First waypoint of new route

I think what you're saying is that after creating a course on the watch it always displays a direct line between the points regardless of whether you choose 'Use Map' or 'Follow Course' in the Routing->Courses setting for the current activity.  I noticed this as well and posted a forum topic about it, but it seems that if your setting is 'Use Map' then the watch will actually navigate using the roads, trails, etc., on the map once you start the activity.  Here's the post I created:  

https://forums.garmin.com/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation/f/fenix-5-plus-series/174400/issue-with-adding-new-course-from-watch

I did log this as a bug with the Beta Team as I first noticed this while testing 8.71.  Before embarking on a course it's kind of important to be able to preview the thing to ensure it's correct.  

This is a great feature for making your own courses and routes on the fly..especially if you have many poi's like I do..and I like that we can use map points.. without the need for poi's..but as you say... we should have a real preview  before we embark on a journey.. like a sat nav.... just like we do when we view a course we've created in GC..  using the other navigational features of the watch....

As you mentioned .. we have to start the activity (use map routing) to see our real course....not just the point to point straight lines we get in the offered preview..... (which is actually better than other navigation previews on the watch...when we just get the destination.) 

Thanks for noticing and reporting a missing feature, that could be there. : - ) 

Lets say I am on location (A) on the beach and my first waypoint (B) is 10 miles out to the right and my endpoint (C) is 20 miles further. When make a new course do I put B as my first waypoint or my current location (A) ?

As I understand you, you want to travel loosely along a chain of waypoints, but probably not want to stay on a straight line between them. Am I right?

If I am right, then you will probably never get it working to your satisfaction anyway. The watch has a bug, which goes all the way back to the Fenix 3. I have reported it to the beta team for both watches, but they have never responded and probably do not agree that it is a bug.

Here is what will happen if you stay strictly on the programmed course all the way, without ever deviating more than 30-40 meter from the course:

• The Heading Bug (the small red triangle at the perimeter of the screen) will all the time show you the direction to your next waypoint. When you reach a waypoint, it will switch to showing the direction to the next waypoint.
  
  
• The Next Waypoint data field will show you the name of your next waypoint. When you reach a waypoint, it will switch to the next waypoint.
  
  
• The Distance to Next data field will show you the distance to your next waypoint. When you reach a waypoint, it will switch to the next waypoint.
  
  
• The Bearing data field (I think) will show you the bearing to your next waypoint. When you reach a waypoint, it will switch to the next waypoint.
  
  
• Until you have reached your first waypoint, all of the above will show you the information for your first waypoint. This means that the first waypoint doesn't have to be your starting point. So this is the answer for your question from your first post.

All of this is very good, and I was ecstatic when I discovered that it was possible. However, I soon found it that it is unusable on the water, because:

As soon as you deviate more than those earlier mentioned 30-40 meters from the straight line between two waypoints, most of this functionality goes out the window:

• The heading bug will still work. And it will actually be quite intelligent and switch to the next waypoint on the course when it discovers that you have chosen an alternative route, where you skipped one or more waypoints. So the watch definitely still has an opinion on where you are on the course, and which next waypoint you will be aiming for.
  
  
• The other fields, however, will just freeze with the information they had when you left the course. So if you were 1.2 km from the next waypoint, and you deviated 50 meter from the straight line, the Distance to Next will stay at 1.2 km more or less for ever. Getting back on the straight line is not always enough to wake it up again. Reaching the next waypoint is not always enough to wake it up again. At some point the watch may decide that you are back on course, and then it will again start updating those fields. But this can sometimes be several waypoints later.
  
  

In my mind, this is a clear bug. The watch clearly know where I am, relative to the next waypoint. Otherwise the Heading Bug would stop working. So the watch is also able to put usable information into the other fields if it wants to.

And even if I go with the "when you have left the course, you can't expect the watch to know what to do" line of thought, the behaviour should be different. If the watch decides that it is unable to show usable information, it should show "--" or something similar. It should not show that I still have 1.2 km to the next waypoint when I am standing right on top of it.


Kind of ironic, by the way, that the Heading Bug is the only part of this, which doesn't have the bug...