[Rhodes22-list] Rhodes 22 does 17.6kts !!!

[Alan Robertson]

A GPS can't substitute for local knowledge nor if is configured primarily for land use has limitations for marine. Can a GPS account for tidal currents or leeward drift on a beat? Please enlighten we old chart and parallel rulers users!!
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: John Lock<mailto:jlock at relevantarts.com> 
  To: rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org<mailto:rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org> 
  Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2007 2:53 PM
  Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Rhodes 22 does 17.6kts !!!


  Now that I have your attention...  that's what my GPS reported on 
  Saturday afternoon.  We were sailing in light wind, but the GPS was 
  reporting speeds all over the place - sometimes 1.5, then 6.4, then 
  3.5, then 0... all within a matter of seconds.  Clearly this was not 
  trustworthy.

  I turned the GPS off and back on again, figuring I'd unscramble its 
  brains that way.  No good, still got wacky speeds reported, even 
  though our progress was pretty steady and I'd guess around 2.5kts.

  So... we decided to go visit a friend on the lake and called him up 
  to see if he's home. "Sure, come on over!", he says, " but my 
  satellite service is down, so no TV".  Aha!  Now the pieces come 
  together - solar activity must be mucking with the satellites.  It 
  was a good lesson on the limitations of electronic  gear.  I wasn't 
  tracking position, so I can't tell if that was whacked too, but I'm 
  guessing you couldn't trust it either based on the confused speed 
  reports I got.

  Don't throw away your paper charts just yet ;-)

  Cheers!

  John Lock
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  s/v Pandion - '79 Rhodes 22
  Lake Sinclair, GA
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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