Took the opportunity to trial Steve’s handheld GPS, a Garmin eTrex personal navigator designed for hikers. Unlike the typical “street-use” models, this unit records and creates routes based on co-ordinates without an underlying streetscape layer, which makes it ideal for marine use. I was particularly interested in its speed function and was quite surprised to see the great variation in the rate of knots that Lara travelled through the water.
Travelling at least around 4 knots in the video below, however on reflection this would mostly have been current assisted, as the tide was about an hour or two past flood and would be flowing northwards as it ebbed. The little Garmin is certainly a useful navigation tool for tracking to places in the Bay, particularly as there is a growing trend to map points of interest as GPS co-ordinates. It is also one of the cheapest units available at around $120.
Have also used some of the past “off water” time to modify Lara’s pushpit railing, replacing the top rail over the transom with a raised version. The plan is to permanently mount the solar panel there. An additional, not unexpected benefit of the modification is that boat entry and exit via the transom ladder is much easier as one doesn’t have to lift a leg over a rail, rather one can basically step in over the top of the outboard. I am quite pleased with the result, the welding is clean and tidy and the whole unit looks neat and professionally constructed.
