PAGE 14 • AUTUMN 2005 THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SAILING ASSOCIATION
AMERICAN
SAILING
R ASSOCIA TION
ASA MEMBER PRODUCT REVIEWS
by Bill Payne
The NaviTote kit can be ordered at a
special ASA members-only price at:
www.american-sailing.com.
The top half of the opened tote is a large pocket with a
Velcro patch to hold notebooks or papers. The bottom
half has five tool compartments and three pencil holders.
I’m convinced the tote is a well-constructed package for
carrying your navigational instruments.
Now, I beseech you, good reader; how does one evaluate
instruments like dividers?
M
obility. I’m struck by our addiction to mobility. I
guess you would say I’m pretty mobile. I live more
Well, the Ultralight Divider/Compass is by far superior to
in Japan now than I do in the States. Currently,
the compass in my Target bag that came from the grocery.
I’m in my hovel midway up the side of a mountain on the
The Ultralight, made in Germany, weighs three ounces.
edge of the desert in California. I’m in California four
The center wheel, single-handed operation is smooth and
months this year and Japan eight. I stopped by the ASA
firm. I found these easy to use and very accurate. The only
office on my way to a chandlery to get some parallels
problem I found was with storing the dividers in the tote. I
before I go to my CON class in Marina del Rey. At the
did not want to replace them in the plastic container in
moment I had two different parallels in Japan but none
which they arrived. So I found an old flexible case for
here. The other tools I had here were a hodge-podge of
glasses and slipped the dividers in. Then I put the glasses
makeshift tools stuffed in a Target bag. I happened to
case in the tote. This gave the tote another layer of
mention my plight while at ASA, and they offered me a
protection from the points on the dividers.
four-piece navigation set from Weems and Plath configured
for ASA. The only hook was that I had to write a review of it
My CON instructor did not ban the Weems Parallel Plotters,
for the American Sailing Journal. A new parallel alone at
but he recommended another tool, the Weems Zweng
the store will be 20 bucks … so I took the deal. Included
Course Protractor. In his 32 years of navigation experience
with the kit was a canvas packet, the Weems and Plath
he had evaluated most of the tools on the market. The
NaviTote (#325 retails for $24.99), the Weems Parallel
class members used every kind of plotter offered by Weems
Plotter (#120 retails for $19.94), an Ultralight
and Plath. (But we also gave the protractor a test.) Two
Dividers/Compass (#176, retails for $18.89), and a
students used parallel rulers. Four folks trained on the
Nautical Slide Rule (#105 retails for $17.84).
protractor. The remaining three used plotters. I used both
the parallel plotter and the protractor. A navigator using
I proceeded to my CON class with the NaviTote and tools.
plotters is like a carpenter using a ruler – measure at least
So these were the test conditions: use the NaviTote and the
twice before cutting. One comment, the protractor is a little
tools to complete the 12-hour Coastal Navigation Class
long for the folded tote. And the protractor is made of clear
offered in four three-hour sessions over two weeks, 100
plastic. I’m experimenting with using a red sock over the
miles from my home in California. Will the NaviTote
protractor in the tote; this will, maybe, remind me that the
withstand 800 miles of LA freeways? Will the parallel
protractor is in the tote. If I am successful with this
survive the bounce from the seat to the floor of the VW van?
experiment, I’ll take out a patent for the use of all those
Can I use the Nautical Slide Rule to determine the time it
stray socks in sock drawers across the nation …
takes to drive the freeways in the commuter periods?
The NaviTote survived the freeway CON class test. Each
The NaviTote is 22 inches wide and 27 long when
of the tools performed to their specifications. The next
unfolded. The top flips down to make it 13.5 inches long.
major test will be a trans-Pacific in mid October followed
Then the side can be folded over in two ways: into thirds or
by experiments on Japanese charts of the Inland Sea. I
in half. If you fold into thirds, the final tote will be seven
expect no deviation or variation errors.
inches wide by 14 inches long by three inches thick with
minimal equipment. If you fold it in half, it will be 10.5
Bill is an ASA BKBI instructor and an owner of Bill’s Little
wide by 14 long and about two inches thick.
Informal Sailboat School in Japan.
R
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