The coast guard has definite rules to required boating safety equipment. These include personal flotation devices, visual distress signal, and fire extinguisher just to name a few. But what about equipment that promotes safe boating that is not required by law. A GPS system is one such device. Although you may think that GPS is something that is not necessary on a boat if you have charts the following story of my experience demonstrates why we now have a GPS system that works through our laptop computers.
I own a 32’ boat that I have had since 2004. In May of 2005 we started an annual cruise on Memorial weekend. We meet a group at Jerrels Cove state park in Washington’s South Puget Sound. We had spent the summer before traveling the Southern part of Puget Sound and thought it would be an easy cruise down but turned out to be quite an adventure.
We choose to leave Thursday evening after work. It was a late start but we were confident in where we were going. It was not the first time we had been to Jerrels Cove. It was a nice evening and took our time cruising down to the island where the cove was located. We go into sight of the island just as dusk was approaching and figured another hour’s time and we would arrive just after dark set in.
I put potatoes in the over to cook timing them to be done when we arrived. It got dark but we continued on our way knowing we were close to the turn around the north side of the island. We continued north looking for our turn. About an hour later we were still headed north and dinner was done. We had our dinner and I commented that we should probably be heading south by this point. I was reassured that we were close to the turn and helped look for the left turn that would take us around the end of the island.
In the distance se saw lights to what appeared to be a harbor. Knowing there was no harbor with that many lights near the north end of the island we knew we had missed our turn. By now it was dark with no moon to light the way. We turned and headed south knowing that was the way to Jerrels Cove. We were not sure how far north we had gone but thought following the coast line was a good bet. We were wrong.
A short time later we saw the north end of a island. We thought it was Hartsein Island and continued down the west side. It wasn’t to far when we realized our mistake. Out of the darkness cam a bridge and it was too soon to be the bridge on Hartsein from the main land. This was when we turned on our depth sounder to see where the water level was. We were in about 4’ of water and our boat needs 3.5’ feet. It was closer than I wanted to be and I was put on the front of the boat with a spot light. I knew we were in trouble when I could see the bottom.
We went back out and around the north end of that island no knowing which island it was. We assumed we just missed our turn by one island. Being unable to see much in the dark the charts we had on board did little good for knowing where we were. We had no real idea on how much time we spent traveling north past our turning point. We followed this island down to its southern point and turned west again.
Yet again we ended up in shallow water. We knew this wasn’t right because the northern end of Hartsien is not shallow. We also knew we had not passed Hartsein and I was still on the bow of the boat with the spot light. I continued to scan the water and shore line as we once again went around the north end of this island. As we were coming around the north end I caught the reflection of something in my light. When I pointed the light up, I was watching the depth of the water, there was a boat floating in front. It was an eye opening experience to be so close to a collision.
We made it around and found the next island to be Harstein. It was just a short trip to Jerrels Cove now. It had taken us 2 hours to get back to this point, by now it was about 1am. We got into the cove and just wanted to find a state park float to tie too. It was crowded and we had to anchor out. Our dog needed a potty walk bad by this point. We had been on the boat since about 6pm with no break. We anchored, dropped the dingy, and took the dog to the dock for his bathroom break. Our friends were there but getting ready for bed. That is all I wanted to do after that trip down.
The next morning we got up and moved to the dock to join our friends. They got a good laugh out of our trip. I too can laugh now but then it wasn’t funny. We now have GPS and the next year when it was dark we found our way. We spread the word on how important this program is just in case you find yourself in the dark while boating. There are no roads or lights to guide your way.
We have fun every year on this trip but that first one I will never forget. It is still talked about when we arrive every year. It was an adventure I will not repeat with the GPS program. The next year we probably would have missed our turn again without the program to guide us. It is inexpensive and easy to use. I recommended it to boaters that have a larger boat and take trips overnight.
The program that we use is Offshore Navigator Lite by Maptech. We connect a GPS antenna to the computer and it tracks our location. It was inexpensive at about $50.00 for the antenna and $50.00 for the digital maps. It cost more in gas when we got lost and gives us peace of mind when we go out now. There are other GPS systems for boating but no matter which on you us it can be an important piece of safety equipment.
