I am completly clueless when It comes to compass navigation. I'm studying my Navigation book that the instructor gave me, and it is all greek to me. What questions should I be asking my instructor, we are studying at home, and not in a class situation. Which was easier with my open water, because I could ask any questions I had as we reviewed each section. I just do not know were to start, and I do not want to be behind when I start my Pool Class.
Navigation for AOW class
- Thread starter Airhog75
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One tip Always find true north. Once you got that. your on your way.
You can reference the direction your going to follow easier knowing where north is...Always know where shore is. Left side right side. Always look for a point of reference. Navigation is not only done with a compass. Current, bottom vegitation, rock formations etc all play a vital role in underwater navigation.
avoid metal objects . as this may cause your compass to miss read and bounc around. IE: diving near a steel ship wreck or anything that reacts magnetically
Next thing to remember. Heading. regardless of direction. If you start from point A and go to point B you want to turn back to pont A from point b. That is reciprocal heading. if yu travel 180 then you come back on 360 ( I do not have a compass so forgive me if I am off abit..
)
If your referenceing three navigtional directions..or a box navigation A, B ad c And D . Make mental notes of the amount of kick cycles, current direction, anything to help you get around.
And lastly..practice on land first. find a parking lot or park and go through the exersise explained in the book.
What else would ya like to know or do not get.
You can reference the direction your going to follow easier knowing where north is...Always know where shore is. Left side right side. Always look for a point of reference. Navigation is not only done with a compass. Current, bottom vegitation, rock formations etc all play a vital role in underwater navigation.
avoid metal objects . as this may cause your compass to miss read and bounc around. IE: diving near a steel ship wreck or anything that reacts magnetically
Next thing to remember. Heading. regardless of direction. If you start from point A and go to point B you want to turn back to pont A from point b. That is reciprocal heading. if yu travel 180 then you come back on 360 ( I do not have a compass so forgive me if I am off abit..
)If your referenceing three navigtional directions..or a box navigation A, B ad c And D . Make mental notes of the amount of kick cycles, current direction, anything to help you get around.
And lastly..practice on land first. find a parking lot or park and go through the exersise explained in the book.
What else would ya like to know or do not get.
llenrocs
Guest
Get a compass and practice on land before attempting to navigate underwater... that way you won't run out of air when you get lost.
Sean
Sean
I always had trouble remembering which way east and west were in relation to north. North is easy enough to find, it's where the compass naturally points. When you are looking north west is always left and east is always right. I just remember that it spells "We" when I'm looking north
Ber :lilbunny:
N
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WE
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S
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WE
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S
Ber :lilbunny:
Tigerman
Contributor
Im lucky to be a norwegianBer Rabbit:I always had trouble remembering which way east and west were in relation to north. North is easy enough to find, it's where the compass naturally points. When you are looking north west is always left and east is always right. I just remember that it spells "We" when I'm looking north
N
|
WE
|
S
Ber :lilbunny:
West in norwegian is "Vest"
And since left would be "Venstre"... When i look north, "Vest" (west) is "Venstre" (left)..
Your approach to the english version is real nice tho
Charlie99
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Find a nice big empty parking lot or grassy field. Drop a bag or something to mark a spot. Then practice going away from the marker and back.
Easiest --- straight out due north 50 steps. Return 50 steps due south. Master that first.
Next Easiest -- a square. Go 50 steps N, then E, then S, then W. How close are you to your starting point? Were you able to visualize where you were with respect to the starting point at all times?
Now try "straight out and back" and "square" paths with directions other than N/S/E/W.
Now try some triangle paths.
Now try 50 steps N, 50 steps W. Now figure out how to get back direction to the starting spot. If you have a mental picture of where you are in relationship to the starting point, it should be pretty obvious.
Next just fool around doing 10 or 30 steps in one direction, then a couple dozen steps another direction, for several different legs. Now guess what the distance and direction back to the marker is. This is what you will be doing in real life. For this exercise, it would probably be best to have a tall target at the starting point so that you can look back and see distance and bearing from quite a ways away. For many of the other exercises, it works best to have just a little, low lying marker that you only see from 10 or 15' away.
The other sort of thing to practice is to take a bearing and estimate a distance to some object, then see how close you can come to going there by just looking down at your compass and counting steps.
You may feel kind of silly walking around the park or parking lot staring down at a compass, but the experience will serve you well underwater.
Charlie Allen
Easiest --- straight out due north 50 steps. Return 50 steps due south. Master that first.
Next Easiest -- a square. Go 50 steps N, then E, then S, then W. How close are you to your starting point? Were you able to visualize where you were with respect to the starting point at all times?
Now try "straight out and back" and "square" paths with directions other than N/S/E/W.
Now try some triangle paths.
Now try 50 steps N, 50 steps W. Now figure out how to get back direction to the starting spot. If you have a mental picture of where you are in relationship to the starting point, it should be pretty obvious.
Next just fool around doing 10 or 30 steps in one direction, then a couple dozen steps another direction, for several different legs. Now guess what the distance and direction back to the marker is. This is what you will be doing in real life. For this exercise, it would probably be best to have a tall target at the starting point so that you can look back and see distance and bearing from quite a ways away. For many of the other exercises, it works best to have just a little, low lying marker that you only see from 10 or 15' away.
The other sort of thing to practice is to take a bearing and estimate a distance to some object, then see how close you can come to going there by just looking down at your compass and counting steps.
You may feel kind of silly walking around the park or parking lot staring down at a compass, but the experience will serve you well underwater.
Charlie Allen
My son and I were swimming a box pattern during our AOW class when a snake swam right across us on the surface. Someone grabbed a shotgun and fired off a couple of shots with a friend screaming, "Where's their bubbles?". We were deep enough not to be affected by the gunplay but my son did put out his hand at one point, turned and looked back at me with a "What the???" look. He was watching the pellets drift down. We didn't find out what was going on till we surfaced.
And yes, we too walked the pattern out on dry land before we did it underwater.
And yes, we too walked the pattern out on dry land before we did it underwater.
Looking at your compass you should see a line down the middle ( lubber line(not the needle))
That is your center line, if you were laying down that would line up your bellybutton and nose.
Next you should have the needle move so the needle points across the lubber line. The needle will point north.
Next you should have a couple of marks on the rim move those to put the needle in between the 2 marks. That marks your heading.
So go outside and find a tree/sign post.
Point the lubber line and yourself to that.
Set the north needle between the 2 marks.
Follow the heading keeping the needle between the 2 marks to tree.
Now comes the hard part.
When you reach the tree DON'T turn around, move the 2 marks to the tail of your north pointing neelde. Then turn around till the head of the needle is NOW in between the 2 marks and that is your return heading.
Oh yea the compass should have little numbers aroung the ring that moves make sure the 0 number is lined up with the point of the lubber line when you start.
If this doest help go to your LDS and ask them to show you BEFORE your class.
That is your center line, if you were laying down that would line up your bellybutton and nose.
Next you should have the needle move so the needle points across the lubber line. The needle will point north.
Next you should have a couple of marks on the rim move those to put the needle in between the 2 marks. That marks your heading.
So go outside and find a tree/sign post.
Point the lubber line and yourself to that.
Set the north needle between the 2 marks.
Follow the heading keeping the needle between the 2 marks to tree.
Now comes the hard part.
When you reach the tree DON'T turn around, move the 2 marks to the tail of your north pointing neelde. Then turn around till the head of the needle is NOW in between the 2 marks and that is your return heading.
Oh yea the compass should have little numbers aroung the ring that moves make sure the 0 number is lined up with the point of the lubber line when you start.
If this doest help go to your LDS and ask them to show you BEFORE your class.
In contrast to what deepblue said, I found using the bezel on the compass to be a needless complication. Once I stopped trying to use it, navigation actually became rather easy.
I do highly recommend the parking lot/grassy field practice. I have a grassy field at home, and did this, to the amusement and consternation of my neighbors, with a towel over my head so I couldn't cheat.
I do highly recommend the parking lot/grassy field practice. I have a grassy field at home, and did this, to the amusement and consternation of my neighbors, with a towel over my head so I couldn't cheat.
Steve_Dives
Contributor
Prostar:
That's a hard core navigation class! (And incidentally, not the state I had expected to hear a story involving snakes, shotguns, and scuba diving!)
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