BajaNomad

What? you are going to Baja Ca. without a GPS

Bruce R Leech - 6-2-2006 at 11:39 AM

I cant imagine any coming to Baja without a GPS in this day and age. with all the GPS info on David Ks web site and a 65 dollar GPS unit you can have a self guided tour of all of Baja at your finger tips plus the safety of always knowing where you are. this should be a must have itom on your check list.

Axel - 6-2-2006 at 01:28 PM

I know that mine has come in handy on many occasions. I always get a late start and by the time I get to a turn of for a new surf spot it is dark. It always seems to get me there and back out, because nothing looks the same a few days later and with sunshine. Your right about all the info from David K.

Bob and Susan - 6-2-2006 at 05:43 PM

so....you don't HAVE a GPS:lol:

bancoduo - 6-2-2006 at 05:46 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bruce R Leech
I cant imagine any coming to Baja without a GPS in this day and age. with all the GPS info on David Ks web site and a 65 dollar GPS unit you can have a self guided tour of all of Baja at your finger tips plus the safety of always knowing where you are. this should be a must have itom on your check list.
How did we make it all these years without one. :?::?:

comitan - 6-2-2006 at 05:58 PM

Bancoduo

Your gona get sued for using my picture without my permission.

ncampion - 6-2-2006 at 06:28 PM

Hey, why bother with the compass? Can't you just use the sun? GPS is so small, light, reliable and cheap, I can't imagine going anywhere without one - especially in Baja. There are some great guide books that use GPS routs or tracks as guides.

bajalou - 6-2-2006 at 06:44 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by bancoduo
Quote:
Originally posted by Bruce R Leech
I cant imagine any coming to Baja without a GPS in this day and age. with all the GPS info on David Ks web site and a 65 dollar GPS unit you can have a self guided tour of all of Baja at your finger tips plus the safety of always knowing where you are. this should be a must have itom on your check list.
How did we make it all these years without one. :?::?:


Same way we got along all those years without computers and automobiles - but when we finally tried them - WOW!!
:light:

comitan - 6-2-2006 at 06:53 PM

Another aspect for the GPS, me being a boater and wanting to know how fast I am going Gps much better than a little paddlewheel.

Bruce R Leech - 6-2-2006 at 06:55 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by freaking102
I guess I would disagree. I've traveled a fair bit to a lot of remote places in the world (and Baja), and a compass, map and skill to use it will work a lot easier and faster and more reliably than a GPS. Plus, a compass weighs a lot less than a GPS when hiking.


I also like compass and maps and know how to use them. a GPS is much faster and much more accurate than you can ever get with a map and compass. also when you are driving down a dark rode in the fog it will tell you instantly when you drive past your turn off. and it is smaller and lighter than a compass and all of those maps.:lol::lol:

Paula - 6-2-2006 at 07:29 PM

Comitan, you bear a striking resemblance to Nick Nolte.

Don uses a GPS on his kayak. At first I laughed, but it is great knowing how fast we are going, how far we went in a day, etc. We haven't used it hiking or driving yet, but maybe we should.

comitan - 6-2-2006 at 07:36 PM

Nick

when he was arrested for drunken driving? or conduct when I saw that picture I couldn't believe, because I enjoyed him in so many pictures. Your in Loreto are you coming to the party, Por Favor!!

[Edited on 6-3-2006 by comitan]

bajalera - 6-3-2006 at 03:45 PM

We use our GPS once in a while when the location of a turnoff or a specific site is important, but I can't imagine feeling that we couldn't leave home without it.

turtleandtoad - 6-3-2006 at 04:41 PM

You can't geocache without one.

jack - 6-3-2006 at 05:18 PM

I just got my first GPSr in Febuary and have been having a ton of fun learning how to use it. I can't wait to use it in the Baja this winter. A map and a compass are great, but a GPSr is way more fun!

JZ - 6-3-2006 at 05:47 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by freaking102
I guess I would disagree. I've traveled a fair bit to a lot of remote places in the world (and Baja), and a compass, map and skill to use it will work a lot easier and faster and more reliably than a GPS. Plus, a compass weighs a lot less than a GPS when hiking.


That's the most whack statement that has been posted on this board in a long time.

turtleandtoad - 6-3-2006 at 05:51 PM

Well, to begin with, maps with the proper coordinate grid and that have a high enough resolution ( measured in feet) to find a geocache are almost impossible to buy. Especially for Baja

[Edited on 6-4-2006 by turtleandtoad]

vagabond - 6-3-2006 at 06:59 PM

Maybe not in baja But I know of a few that do cache without a gps using maps and usaphotomaps or the google sat system.
One person has over 1000 finds without a gps.
This is my first post on this forum,but ol Dr drip knows me from earlier forums

Bajaboy - 6-3-2006 at 07:24 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bruce R Leech
I cant imagine any coming to Baja without a GPS in this day and age. with all the GPS info on David Ks web site and a 65 dollar GPS unit you can have a self guided tour of all of Baja at your finger tips plus the safety of always knowing where you are. this should be a must have itom on your check list.



I know, maybe we should start a campaign to raise money to buy GPS units for all the locals....wouldn't want them to get lost or miss a turn-off.

Been travelling Baja for years with and without a GPS. I prefer finding "my" way vs. "someone else's" way. Nothing better than coming to that fork in the road and wondering....

Zac

Bruce R Leech - 6-3-2006 at 07:45 PM

it seem clear that people that have a gps really enjoy and use it the ones that don't have one don't understand the benefits. that is the reason for this thread is to educate some who don't understand. I got along many years without one just fine. I have both my captains and navigation papers for up to 100 tones. and when GPS came along I was very slow to except the new technology. as I had tried Lorain and many other new things that came and went and only half worked. but I can tell you that when I go sailing now I take my sextant and my bag of nav. tools and a pile of charts but in the bottom of my bag are 2 gps units and extra batteries. and when I go into the mountains 4 wheeling and hiking there Right there beside me.

once you try it you will never go back:lol:

Bajaboy - 6-3-2006 at 07:52 PM

Bruce-

Just giving you a bad time. Like I said, I have a GPS. But, it's sometimes more enjoyable to just explore.

happy trails-zac

Bruce R Leech - 6-3-2006 at 07:56 PM

no problem Bajaboy

Here in Mulege all the Mexican fisherman are already using GPS

bajalou - 6-3-2006 at 08:07 PM

Don't follow my gps to explore, but sometimes to get back -

JZ - 6-3-2006 at 08:16 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bruce R Leech
but in the bottom of my bag are 2 gps units and extra batteries.


Yep, you definitely want to have two on the water, one being for backup.

I was out in the Pacific two years ago about 10 miles from the harbor. All of a sudden a wicked fog began to roll in. And almost simultaneously the swell picked up. It probably grew from 3' to 7', but was spaced pretty wide.

As soon as the fog started coming in we started heading back. By the time we got to the harbor, it was so thick you couldn't see the front of the bow. The main GPS/radar magically choose not to power up. There was no way at all to see the channel markers, but I sure could hear the surf crashing big time on the beach (scary as hell!). At the entrance to the harbor the following swell probably gained a few feet to about 9-10'. We pulled out the backup handheld and cruised right through the channel, albeit very slowly!

I could hear other boats on VHF calling the harbor patrol saying they couldn't see the entrance and asking them to come out and escort them in. I was damn glad to have taken the wise advice of others to have a backup GPS that day!


[Edited on 6-4-2006 by JZ]

Bruce R Leech - 6-3-2006 at 08:24 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by JZ
Quote:
Originally posted by Bruce R Leech
but in the bottom of my bag are 2 gps units and extra batteries.


Yep, you definitely want to have two on the water, one being for backup.

I was out in the Pacific two years ago about 10 miles from the harbor. All of a sudden a wicked fog began to roll in. And almost simultaneously the swell picked up. It probably grew from 3' to 7', but was spaced pretty wide.

As soon as the fog started coming in we started heading back. By the time we got to the harbor, it was so thick you couldn't see the front of the bow. The main GPS/radar magically choose not to power up. We pulled out the back up handheld and cruised right through the channel. There was no way at all to see the channel markers, but I sure could hear the surf crashing big time on the beach (scary as hell!). At the entrance to the harbor the following swell probably gained a few feet to about 9-10'.

I could hear other boats calling the harbor patrol saying they couldn't see the entrance and asking them to come out and escort them in. I was damn glad to have taken the wise advice of others to have a back up GPS that day!




try that with a compass and chart.

Al G - 6-3-2006 at 10:15 PM

Quote:
I was out in the Pacific two years ago about 10 miles from the harbor. All of a sudden a wicked fog began to roll in. And almost simultaneously the swell picked up. It probably grew from 3' to 7', but was spaced pretty wide.

As soon as the fog started coming in we started heading back. By the time we got to the harbor, it was so thick you couldn't see the front of the bow. The main GPS/radar magically choose not to power up. We pulled out the back up handheld and cruised right through the channel. There was no way at all to see the channel markers, but I sure could hear the surf crashing big time on the beach (scary as hell!). At the entrance to the harbor the following swell probably gained a few feet to about 9-10'.

I could hear other boats calling the harbor patrol saying they couldn't see the entrance and asking them to come out and escort them in. I was damn glad to have taken the wise advice of others to have a back up GPS that day!

[Edited on 6-4-2006 by JZ]

This is way cool, maybe only to us who are lacking the experience to operate a GPS to this level. Some say this is easy, but I disagree.
People who do sailing and a lot fishing and already know longitude and latitude. Maybe trial and error (as was suggested earlier here)is the way to learn, but I sure wish there was some sort of school.
Maybe my age? I use to have a very high retention level,
but I think someone reversed the numbers on me.:lol:
Hey Bruce, how about starting a nautical school on GPS??

JZ - 6-3-2006 at 10:33 PM

There was two of us. I let my friend drive while I worked the GPS and gave him directions. In the US, the charts/GPS are super accurate. You couldn't do this in Mexico, unless you were following a previous track you had set.

It's really not that hard to be able to do this. Just need a good GPS (Garmin is about the best) and some practice.

We had gone out on this route a hundred times, and it was just an ordinary day when everything changed within 30-40 minutes.


[Edited on 6-4-2006 by JZ]

Al G - 6-3-2006 at 11:11 PM

JZ
I have a 376c garmin, but it is very complicated. I got this particular one, because I thought it would be more intuitive. Boy was I wrong.
I will learn, but I wish we had a fourm to ask alot of questions.

1st of all....

Sharksbaja - 6-4-2006 at 12:25 AM

like Bruce implied, as a captain of a large vessel one must be familiar with all facets of seamanship. Knowledge of even RDF(if so equipped) locating and transection, nav with a sextant and seafloor soundings could prove invaluable in extreme circumstances. Gps is surely the most precise and useful nav tool available today but the sheer thought of the system crashing and compromising travel will not even cross the minds of most land-based travelers.. I suppose that's an accepted norm today. I sure hope it doesn't crash, although I feel a competent skipper would know what to do.

A nice amentity for wheeling in Baja tho. Those myriad dirt tracks to a remote destination are tricky without precise knowledge. Of course hit and miss is fun too!;)

turtleandtoad - 6-4-2006 at 07:27 AM

When I first started commercial fishing (salmon trolling) out of Neah Bay, WA, all I had was an RDF, some good charts, a depth finder, and a VHF radio. And that was all I needed to navigate in and out of the straits at night, in a zero visability fog, or driving rain/snow storm. The RDF, charts and depth finder got me in and out, and the radio was used to call the CG and ask them to keep an me informed on the other traffic around me. A very high "pucker factor" but it worked. When I had to, I used a sextant (but was always mildly surprised when I ended up where I wanted).

When I got radar, I thought that it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Then I got Loran, and the RDF started gathering dust. Finally I got an ECDIS suite (everything displayed on a single screen) and even the charts got dusty.

Now the Coast Guard won't even let you move to the fuel dock without a complete suite of electronics, including satellite and digital radio. And I don't miss the "good old days" one little bit.

Bruce R Leech - 6-4-2006 at 07:51 AM

Al G said Hey Bruce, how about starting a nautical school on GPS??

get one and bring it here and when you leave you will know how to work it.

What do I get out of it ?:?:

I get to meet another Nomad:biggrin:

bajalera - 6-4-2006 at 01:17 PM

Okay, GPS is essential for boaters. And for caching, of course, as well as getting to some particular spot.

As for needing to know exactly where we are while traveling down some backroad, to me this would definitely put a muffler on the kind of let's-see-where-this-goes adventure that's still possible in Baja and practically nowhere else.

I'll go along with whoever said GPS is great for finding your way BACK.

Bruce R Leech - 6-4-2006 at 01:26 PM

If you are the kind of traveler that likes the adventure of getting lost then it is not for you nor is the map and compass. and there is a lot to-be sed for your way. some of my best discoveries have been while lost . and some of the best times I have had in Baja Ca. have also been that way.

Al G - 6-4-2006 at 06:19 PM

Quote:
"What do I get out of it ?:?:"

I get to meet another Nomad:biggrin:

Yes you will! I owe Pompano alot now (they may get me for smuggling Jack Daniels.) may as well owe you Dinner for you and Wife?
I have to be in Todos Santos Feb 20th., but want to spend a couple months in Mulege' before then. I missed last year, but I just got the word I only have a small blockage lower right artery, so some pills and I'm good to go this year. I will ask some questions as I read this manual.
Thanks for the lesson offer Bruce.

Bruce R Leech - 6-4-2006 at 06:23 PM

we will have you operating a GPS like a pro Albert G :smug: