Gadgets

A writer from the Boston Globe contacted me about what electronic gizmos I possess and ones that I absolutely must have.   I suppose this is something of a punchline to my book "The Lost Art of Finding Our Way."   It's true that I take delight in navigating using lower-tech means, but I don't do it to the detriment of safety.

On the other hand, over-reliance on electronic gadgets can create problems.   They can break.   People can get in over their heads in a situation, thinking that some device will be a ticket to safety.   In reality, this attitude doesn't always work.   It can put searchers in jeopardy.   A person has to be ready to ride out a storm or conditions for some time until rescuers can get to them.   There is a judicious use of gadgets, in my mind, and should not be used as a crutch.

Some items from the Marshall Islands trip: from left - waterproof wrist GPS,  Brunton weather station, backpackers compass. 

Having said all that, here is a list of electronic devices I have used and why.

1.) Portable VHF transceiver - I take this along for kayak trips.   If I or someone in my group gets into serious trouble, I can radio out a distress call.  This has never happened to me, but I've known people who have made distress calls.   I also carry flares, so that a rescue vessel can spot me once they get close.   Kayaks are notoriously difficult to spot visually and on radar. 

Two more common uses for VHF transceivers are for weather and safety.   About once an hour, I'll check on the NOAA weather forecast.  Even though I pride myself on being able to forecast the weather, there can be swift changes in conditions that are good to know about.   Once a sudden pick-up in wind speed to a near gale condition came in and it was helpful to know that so I could plan.

For safety, if I'm crossing a channel with a lot of boat traffic, I'll issue a securite' call to alert vessels in the channel that I'm crossing.   Also, if I get fogged-in in a place where there's a lot of boat traffic, I'll give a securite' call to alert them to my presence.  Normally I avoid areas where there's a lot of boat traffic and it's foggy, but one can't always plan on that for long trips. 

2.) Portable weather station  This is available from Brunton.  It has an anemometer, barometer, and thermometer.   I love to predict weather using natural signs, but the barometer in particular can be helpful to catch an incoming storm.   The anemometer was useful on my trip to the Marshall Islands.  I used it to figure out the performance capabilities of the outrigger canoe the Jitdam Kapeel.   I took wind speed/direction readings every hour during our trip between Majuro and Aur.   Later, I was able to use the data to back out the true wind from apparent using the heading and speed of the Jitdam Kapeel.   As a nice by-product, I was also able to calculate the set and drift of the current.    Note that in earlier measurements of vessel capabilities, like Ben Finney's work with the replica canoe the Nalehia, people had to estimate the wind.

Performance curve of the Jitdam Kapeel compared with Ben Finney's measurements of the Nalehia's capabilities.  

3.) GPS receiver For the trip to the Marshall Islands, I used a waterproof Garmin GPS receiver that slips around the wrist.   Even though we were navigating using indigenous techniques, I had to act as the expedition's documentarian.   Every hour, along with wind, heading, and speed information, I also logged latitude and longitude.   This presented an interesting mental challenge for me.   Alson Kelen, the leader of the expedition was going solely on things he experienced - i.e. no electronics.   On the other hand, I was trying to sample the Marshallese ways of navigating, but simultaneously keeping track of where we were.    Try as I might to ignore the latitude and longitude readings and treat them as 'just numbers' - I already knew where many of the nearby atolls were located in terms of their latitude and longitude - thus when I was getting readings of 170 degrees east, I knew we were drifting west of a line connecting Aur to Majuro.   

4.) Satellite phone This was specific to the Marshall Islands, but also relevant for people taking extended trips to remote locations, like climbing mountains.    I got in touch with the District 14 Coast Guard office in Honolulu and asked them about safety on the trip.   It takes a C130 five hours to make the one-way trip from Honolulu to the Marshall Islands.   If a person went overboard or got into trouble, I realized that a call to the Coast Guard probably wouldn't be of much help - spotting a speck in the vast ocean would be impossible.   The main go-to was to rely on the chase boat.   So, the plan was to have a personal locator beacon (see below) and have the satellite phone on board the chase vessel to coordinate a rescue of someone went overboard. 

5.) Personal locator beacon or PLB.   This is a device that, when activated, finds the latitude and longitude of its owner and then beams a distress signal up to satellites.   An office in Maryland (or elsewhere, depending on the device) is contacted.   The office has phone numbers for emergency contacts, and then the emergency contacts are phoned up with the latitude and longitude of the person who is missing.   

The "plan" for a man-overboard situation in the Marshalls was for a person on the outrigger to have a PLB.   If they went over, they would activate the signal.   My wife would get the phone call, and then call up the satellite phone on the chase vessel, relaying the latitude and longitude coordinates of the lost person, and then the chase vessel would try to hunt down the lost person.   I carried dye to mark my location during the daytime and flares for nighttime.   

6.) SPOT  This gadget routinely gets GPS signals can can broadcast out a "I'm here" signal that goes to any e-mails the person chooses.   It also has an "SOS" button in case the person gets into trouble.  I have one of these, but don't use it too much. 

All-in-all, if I'm going backpacking, I'll only carry a standard compass and probably an iPhone and that's about it.   If I go out kayaking, I'll carry my VHF.   I probably *should* bring a GPS while kayaking, but rarely will do that.   If I'm doing something like the Marshall Islands trip again, I'll bring the whole kit.