Like all boat electronics, they’re useful but vulnerable
There are many areas in which computers are either useful or entertaining on a boat, but they should never be regarded as essential. Small boats were successfully sailing around the world centuries before computers were invented.So much electronic equipment incorporates some form of computer chip these days that it’s difficult to define exactly what a computer is, but if a GPS receiver falls into that category, it’s the greatest boon that the science of computing has ever offered boaters. It has changed the art of navigation forever, and it will keep many small boats out of trouble.Nevertheless, don’t ever forget that electronic equipment requires electrical power; boats and electricity have always had an uneasy relationship. If the power isn’t there when you need it, electronics are useless—or worse than useless if they’ve deceived you into relying on them.Ever since French Admiral Marcq St. Hilaire discovered a simpler way to plot and process sextant sights in 1885, astronavigation has involved nothing more than simple addition and subtraction after consulting the sight-reduction tables, so there’s little excuse for not learning it. It’s also a very satisfying art once you get the swing of it. Mary Blewitt’s book, Celestial Navigation for Yachtsmen, explains it all simply and succinctly.Desk or laptop computers are useful navigation aids that can display charts and weather information, as well as send text messages by radio or satellite, but they really need more power and pampering than a small boat can easily provide. The larger the boat, the more protected and more useful they will be, and a laptop computer interfaced with a GPS to display an electronic chart showing your boat’s position and track is an extremely useful setup.More and more computers will find their way onto boats as the years progress. More engine functions will be controlled by them, and we can expect to find them in greater numbers with more muscle power in communications and safety equipment. Let’s hope their vulnerability to salt air and loss of power decreases as much as their computational ability increases.Until computers can truly be regarded as invulnerable, it will always pay to have a simple, reliable backup. A depth-sounder, which computes the distance to the ocean floor, is probably the most reliable piece of electronic equipment yet invented for boats, but if it goes on the blink, it’s good to know that a lead line will still work. Gravity never runs out of power and it’s truly invulnerable to salt air.See also Depth-Sounders.