[QUOTE=“Kennebec Captain;95357”]
Agreed, but here’s the thing. I’ve been navigating for a long time. In fact my navigation education began, a few decades back, at Navy A QM school. I lay down track-lines with DRs, I take fixes at the right interval,using available info use the correct scale chart, resolve discrepancies etc etc etc. But…a lot of the mates I get act like brain dead office workers. The alarm goes off on the hour and they toddle over to the chart table, plot the lat and long on the chart then toddle back to finish the story they were telling the AB before they were interrupted. Prudent mariners are in short supply.
K.C.[/QUOTE]
It seens we are saying much the same thing. I too have had watch officers that were brain dead, I then would " adjust their attitude’. Just because you get a few under performers is no reason to lower your professional standards. Not that you are, just a general statement. I don’t know what went wrong on the USS ship, but it would seem like some Basic navigation skills were in order.