> Paddling hand-made, traditional wooden watercraft and navigating by
> satellite?? Call me a Luddite, but at least bring along a compass for
> posterity's sake. ;^)

I can't call you a Luddite, the Luddite doesn't have a phone.

Okay, so would you be happier using a piece of magnetie or lodestone (hand quarried by an aboringinal tribesman) and set afloat on a hand chipped piece of wood, which floated in a handthrown clay bowl filled with mineral spring water?

Sheesh, next you'll complain about magneized needles stuck in corks being too high tech.

Maybe Nick can write a few more chapters and turn out a sequel.

Seriously, though. I don't go on open water without a compass tied to me. I might fall out of the boat, but I won't lose that compass.

A deck mounted compass seems like a nice way to keep the boat aligned when on a course over a lake or ocean, but it seems to be just half the equipment.

Occasional position checks (whether at 15 min. intervals, or hourly) with even the cheapest GPS can give you data that enhances your piloting. I should think this kind of use would provide info on wind and current that would be necessary for determinig what course to paddle. seems like these things are mutually compatible, and equally compatible with charts. I expect that if the things are used sporadically the batteries last a lot longer than if they are kept on constantly. I can't say this for sure, as I don't own one yet. I'm looking to get one next summer, this is just what I've picked up from shopping for them. Please correct me if my views here are wrong, and I'll save the money for something else.

300 foot errors over an hour don't phase me. Since I'll get a new fix each time I check the GPS -- one which is not dependant on the previous one -- those 300 foot errors are not cummulative. If I paddle 18 miles in a day and get within 300 feet of the campsite, I expect I'll make it the rest of the way. Paul Jacobson