G'day Craig, Glad you enjoyed the report. Our seasons do change the paddling activity slightly but it's usually good paddling weather all year round, which I suspect means that kayaks here may not be as well maintained on average as in the northern parts of the US, and Canada! Summertime tends to bring warm northerly winds and the occasional cold fierce southerly buster, meaning there's more focus on in water skills, rescues and protracted rolling sessions. Autumn is perfect for trips in New South Wales with the water at its warmest. Winter more consistently brings cold southerlies and endurance training with rolls for those that can endure the harsh 16 degree Celsius water! (OK so we can't imagine what harsh really is:~) Some head north to Queensland though pity them this year as it's done nothing but rain up there. At the start of spring the 110km Hawkesbury Classic makes an ideal endurance training goal, after which some of us go crazy again for in-water training. And when it rains we might repair the boats and their gear. We had a drought for about ten years and now we're experiencing floods everywhere and my boats and gear are starting to look quite respectable again! The trip last week took us into unexplored territory and some significant open crossings so we decided to learn how to use GPS to supplement our meagre knowledge. It led me to a question concerning the marine definitions and usage of the terms 'heading' and 'course'. The following summarises my understanding of the definitions Heading - the direction the boat is pointing to Bearing - direction from the boat to a landmark, but GPS manufacturers often use bearing to mean the direction to a waypoint Course - the direction to a destination Track - the path taken to a destination Heading, bearing and course can each be qualified as either a compass (magnetic) or true heading, bearing or course. To deal with currents or tacking one can refer to either course through the water (doesn't compensate for current or tacking) or course over ground (the average direction in which the boat moves after allowing for currents and tacking) However, I've started to wonder whether my understanding of heading is correct particularly in the case of ferry gliding. In this case is the heading the direction in which the kayak is pointing or the direction in which it is moving? I'd be very glad of any corrections and explanations. All the best, PeterO *************************************************************************** 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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