TETHER that Mirage Drive!!!

Well - this is one of those lessons-learned stories, so take heed.
I was kayaking with a group of friends on Crane Creek in Melbourne, FL. I manage to flip my kayak for the first time ever. I was trying to avoid running into another kayak while at the same time leaning to lessen the impact of the branches I was about to put my face into along the bank. I leaned just a tad too far and I was in the water just like that. I got back in, collected my thoughts for a few, and I was on my way again. At some point after getting back underway I decided to mark a waypoint on my waterproof Garmin GPS (that I had only bought a few days before), so that I could approximate the area where I took my first roll. A while later I realized that I no longer had my Mirage Drive! I quickly realized that it must have fallen out during my spill drill. I had removed it due to on again - off again shallow water and was just paddling at the time. After all I have done this many, many times before under similar situations. One of my fellow kayakers went back with me to the spot we thought that I rolled. He braved the very murky creek and jumped in and walked about for a while in chest deep water, but could not find the Mirage Drive. We gave up and headed back to catch the rest of the group. I pretty much figured that I would be having to shell out around $500.00 to replace the drive and the ST fins. It made me sick that I had done this.
Since I am new to the GPS world (outside of using one in my car anyway) I sent my track data to a buddy of mine who is well-versed in GPS data interpretation. He showed me how to go to the Active Track Log and look at the velocities and time hacks to help determine when the actual flip occurred. His logic was flawless except that my memory had me flipping on the south side of a partial log obstruction (which I also had marked as a waypoint) while his analysis showed that I flipped north of that spot. I decided to forego my memory and trust the data. Two days later he and I went to the spot where he thought the flip occurred (remember that he was not on our kayaking trip when I flipped - he just interpretted the GPS data that I gave him). We were armed with Hobie anchors (to use as grappling hooks), a fruit picker, a metal garden rake, a couple of boat gafs, wetsuits, gloves, mask and snorkel, Light Cannon Dive Light, and a few other implements. We arrived at the spot where he thought is was and started poking around. It took about 30 minutes, but his analysis and his trusty fruitpicker came through as he fished up my Mirage Drive and we didn't even have to get out of our kayaks! The Mirage Drive was within 11 feet of where he said it would be (of course you have to factor in some accuracy error as well). All of that equipment we brought just made for added weight since we never used it, so that was kind of comical!

So from now on I will strictly adhere to Mirage Drive 101 and TETHER IT WHEN NOT INSTALLED!!!

I can't say enough about the GPS. It paid for itself in just the 2nd time I used it. It helps though to be ready to mark a waypoint in a hurry since the longer you wait the more inaccurate it will be. In my case I was in no real hurry to mark it, because I did not know at the time that I had lost anything.

Great story Titan and I'm glad you got your drive back!
Arno on the AI forum put me onto GPS Action Replay which gives you an unbelievable amount of data from your GPS track. It can even tell you the wind direction!

Titan - what GPS do you have??
I don't find it necessary to remove the MD in shallow water - I simply secure the pedals in the extended position with the bungy which tucks the flippers up under the hull.
Mickey

mickeymouse: I have the Garmin GPSMap-60Cx. Thankfully I had it tethered and thankfully it is waterproof. It comes with MapSource software that allow you to not only view your track, but open the log to view all of the data points and the information for each point (date, time, heading, leg distance, leg speed, leg duration (where leg refers to the information between datapoints), altitude, etc. You can even view your track as a layer in Google Earth so you have a rendering of the real world under your track. Unless there is a way around it though I don't like the fact that this unit will continue to log data points even though you could be stationary for a while (such as stopping for lunch somewhere). When you view your track later you will see a big glob of points that are connected by the track in a small localized area where you were stationary. I guess due to small errors at any given time it appears that you are moving around in a very small area, but you are really not. I wish there was a way that the unit would recognize that you were not moving. Maybe there is and I have not found it yet.

I also just extend my MD pedals so that they are against the hull for shallow water situations, but sometimes I prefer to take the MD out if the area is laden with logs, rocks, etc. Nestling the MD fins against the hull does not appear to be fool-proof in these situations. I would say though that I use the method of simply spreading the pedals about 90% of the time as it is usually all that is necessary.

Hey Titan,
As luck would have it, here's a post from yesterday about how I (and others) leash the Mirage Drive.

http://www.hobiecat.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=11935

_________________

Titan - thanks for the info re your GPS. I am looking at buying a 76Csx.
If it comes with MapSource s/w and can do what yours does - as well as additional features, I'll be a happy camper.

Mickey

For those of you interested in making your own leashes/tethers/lanyards, here is an earlier post of mine dealing with this. Old cell phone cords with crimped loops in one end work nicely for rod leashes but are a little too “springyâ€

_________________

Very good info Apalach! Thanks!

Here's my tethering system:

Titan, both Chekika and Jim_L on the AI forum have posted emphasising that the Garmins are only relatively waterproof. That is, they don't drown when immersed, but do allow some seepage of moisture, which corrodes their innards over time. I certainly found after one dunking with my new Garmin, that when I next changed the batteries, there was some definite moisture in the compartment. Their advice is to keep it in a sealed bag, like an Aquapac. I am trying a snap seal sandwich bag, but it is not yet field tested.

_________________

Agree. I will probably keep it in my Hobie dry bag which will in turn be tethered, but out in the open. Hopefully it will still get good reception.

Can those suckers get a fix even through an opaque bag?

_________________

Thanks for taking the time to make that detailed Post Apalach! Off to shop I go.

_________________
2010 Hibiscus Adventure Island