Fridays Simulation

Friday brought an awesome day in the Radar Simulator. For my Coastal Navigation 2 lab we got a chance to use the skills we've learned. Each group was assigned a station. Each station had a large screen used for visual bearings. Also included was a monitor that had all the instruments such as throttles, echo sounder, and compass. To the right was our RADAR display. Another neat tool was the VHF radio which allowed us to talk with other groups if we needed to.

Our goals:

-Safely Navigate across Long Island Sound
-Take fixes every 6 minutes
-Collisions = failure
Running aground = failure

My ship was the Container Ship Long Island. Once we got going we had full control of the ship. We chose its course, speed, and heading. We began to take fixes every 6 minutes. This was a little stressful because we would finish plotting one fix and immedietly be looking for the next one. By the end we had a great system going so we were not as rushed in our fixes. The simulation was over before we knew it. I am happy to report that no one collided or ran aground. These two tasks were simple to follow as only 8 ships occupied the simulation and it was well known what our depth was to avoid going aground.

I look forward to the next experience in the simulator as it allows us to test our skills on more than just paper.

Until next time,

-3/c Joshua Lamm
Cadet Blogger

joshua.lamm@maritime.edu