The discussion is always what instruments to have on a yacht. What are the essentials and what are the nice to haves. Remember I first started deep sea sailing way back in 1974, about the time of the sailing dinosaurs, when we had very little instrumentation, so I know what it is like to sail without any instruments, and to use a sextant for navigation.
Some “die hard” traditionalists do not want any modern things and want to sail the old way, my way of thinking is that we do not still cook on a fire outside but on new electric or gas stoves, so why not have as much as you can to keep yourself safe and stop you biting your fingernails down to the elbow.
I am a great proponent of making sure my boat, and all that sail on her keep as safe as possible, so will not let tradition get in the way of safety.
The most important instrument is the echo/depth sounder, if you have enough water to float in, you have time to figure out the rest, you can also use it to navigate by following depth contours to a harbour entrance or anchorage, or just to shallower water to keep out of shipping lane.
We have two echo sounders, one forward looking for those sneaky coral heads that have grown since the last chart survey. It is no good for containers or whales as it does not look far enough for ward to give enough warning when travelling at speed, it is more for slow coral work. For the whales and containers we had a layer of Kevlar/carbonfiber put into the hull under the water line, and crossed over in the bow area. It added a bit of extra cost, not that much. The echo sounder keeps you from running aground.The other one we have will read down to 400 meters, I especially wanted one with the ability to read over 100m as a lot of the islands come up to the surface very quickly and it is a good safety to be able to pick them up just that little bit sooner, most especially on a dark, cloudy night. Should the one pack up, we have a second as a safety.
The compass is another essential instrument, especially in the middle of the ocean or in restricted visability were you have no coast to relate to as we humans tend to go round in circles when left to our own senses, and this is not only in navigation.
Wind instruments certainly are easier to read than bits of wool or tape on the shrouds, especially at night.
The autopilot is our best friend, sailing without the “tyranny of the tiller” is fantastic, to be able to move around while on watch, and have a cup of coffee makes the watch so much more enjoyable and less tiring which is also a good safety feature.
![instruments](https://memesailing.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/instruments1.jpg?w=300&h=224)
our Instruments, Clockwise from top Chart Plotter, forward looking depth sounder, auto pilot, compass, wind instrument.
GPS is such a great safety and comfort feature, once you have sailed with one, you will not want to sail without it. Sure the old navigation still has its place and I am very glad I know both, but it sure makes life on board more pleasurable. One thing that must be kept in mind is that not all the charts are accurate to the GPS, so visual navigation is needed to keep a check.
One up from the GPS is the chart plotter. A luxury for a lot of people but it sure stop that fingernail biting. It is possible to get a chart plotting program that works on a computer, Open CPN is a free chart plotting program and most sailors share the charts. The only drawback is that it is not easily accessible at the helm position but I have been in situations where I have been so very grateful to have one on my computer.
Radar is good if sailing in areas that are prone to restricted visibility. Like all the instruments you need to know how to use it.
AIS is great, to know were those big sea monsters are and if they are heading your way is great, one must remember though it is only compulsory for ships over 300GRT, so the small vessels, fishing boats in particular do not have to carry them.
We also have a transmit AIS so the big monsters have no excuse for not seeing us.
Once again there is no substitute for a good lookout.
Big ships call us WAFI’s, wind assisted flipping idiots, and that is their attitude towards us, we are a nuisance to them, and as they cannot maneuver easily, so the unwritten collision rule is the one to obey. “Might is right”. If it is bigger than you keep out of the way.
My list of essential instruments are: Depth sounder, Compass, Autopilot, wind instrument, GPS and charts, plus of course the ability to do the old fashioned navigation if needed.
We have the full set of Feruno instruments with chart plotter and AIS and are very happy with them.
The rest you could sail without but life is so much more pleasurable with them