Paddling The Straight and Narrow Path

Are you a True Tracker?

Found this article at TopKayaker.Net that I think would help me a lot in my quest to paddling the Straight and Narrow Path.

Hope this helps and to the seasoned tracker, your additional inputs will be appreciated.

Also thinking of installing a rudder kit to my Tarpon 140 but price is still prohibitive at this time of the year. I think improving my paddling strokes would be a better and economical solution at first.

Thanks.

http://www.topkayaker.net/Articles/Instruction/PaddleStraight.htm

Danny

Another tip the article fails to mention is spotting your path to verify that you are, in fact, going straight. To do this, pick out a land mark on shore, or a fixed bouy or piling, directly in front of the direction you are paddling. Then choose something off in the distance right behind it. If you are maintianing a straight course, those two landmarks will remain in line with each other. If the landmark furthest away appears to be mving to one side of your closer landmark then you are drifting off your course.

Here's a link with pictures that explains it more clearly:
http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/guillemot/information/kayaking_technique/small_boat_and_kayak_navigation/natural_ranges_and_drift

Loving it more and more. Thanks for the additional input Fishin-Jay.
We fished together one time at Del Valle with Lapulapu and some others before you left for AZ.
Hope you're doing well in your neck of the woods.

Danny

90% of kayak navigation is dead reckoning.

As Bo Barnes used to tell me "you reckon right...or you're dead!" Never failed to get a laugh.

But, Jay has it spelled out in much more detail. Cool articles both.

on my T13 I have a deck mounted compas on the rod pod. for long paddles ususally pick a bearing and just paddle and glance down. it does make a difference.

90% of kayak navigation is dead reckoning.

As Bo Barnes used to tell me "you reckon right...or you're dead!" Never failed to get a laugh.

But, Jay has it spelled out in much more detail. Cool articles both.

I only know this from aviation, but it applies to boating as well.

What was described in Jay's link is technically called pilotage where you navigate based on geographical references. 

Dead reckoning is navigation from point to point using compass speed and drift to calculate your course and ETA.