something is wrong and you might not be where you think you are. …and it tells you this from line of sight, without crashing into anything, or getting lost at sea.
If you see the lighthouse where it’s supposed to be, that tells you your other systems have worked well enough to get you to the lighthouse, and you can use your location and direction compared to it to navigate from there.
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