Boaties warned on GPS use

Boaties have been warned they are relying too much on electronic navigation at the expense of safer and more reliable traditional methods.

Maritime New Zealand said boaties needed to be strongly warned about the increasing trend to rely on global positioning systems which could put boats and crews in danger.

The warning followed a report into a grounding in Auckland's Hauraki Gulf last year when a skipper relied on his GPS and ran on to rocks.

The skipper of the 13m charter boat Sanga Na Langa had a lookout on the bow as he steamed past dangerous rocks at Kauri Point on the east coast of Waiheke Island.

The GPS put the rocks a "reasonable distance" to starboard, the Maritime New Zealand report into the incident said. But the rocks were seen only 10 seconds before the boat hit them.

The boat began taking on water and was grounded on a nearby beach. A low-tide inspection found serious hull damage and a missing propeller blade.

Maritime New Zealand said the skipper had broken a cardinal rule of navigation by relying too much on his GPS.

The report said the temptation to push a button to obtain such data and not use more labour-intensive, traditional methods of position fixing was bad seamanship that put vessels and their crew at risk.

- NZPA