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During preparations, use your maps to draw up a route plan. It should include your departure and arrival points as well as stop-over points en route. It should also include a contingency plan that allows you to cut short your trip in the event of bad weather or for medical reasons. Plan on one extra day for every four days of travelling. You can use the extra days to rest, explore a particular site or to make up for delays. Leave a copy of your detailed route plan with a family member or friend and keep them advised of delays and route changes. If you are overdue, this person will be able to provide valuable information for organizing a search & rescue operation.

A standard route plan should include the following: description of group; number, colour, and type of kayaks (solo, double); safety equipment carried; dates of calls to confirm positions; date and place of arrival; contingency plan, etc.

It is very important to notify the person who has your route plan of your safe arrival. This will avoid costly and unnecessary searches by search & rescue organizations.

Once on the water, a good map will be your most reliable tool if you know how to use it (orientation course). While it's true that most navigation is generally done visually, the map will be your main source of information (direction, currents, landmarks, local phenomena) and your primary reference for what you see. Keep it in a watertight, transparent case on the deck for easy consultation.

Copies of your maps should be kept in another kayak. Experience in map reading takes practice. Get into the habit of checking your position regularly. You should know your position at all times or you run the risk of getting lost. Get used to locat ing coastal features, points of reference (landmarks), and navi gational aids (buoys, lighthouses) to keep track of your progress. That way you'll move from one point of reference to the next.

In the event of reduced visibility, you should put ashore. In these conditions, you need a radar reflector and good knowledge of navigating with a compass. A spherical glass marine compass is more useful than a conventional compass. Don't take any risks. Stay as close as possible to shore.

If tides are a factor on your route, make sure you know their schedule, amplitude, and consequences (currents). Tide tables will provide all this information.

If you must absolutely cross a shipping lane, do so quickly and by the shortest possible route.

Because of their shallow draft, kayaks are the best way to get to certain sites. Enjoy them without abusing them—respect private property as well as plants and wildlife. Chapter 16 on the environment gives useful advice on this subject.

For your safety and that of other users, learn the strict regulations governing commercial ships and pleasure craft. Only by complying with these regulations will sea kayakers earn the respect of the marine community (see Chapter 5, Regulations).

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Date modified:

2010-01-19

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