Re: [Paddlewise] GPS, charts, headlamps

Like Shawn, I won't paddle a new place without a chart.  And, I almost never
paddle familiar home waters without one.  I own a GPS (gift from my son).  I
do not use it on every trip.

But, despite my Luddite ways, my GPS is an important ingredient on days when
visibility may become limited.  On the Columbia, during times of heavy
current, there are strainers from hell (aka wing dams; aka pile dikes) placed
across the current by the US Army Corps of Engineers, designed to hold sand
and confine the bulk of the current to a navigable channel.  (They do not
work very well;  that's another story.)

These pile dikes are often 300 - 400 meters long, and allow about 80% of the
current through, but the piles are spaced too closely to allow a kayak
through, although a swimmer would make it, most likely.  They are nasty to
come on unexpectedly.

When I paddle sections of the Columbia where these monsters reside, I
waypoint the outward ends of each one I may cross, so that the GPS will tell
me whether my course made good will actually allow me to clear the outward
ends.  Because these things are frequently in parts of the river with poor or
indistinct landmarks behind the dikes, ranging will not tell me if I'll make
it.  Pre-GPS, I had a couple close calls.

Twice since acquiring it, the GPS has saved my bacon from these monsters.  It
allowed me to do paddle trips safely in places on the river where I could not
have done so without.  Paddling a 4.0 - 5.0 knot craft across a 4.0 knot
current makes these dikes dicey!

BTW, laminated charts sink.  Don't ask me how I know this.

--
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Shawn Baker" <shawnkayak_at_yahoo.com>

> I love compasses and charts, too.  I love my dog-eared copy of
> 'Fundamentals of Kayak Navigation'.  It's been a year...I need to
> re-read it.  I love gadgets, but I just haven't gotten that excited
> about GPS.  I think it would be a cool (and cheaper) alternative to a
> knotmeter, especially for flatwater forward stroke training.  I guess I
> haven't needed a device to tell me where I am, when I usually know
> where I am.  I think they'd have a great use for big, open water
> crossings (especially like the Channel Island crossings Duane did),
> where lines of position could be sketchy, and you've paddled a bearing
> long enough that your DR gets questionable.

> I like Rob's laminated chart idea.  I had the pleasure of a night
> paddle with him on his home turf, and he had an extra laminated map of
> the Tacoma Narrows for me to borrow.  (Well, along with his wife's
> kayak, skirt, PFD, and a paddle!)  Color copying is getting affordable,
> and charts aren't getting any cheaper, so no reason not to.
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