Trusting your Inner GPS
Years ago, I did a lot of offshore sailing and learned many valuable lessons while living on a sailboat for weeks at a time.
A decade later, I realize how I am still applying those lessons on dry land… starting with trusting my own Inner GPS.
Many summers ago, I lived aboard a 48’ sailboat – cruising Long Island Sound, Newport, Martha’s Vineyard and beyond. A truly unforgettable experience!
When Fall arrived and it was time to move the boat South to Florida, we sailed offshore before deciding to go “in” at Norfolk and motor for two days down the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), to Morehead City, NC.
Over two days, conditions range from motoring in the Dismal Swamp Canal (barely wide enough for two boats to pass) to sailing across open water like Albemarle Sound.
The area is full of shallows so if you deviate more than a few yards from the dredged channel of the ICW, you will run aground.
Day Two, we had a couple of delays waiting for bridge openings (inconvenience of a 65’ mast) and we knew the forecast was for 15 knot winds with higher gusts late in the day.
Somewhere between the Pungo River Canal and Goose Creek, the storm blew in and the bay got choppy where the Pamlico River spills out toward the Atlantic.
We were less than an hour from our overnight dockage at Alligator River Marina when the skies darkened, the wind whipped up and rain came down in sheets. Visibility was zero.
The boat was outfitted with excellent electronics, so no problem.
As we motored in a dark narrow sliver of water toward the marina, suddenly the Chartplotter indicated a right turn ahead.
It was now dark and raining hard but this seemed entirely wrong!
The narrow waterway is very marshy and deceptive. It appears you have plenty of water but with a six-foot keel, five feet of water is perilous!
We quickly consulted a second handheld GPS and it too indicated we should make a turn ahead.
With the engine idling as we consulted charts, the storm was blowing the boat and we had to make a quick call in extremely poor conditions.
Despite what two different electronic instruments showed to be the correct course, every fiber of my Being was telling me we were about to make a big mistake.
I could not give any logical reason to override two reliable devices... just an extremely strong gut instinct.
After consideration, the Captain (also my romantic partner at the time) put the engine in gear and made the turn indicated by the two electronic devices.
Within seconds, we ran hard aground.
We donned life jackets as the waves pounded us further into the sand causing the boat to heave and jerk.
Fortunately, it was a marshy sandbar and no damage was done to the boat’s hull.
Eventually, the storm began to clear and the clouds parted. I could see the lights of Alligator River Marina off in the distance and a Full Moon now shining on the water!
It took more than three hours to get the boat off the sandbar. (That story itself is worthy of another installment.)
The reason for the inaccuracy of the electronics is forever unknown but…
The big learning was about trusting intuition, my gut, my inner wisdom, Sixth Sense – whatever you call it.
In an era of sophisticated electronics, we place a premium on what we see on a tiny screen.
We want to feel certainty and reassurance provided by powerful devices running highly advanced software.
How can we utilize and synthesize the information provided through intuition, intellect and electronics to leverage all three in appropriate combinations?
