At 00:41 1/04/98 +1500, Wayne Langmaid wrote: >G'day Jim - > >You poor lost soul - the techno weeney gear bug has gotten you as well. <more aside at poor lost Jim Croft> >Since getting a GPS a few months ago I can't go anywhere without the >blasted thing - I have this desire to know exactly where I am at all >times - now this is not all that critical when you are standing out >front of the Australian Geographic shop at Erina Fair Shopping Center. >My batteries went flat and I had a near panic attack finding my way to >the nearest shop down the mall without my "guidance system". Wayne, I bought a GPS nearly two years ago. What a wonderful toy it is! The good news is that the novelty wears off, your sight clears, and you find that you know where you are even when the batteries are flat. The techno weeny gear bug is a short-term problem (it just recurrs too often!). I still practice using my GPS, on occasion, but find that the best toy is still the kayak. With bits of gear. Like a sail. And a sea anchor. And a foot pump (I fitted it a month ago and still push the pedal just for fun). And a towrope. And custom fitting. What a blast it is to play with these toys! If I were in your place, I would be concerned about the panic attack. These things need to be managed. Your diving experience should bear this out. I suggest that, for the time being, you carry a couple of fresh sets of batteries, a paper bag and your favourite stuffed animal (mine is a platypus). If you don't have a stuffed animal, then the Australian Geographic shop has an excellent selection from Jozzies Toys. You will probably find the waypoint for the shop in your GPS. If not, then just make a MOB waypoint at the last track record for that day. That should be close enough. (For those of you who are from outside Australia, have a look at http://www.ausgeo.com.au) There is some useful software out there, for typing in waypoints and plotting tracks: Waypoint+ by Brent Hildebrand at http://www.ks8n.org/~waypoint+ This is what I have settled on. If the GPS were a _truly_ useful tool for the sea-kayaker, I would _buy_ Fugawi or some similar software which supports scanned maps. Play, play, play, Andrew > >Do yourself a favor, forget the calculators - take your GPS, find your >nearest counsellor and stop the madness before it gets worse. > >Regards - > >Wayne Langmaid >Jim Croft wrote: > >> > Does anybody know of any online calculators for kayaking or >> sailing?? >> > I like to add the to the calculator.com directories. >> >> There is a thing called 'SpeedCoach' made by Nielsen Kellerman (a Yank >> > <snip> >> I have almost worked up the courage to buy one... but my 14 year old >> son will probably steal it on the grounds that he can paddle faster >> than me... >> >> -- jim *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Mar 31 1998 - 19:28:45 PST
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