I'm a confirmed gadget weenie and GPS user (I fall firmly into the twelve-channel camp by the way: I've actually had the experience of having a cheaper unit refuse to lock on in fog, the one time I really wanted it. Fortunately I had a compass course plotted. As others have written, don't let any one gadget be the only card up your sleeve.) Anyway, it seems a lot of the time in fog you're just as concerned about not being where you shouldn't (reefs, boomers, etc.) as being where you should. Which reminded me of an experience my father had while teaching the use of radar to local fisherman in the Maritimes about a quarter-century ago. Bear in mind these were hardy local types, some of whom had literally been born at sea in their home waters. At the time, radar was still pretty expensive, and beyond the reach of many of these folks, who were earning a hand-to-mouth living. Most of them were attended these winter classes solely because it was requirement to continue receiving unemployment benefits. Anyway, there's my dad, a British-trained merchant marine officer, talking solemnly in his clipped tones about the importance of radar in fog. A rough voice from the back of the class scoffs: "Hell, we don't need any of that fancy modern crap - when it gets foggy, we just navigate by potato." My father, not yet alert to the wily locals, bites "Navigate by potato? How do you do that?" "Ah it's simple, boyz, you just gets a big barrel of potatoes beside you next to the wheel. When the fog comes down, you just pitch one over the bow about every thirty seconds or so, and listen for the splash. And if you don't hear a splash, by Jeez, YOU TURN!" The Global Potato System? I suppose Canadian Ballast Rocks™ would work just as well. Cheers Philip T. **************************************** Mountain Equipment Co-op 1655 West 3rd Avenue, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6J 1K1 Tel: 640-732-1989 Fax: 604-731-6483 email: pid_at_mec.ca Visit our website at: http://www.mec.ca ***************************************** *************************************************************************** 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 Mon Dec 14 1998 - 14:31:46 PST
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