I'm sitting in the living room by the fireplace listening to XM satellite radio on a new toy I bought from a nearly defunct CompUSA store in Spokane. I've been complaining about the lack of blues and jazz in central Washington for a long time and finally gave up all hope that the local (in Pullman, WA) NPR station will change (one - count 'em - one day of jazz/blues/folk per week from a menu of all classical and all news) so I'm defecting. So now I can type this to the dulcet baritone of Bing Crosby on the 40s channel. What, you may ask, does all this have to do with paddling? Well, I'm glad you asked. The plethora of electronic devices has made life for some of us more complicated than it has to be. I'm a computer network engineer and have looked at paddling as a getaway from technical work. Fat chance! Nowadays you'd have to be a virtual Luddite to escape electronics and paddling. The new GPS units are small, waterproof (mostly), and relatively cheap so not using one - or at least having one resting below your spray skirt - is harder than ever to justify from a safety standpoint. Then there is the VHF radio, the iPod, binoculars with bearing compasses built-in, kayak-friendly depth sounders... the list can go on, I guess. Now I see that there are GPS chart plotters from Garmin (and others) that feature weather information from the people who are bringing me the sounds of Count Basie right now. XM radio (amongst a few others) has a list of weather products (see . http://www.xmradio.com/weather/learn_about.xmc#proddefs for a pictorial presentation of them) that can be purchased on a monthly basis. The most basic package costs $9.95 with the most feature-rich package (the "Master Mariner") costing $50 (all with a $50 set up fee which can probably be elminated with some vendors). For a mere $6.99 additional you can also get XM radio over your chart plotter. Now, I admit that, unless you own or are building a muth.... er, mothership this all might be an interesting but useless posting. But given the way electronics gadgets add features iwhile reducing size you might find similar packages available on your handheld GPS units within the next few years. The only question is whether you paddle - or plan to paddle - in an area where you might want to have a timely bit of warning of nasty weather. Right now weather coverage extends only to the USA, Canada and Puerto Rico waters but I suspect that there might be some extended coverage into Mexico. Plus there are hurricane tracks. For the land-bound paddler there are GPS units for your car that feature XM weather warnings of tornadoes, blizzards, heavy rainfall, etc. Sometimes it's better to just zig away from bad weather even on land. And it looks like there are weather packages for aviators too. I'm neither a Luddite nor am I obsessed by the newest and best gizmo but I must admit that having nice music (Norah Jones is on now) will be a nice advantage whether I'm in the cabin of the mutha-ship or reading a book in a tent on the beach. But since I will almost certainly get a chart plotter of some sort in the future, the idea of adding weather information is intriguing even if the price seems kinda high. There are rumors that you can easily upgrade from a basic package to a more feature-rich package for an upcoming voyage and then downgrade again after the trip is over but I can't substantiate that. At any rate, it's interesting; I wonder where this is all headed. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to set my XM device to record the Harry Nile program, created by Jim French of Seattle and featuring a hard-luck private eye. I remember listening to Harry Nile on the radio while painting a 35 foot sloop ("Hedonic") in the 70s. This should be fun! Then I'll go to bed and listen in the car tomorrow. Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA *************************************************************************** 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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