Last week, the U.S. Coast Guard, part of the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Transportation, posted a notice in the Federal Register requesting public comments on whether or not GPS renders LORAN-C obsolete. Most boaters use GPS but some older vessels still depend on LORAN-C. Comments are due Feb 7. Comments

should be identified by Coast Guard docket number USCG-2006-24685 and sent to the Docket Management Facility of the U.S. Department of Transporation by mail to 400 Seventh St., SW., Washington, D.C. 20590-0001; by fax to (202) 493-2251; or by logging on to the web at http://dms.dot.gov.

My LORAN story: I didn't know what it was when I boarded the Crystal Star, a sixty foot boat which was my home for several week in Prince William Sound, Alaska in 1990. I did scientific work after the Exxon Valdez spill and we used LORAN quite a lot.

- Daily News (Jacksonville, NC)