Hello, I've been lurking for about a month. I'm new to sea kayaking, although not to paddling. I have a new VCP Avocet which I purchased from Larry Koenig about 2 months ago. Great guy! I have introduced him to some people who are going to provide him and Arthur with additional support for their great adventure around the Gulf of Mexico. I am totally hooked on sea kayaking. I also enjoy lightweight backpacking. (I love golf, too, but I find that now I am paddling on what used to be golf days.) One by one, I am working through my kayak-related gear questions. The recent series on GPS storage has me wondering about GPS choices. I do plan to do some solo trips and its easy to get lost in the swamps and marshes of coastal Louisiana. However, I am not a wealthy person. I am about average when it comes to affinity for gadgets. Those of you who use GPS units, which ones do you use? On the paddling.net board a number of folks liked the Garmin Etrex. I would like some opinions and feedback, please. Thanks! Marsanne *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Marsanne, Thanks for your note! I hope I gave you some worthwhile information. Speaking of GPS units... Just a quick slice of humor for you. I recall my first two-day camping trip with my Vista... on the mid-coast of Maine, off Stonington. I was out with two friends on a camping trip, and we were paddling amidst some islands. I understood that to set the electronic compass on land I had to turn slowly twice while the unit oriented itself, before it gave accurate readings. So said the directions that came with the Vista. Well, I was in my cockpit, and I placed the unit down on my spray skirt, then extended my paddle and swept the boat (an 18 foot Necky) around twice, 720 degrees. Anyway, after SEVERAL attempts I became frustrated because my unit screen kept giving me messages that I was turning too slowly for the compass in the unit to orient itself. Did I even once think that all I had to do was turn the unit slowly 360 degrees (twice) in my hands? Nooo! Here I was, thirty yards from a shoreline upon which sat a wildlife photographer and a friend. My paddling buddies were within shouting (and viewing) distance. Their site was a crazy kayaker, insanely spinning his boat around in circles! How many dumb blond and ethnic jokes have I chuckled over these past many years? Tom PS. I will post this reply to Paddlewise also, in case there are a few out there who will appreciate my embarrassing incident. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Marsanne, Everybody will cast their vote for various GPS units. Most folks love their own units best, but truth be known, most units today are all marvels of technology and plenty useable. I've only owned two: a Garmin Etrex Vista and a Magellan Meridian (Marine). I like the Magellan... mostly due to its size. It can easily be held in the hand, yet is large enough for easy front button use, and has a large, readable screen. It floats, is immersion proof, has unlimited map storage capacity (due to interchangeable memory sticks), is white and blue (for easy visibility while floating). It is not the least expensive, but under $400 when software and memory purchased with it. Try amazon.com or EBay or GPSDiscount.com The Vista is smaller (some consider that a plus), has a higher resolution (but much smaller) screen, and is about the same price as the Magellan. High quality unit! I would love to try the Garmin GPSMap 76s. It has the larger, but higher-resolution screen, same size as Magellan Marine, plenty of storage (24MB). It is a more expensive unit though. Your best bet is to read the endless debates at the following web address: http://opentopic.groundspeak.com/0/OpenTopic?a=cfrm&s=1750973553 This is Groundspeak, a web forum for Geocaching... and these folks are HEAVY into their GPS unit debates! Tom At 08:46 AM 12/27/2002 -0600, firefly wrote: >The recent series on GPS storage has me >wondering about GPS choices. I do plan to do some solo trips and its easy to >get lost in the swamps and marshes of coastal Louisiana. However, I am not a >wealthy person. I am about average when it comes to affinity for gadgets. >Those of you who use GPS units, which ones do you use? On the paddling.net >board a number of folks liked the Garmin Etrex. I would like some opinions and >feedback, please. Thanks! Marsanne *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Group, This is the message I tried to send to the group earlier: I went ahead and got the Garmin eTrex Legend, and I moved quickly because Garmin is doing a $50 rebate program which ends after Tuesday. I went on a brief paddle in the Atchafalaya Basin (Louisiana) Sunday and was very impressed. I acted quite silly with it, actually, but I am not quite ready to publicly embarass myself here. OK, I will tell you ONE goofy thing I did. I got in some calm water and whirled my boat around in a circle while staring down at the thing in various settings. I was delighted to see that it noticed that I paddled back on the opposite side of the bayou. I also made long zig zags across the bayou and it got those, too! We have a few sea kayaks down here. Hunters and fishers in "the basin" are accustomed to seeing canoes, and lots of us who have been using canoes are switching to sea kayaks. The power boat folks were very nice, I am delighted to say. Every single one of them slowed down to no-wake (which was not necessary). I have a VCP Avocet, a fine sea kayak. They stopped, chatted, made nice comments about the boat. It was only my second trip out in this boat alone, as opposed to with buddies from my paddling club, so it is good to know there are so many friendly people on the water in case I ever need any help. Marsanne *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Tom, et al. A word on the Garmin GPSMAP 76s.... It's awesome, waterproof/floats, and get this, you can get it at FOGDOG.COM for 25% off using coupon code (FOGSALE).. I just bought one for $267.30,(Retail is $450.00) which may seem like alot, except the screen is large, highly readable; the unit is compatible with Garmin's BlueChart basemaps.... this unit looks to me like "Best of Show" for nautical users...... See the Garmin link below for info on BlueChart mapping options: http://www.garmin.com/cartography/mapSource/bluechartCD.jsp hope this helps, Simeon On Sunday, December 29, 2002, at 05:53 AM, Tom LeTourneau wrote: > Marsanne, > > Everybody will cast their vote for various GPS units. Most folks love > their own units best, but truth be known, most units today are all > marvels of technology and plenty useable. On Sunday, December 29, 2002, at 05:53 AM, Tom LeTourneau wrote: > Marsanne, > > Everybody will cast their vote for various GPS units. Most folks love > their own units best, but truth be known, most units today are all > marvels of technology and plenty useable. > > I've only owned two: a Garmin Etrex Vista and a Magellan Meridian > (Marine). I like the Magellan... mostly due to its size. It can easily > be held in the hand, yet is large enough for easy front button use, > and has a large, readable screen. It floats, is immersion proof, has > unlimited map storage capacity (due to interchangeable memory sticks), > is white and blue (for easy visibility while floating). It is not the > least expensive, but under $400 when software and memory purchased > with it. Try amazon.com or EBay or GPSDiscount.com > > The Vista is smaller (some consider that a plus), has a higher > resolution (but much smaller) screen, and is about the same price as > the Magellan. High quality unit! > > I would love to try the Garmin GPSMap 76s. It has the larger, but > higher-resolution screen, same size as Magellan Marine, plenty of > storage (24MB). It is a more expensive unit though. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
"Simeon E. Tauber" <simeon_at_simplymacintosh.com> Sent by: owner-paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net 01/12/2003 08:57 PM PST To: Tom LeTourneau <tletourn_at_maine.rr.com> cc: paddleWise_at_paddlewise.net bcc: Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Introduction&GPSChoice? Tom, et al. A word on the Garmin GPSMAP 76s.... It's awesome, waterproof/floats, and get this, you can get it at FOGDOG.COM for 25% off using coupon code (FOGSALE).. I just bought one for $267.30,(Retail is $450.00) which may seem like alot, except the screen is large, highly readable; the unit is compatible with Garmin's BlueChart basemaps.... Simeon, you should have posted that info earlier. I thought, I got the Garmin gps map 76s for a good price: 370$ Where are you buying the map source CD's? Heike *************************************************************************** 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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