The sky is not falling...

There has been a lot of talk and panic about the fact that a lot of the GPS satellites are reaching their "sell-by" date...

Me? I'm not worried as I have a sextant, reduction tables, a watch and know how to use them. Plus I am not worried as the GPS system failing would cause a lot of big business types to lose money and the folks in Government would not let that happen. They would however let it happen to hapless sailors who need to know where they are but lucky for us the Exec's bonuses at Garmin and suchlike is important so we will continue to have GPS.

That said, I have no plans to sell off my sextant anytime soon because one thing you can never underestimate about folks in Government is their ability to screw things up. And, since the current crop of public officials have not made me think they are any more able to organize a "piss-up at a brewery" then the last crop, it just might be a good time to buy a cheap plastic sextant and actually learn how to use it! Hey, it's not rocket science...