Kayak and Bicycle Camping in the San Juan Islands

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• Don't just show up with your bicycle or kayak without knowing where to go or what to expect, if you do you may miss out on something and not even know it.
• San Juan area kayak launching and campsites with gps coordinates plus vehicle parking places  are just a click away.
• >>>     park your car and launch your kayak    <<< did you click?
•   >>>  Bike camping  <<<  Biker/hiker/vehicle friendly parks

park your car and launch your kayak     did you click?

GPS woes - what this skipper thinks he wants and reality

I mean inexpensive

     I need some help, (opportunity knocks) I know our last cruise had some gps problems but I don't remember the specifics. All I really remember was that I decided I should get a new gps because my old Magellan could not be trusted or was failing somehow. Being a frugal boater and not having unlimited resources makes it difficult to shell out $400+ for a hand held battery eating device I only use in the fog or to measure distance to my next anchorage. I stopped by a web site or fifty and came away more confused after reading reviews from techies, hunters, hikers, and arm chair skippers. I wish I could just rely on someone to tell me what to buy after hearing my list of wants.

1. it needs to be battery powered, aaa or aa with a 12V helm plug in
2. rugged enough to be dropped once in awhile (water resistant too)
3. day light visible display about 2.5" or bigger (ok a lot bigger)
4. on board chart for my area (duh) and not an extra $200 fee, and they must include Canada's Vancouver and Gulf islands.
5. it needs to display nav aids at a minimum, just like my chart
6. I want a speedometer and bearing readout
7. I want it to work inside the cabin, or at least by the windows
8. it needs to boot up in less than 5 minutes
9. I like my nav aids in color, especially the red ones, but not if it's too many $$$
10. I want to have local level streets shown for hikes
11. it should fit in my pocket
12. it should be dependable, and last, and last, and last

I'm sure I have other wants, I'll add later,
here is what does not matter to me (much) (maybe)

1. upgrade ability
2. connectivity to a laptop, or chart plotter
3. altimeter
4. emergency radio or locator beacon (if it costs boat dollars)
5. e-mail, forecasts or anything confusing that is more dollars
6. more memory for charts of other areas
7. phone numbers of business, etc if it's extra  $$
8. mfd, multifunction display or depth or radar, (just go away, your too wealthy for this blog)
9. floating is nice, so is waterproof but I can pass if more $$
10. Are we getting an idea that costs are paramount to me?

About gps and the San Juan trailer sailor.

In my opinion you can get by without a gps just like boaters have done for centuries, but it is a really handy piece of equipment, and fun to share info with others on board, and truly a marvelous aid in foggy conditions.  What you can not do without, is a chart, a compass, a depth sounder, pfd's and all the other Coast Guard required safety gear.

Okay, lest I have mislead someone, I believe you need a gps in the fog but you could simply stay in port or go another direction.  Boating blindly in fog with any current is a recipe for disaster.


I am adding to this post to tell you readers what I finally came up with.
Read about it by following this link >>  My new gps is awesome and very inexpensive