Bobbie, I don't use my GPS a whole lot either; it's more of a just-in-case item. I've heard rumors that some people like to put a couple of pillows up in the forepeak and then repeatedly toss their gps' up there so as to make the "max speed" give large readouts for later bragging about how fast they were going. One guy was bragging about going in excess of ten knots momentarily in his 17 but it is thought that he may have been engaging in that unscrupulous v-berth tossing game. He claims innocence in that regard though, and points to a 6.2 kt AVERAGE speed over the course of two hours as proof of the possibility. Feeling lost sometimes myself (and thinking of turning the gps on), Tod -----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats-bounces+htmills=bright.net@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:montgomery_boats-bounces+htmills=bright.net@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Bobbie Mayer Sent: Sunday, June 05, 2005 9:24 AM To: montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com Subject: M_Boats: GPS I feel as though I've been asleep like Rip Van Winkle for many years. While I wasn't sailing much, GPS became a relatively inexpensive tool, not to mention cell phones. I see a handheld GPS for sale this morning at Target for $89. Figuring speed sounds nice, but other than getting lost in the fog, what can I do with GPS when I'm sailing on Puget Sound in an area I know with good navigational markers? Dad had one on his fishing boat but he kept a log of where he found the fish or where he dropped the crabpots. Would I use one for more than measuring speed over land? And how would I use it? (Do charts have GPS coordinates?) Bobbie _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats