GPS .. Lesson Two ... Follow it home

[Pilar]

Pilar
Ifish Forum Guide
Member # 270

posted 03-28-2002 10:17 AM
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OK, so did you get your GPS going? Did you figure out how to save a waypoint?

Today lets do a little more general talking about what you can do with the GPS.

You can save and retrieve Waypoints. You can type in coordinates your friend gave you and save them as waypoints. You can retreive a waypoint and use the steer screen to drive to the waypoint.You can also string these points together into a route.

Saving a Waypoint - Look in your documentation for the button to press for saving your current location. This is the most common way to save waypoints. You find a reef or interesting place and want to return at a later time. Press the button and the box will report to you that the point is saved. Job is done, right?

No! you must name the point and save the name. You might save 20 waypoints in a day of fishing. How are you going to remember which one is which later? Use a short tag of some kind like bassreef or anchorhere. Just something to jog your memory later.

Logbook - A bound paper book for writing your waypoints in. I use Excel and have made a spreadsheet for my waypoints. This is printed out and then I have a paper copy. I often carry this with me in the boat. The list is at over 500 now.

So you write it down when you get home and maybe a little description so that next summer the entry will mean something to you. With the Excel spreadsheet I also use a three letter code for each place I launched the boat when I got the waypoint. This makes it easy to sort the list and pick out just the points for say Newport, YAQ or The lower Columbia River and bar, CRB for a days fishing or boating.

Your box may take a vacation at any moment and the points you so carefully saved will be gone forever if you do not keep a logbook. I cannot overemphasize this point.

Lets try a navigation exercise. Use the HOME point you saved yesterday and go a few blocks from home if you have a handheld or save a point on the water and go a short distance 1/4 mile from it. Use the Waypoint menu on your GPS and select the HOME waypoint. On the Lowrance 350A like mine the softkeys give a choice called 'Go to waypoint'. If this key is pressed the GPS does several things. It chooses the HOME waypoint for a destination. It calculates the direction that must be traveled to reach HOME and it starts figuring time to go, distance to go and some other things.

The Steer screen pops up and the toy boat on the screen shows your location relative to your destination. The direction the toy boat is pointed is your orientation relative to your destination. So if the toy boat is pointing away from the top of the screen you must turn until it is pointing at it.

One thing to know is that at very low speeds the GPS may have a little trouble figuring out which way you are going and how long till you get there. The thing to do right away when you start out is to look at the heading you will take to get to your destination. This is one of the things shown on the steer screen display. Turn the boat to this heading and put on a little speed. The Steer screen will start to show you which way to turn and how far you have to go.

The first time you try this it is very confusing. So use your compass to keep the boat going in the right direction and watch the display. Soon you will figure out which way to turn to keep the boat lined up with the center line on the display and pointed at the destination. Oh and remember to look up and watch out where you are going!

This takes practice to get it figured out so keep trying until you get it. The GPS will alarm when you get within a few hundred feet of the spot. Cancel the route (look in the book for this) when you get there or the box will continue to track the spot.

Route - A series of plotted waypoints that lead to a destination. You can create a route to anywhere you want to go. An easy way to do this is to drive the route in good weather and save points along the way. This will allow you to run this route in fog if you get stranded or at night. It is a good idea to use radar as well in reduced visibility but most people do not have it. So without radar you have to go slow and listen for other boats.

To build a route while driving follow these easy steps and practice your compass skills too at the same time. The GPS will follow a route in a series of straight lines from point to point.

So lets make a route from one point to another on a big river like the Willamette. Your first waypoint should be in the deep water clear of obstructions near the boat ramp. Maybe within 100 yds of it so you could see it when returning in the fog. Lets use Cathedral park as an example. Drive out till you are clear of the dock and shipyard and save the first point in mid river. Label this one ST_J_RAMP. Using your compass drive down river in as straight a line as possible avoiding obstacles. Keep the compass steady on a heading and you will go in a straight line. You will have to turn eventually so pick a point away from the bank and obstacles and save your point. Pick a label 1ST_TURN for example. The drive in a straight line to the next point. 2ND_TURN and so on till you get to your destination.

Now for the fun part. Using your GPS book arrange the waypoints into a route. Enter the waypoint numbers in the order you recorded them and name the route. Most GPS will allow you to run the route forward or reverse and start at any point.

So return to the ramp using the route you just made in reverse. Be very careful to steer exactly on the course shown on the steer screen and in straight lines. Look at your wake and you can see if you are turning. Watch out as you go and make a note of any obstacles you approach closely. I try to make at least 100 feet of clearance from things I might not see in the fog that could break my boat. You may have to move a couple of your waypoints to make your route safe to use in low visibility situations.

Once I have run the route in both directions in good weather I will feel safer using it to return home or travel through fog.

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Next time we will talk about another way to find your way using maps and plotters. Many GPS have a plot function and most of the newer ones also have built in maps or bouys plotted for you.

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The bend is your friend!

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Posts: 1672 | From: Portland, Or., U.S.A | Registered: Aug 2000 | IP: Logged