James, I'm new here to this list and I live in Houston, but I use my GPS for kayaking, trail running, and road travel. It will do exactly what you are asking down to as close as about 15 feet of accuracy. I have a Garmin Etrex it's yellow and about the size of 2 snickers bars side by side. It is water resistant (ie: I have had it under about 3 feet of water max for several minutes and it still workes fine. cost is about $110 at Acadamy or you can find them online. Also you need a PC cable ~$45 (I recomend the PC/cigerette lighter cable so you can use it for both communicating with your PC and as a power cord in your car. ) and you will need mapping software ~$75 if you want to upload/download waypoints and routes to your GPS. I use Garmins US Roads and recreation CD, but Delorem sells a cd that is cheaper and others I know like it. And it has a backlight which has come in handy for a kayak race I did at night. You can skip the pc cable and mapping software if you just want to know where you started, what route you have taken so far (and follow it back exactly) distance traveled, max speed, elevation, how to get back to your start, or repeat a previously traveled track (a route taken previously that you saved in your gps for later use). But I highly recomend the pc cable and software. You can pull up the river on the mapping software, find areas you might like to stop or visit, make waypoint marks or create a route to follow and download to your GPS. Actual roads and rivers won't be downloaded to your gps like a map, but the points and routes you definied will be. There are more expensive (mappable) GPS systems that can download actual road maps. Then you can go home after your travels, upload your saved tracts from the gps to the pc, and save it for future reference or download. You can even copy and paste the map with your tracts and waypoints and paste into a graphics program so you can share it with others on a web page or such. The only thing I could think of being bad for your situation is if you have the gps tucked in a dry bag or out of view of the sky, you might not get a satelite signal. I mounted mine on the deck of my kayak and I've never had a problem. But even in your dry bag, pull it out turn it on, and if you marked your starting point it will tell you the distance and most direct way (as a crow flies) to your destination. Roy =:-) on on!! > -----Original Message----- > From: James S Smith [SMTP:jssmith_at_link.com] > Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2001 10:06 AM > To: (E-mail), paddlewise > Subject: [Paddlewise] GPS > > Being relatively new to kayaking, I am constantly learning new tricks > and getting advice from more experienced kayakers ( the few I have found > in the DFW, TX area). Having just recently stumbled across your list, I > thought I would get some advice on GPS systems. I kayak down the Laguna > Madre and want to make a two week trip in July. My problem: I have a > hard time estimating where I am and distance to finish/turnaround > point. I hear GPS is good and bad for this. Anyone have advice on > economical "working" unit that might give me a clue? > > Thanks! > > James *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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