Re: [Paddlewise] GPS-Not

I'm enjoying this thread.  Many thoughtful contributions.  I am a late
convert to GPS use, partly due to Luddite tendencies, partly because I am
near-obsessed with "knowing where I am," from too many years wandering in the
mountains ... and those tendencies moved over onto the water intact.

Like Duane, I enjoy the process of traditional navigation, and have been in
some interesting pickles when my process needed a re-tooling [grin]!

But, missing the view is the main reason my GPS is on deck but unconsulted
most of the time.  I watched a guy in the Broken Group steam back to camp,
counting down the metres to his camp, eyes glued to his screen, and wondered
why he came out to that beautiful place.  He could get the countdown
experience in his driveway, if he wanted.

I use mine to nail down the odd waypoint when I find something interesting,
to look at my track when I return out of plain curiosity, and store waypoints
for hazards ahead of time.  The last saved my bacon once, making my GPS worth
the hassle.

I have a friend who is completely chart challenged, and this guy would not
have made it back on a couple loop trips he did solo except for the GPS.
Dead batteries for him would be a disaster.

--
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR
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