Abstract: A marine vessel control system comprises a propulsion unit and a steering actuator for steering the propulsion unit. There is a shift actuator for shifting gears in the propulsion unit and a throttle actuator for increasing or decreasing throttle to the propulsion unit. There is an input device for providing user inputted steering commands to the steering actuator and for providing user inputted shift and throttle commands to the shift actuator and the throttle actuator. There is a sensor for detecting a global position and a heading direction of the marine vessel. A controller receives position and heading values of the marine vessel from the sensor. The controller compares the received position value to a pre-programmed position value to determine a position error difference. The controller also compares the received heading value to a pre-programmed heading value to determine a heading error difference.