BilgeRat
Elio Addict
GPS has been a positive for me, especially for work. Working on the Mississippi River system, we can do crew changes in some of the gawdaufulest places. Once, in the early 2000's, we got hopelessly lost looking for a place on the Mississippi in Arkansas. Took us close to three hours to find it, and the "getting lost" bit really stuck in my craw.
A few months later, my wife gave me a Garmin eTrex for my birthday, and the penny dropped. With a bit of help from the pilot on the boat I was on at the time, I started compiling a database in Excel of the places we changed at along the Lower Mississippi, the Upper Mississippi from Cairo to Grafton, IL, the lower end of the Ohio, and the Illinois River.
Much easier! Simply enter the coords, and go. Where we encountered mapping errors (boat ramp on a nonexistent road, etc.), we would just waypoint a bit farther out. Now the places that you might not see for three years are not a problem, and you only get lost if you don't use the GPS! (Which still happens!)
If you care to look in Google Maps, here's the one that got this started. It's called Fair Landing, and it truly is the back of beyond. N34.25813 W90.83869
A few months later, my wife gave me a Garmin eTrex for my birthday, and the penny dropped. With a bit of help from the pilot on the boat I was on at the time, I started compiling a database in Excel of the places we changed at along the Lower Mississippi, the Upper Mississippi from Cairo to Grafton, IL, the lower end of the Ohio, and the Illinois River.
Much easier! Simply enter the coords, and go. Where we encountered mapping errors (boat ramp on a nonexistent road, etc.), we would just waypoint a bit farther out. Now the places that you might not see for three years are not a problem, and you only get lost if you don't use the GPS! (Which still happens!)
If you care to look in Google Maps, here's the one that got this started. It's called Fair Landing, and it truly is the back of beyond. N34.25813 W90.83869