Ever use Google Earth to scope out a spot??

D

DLL

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Since I have not been out since 2004, I am trying to "catch up" on various anchorages (as you have probably noticed in previous postings...).

When I found several spots I was interested in, I wrote their Lat & Long down. Went to my software and plotted the Lat & Long. Not close. Over a mile off. Anyone looked at this?
I emailed "The Capn" about some of their mistakes...like showing almost all of Mildred as unusable land. Going from one chart, down to the next chart, you pass through a chart from Nebraska. They have not answered back yet, but I am hoping some of you might have an answer concerning this discrepency.

As for my previous request for you favorite spots...after I read my post I had to laugh at myself...sort of like me asking Dave for the coordinates of his favorite fishin' hole. Not the best way to make friends...blame it on the meds. Sorry about that.
 
Many of these programs use charting software which is 20 or so years old. Have you tried going to their website to download s/w updates? They may have fixed that Nebraska chart location! Or not........

I doubt any of us mind sharing some of our favorite gunkholing spots.....as long as there is room for both boats! And we never give away our secret, secret anchorages anyway........

BTW-----does your GPS have WAAS technology? That will improve accuracy of the lat/lon readings......
 
Yes, the Raymarine and the Garmin..uh...GPS 76 or was it GPS Map 76? Whichever I have, I was looking for WAAS when I bought it.

I love the 3D positions the Garmin gives...then tells you how much error it might have.
Our old PINS (Pallatized Inertial Navigation System) required sitting in the chocks for about 45 minutes prior to take off so it could align itself. I only had two stupid pilots during my years of flying, but the ONLY time I got PINS on board...the idiot taxied without coordinating. He was so bad we made him let the co-pilot do the hard landings. Amazing stories...just because the guy is in the left seat, doesn't make him the best "PILOT". We were headed for New England and made it just fine. The PINS was in Florida the last time I looked. How about the GPS they use to tell them a volcano has moved a 1/4 of an inch. Tied to different satellites I hear.

By the way, in case you hadn't asked (I didn't the first time), the Toyota you get may
have 3 or 4 year old charts in it. My 2003 Avalon had 1999 charts in it, my wife's new
Prius has something like 2004 charts. I just got 2007 charts for the Avalon. And my Avalon's GPS seems to be more accurate than the 2007 Prius. Cars, boats, planes...lots of
variables.
 
Yes, I use Google Earth fairly often to pick places I want to try. The aerial photos of the Delta are fairly recent (I'm guessing somewhere between 2-4 years old). I also like to use old roadmaps.

No aerial photo will give me depth soundings though, for that I rely on the charts. Paper charts. Even though local charts have some very old soundings info, it's better than nothing.

I've never needed latitude/longitude to find anything by boat in the Delta or anywhere by car. I've always liked maps and took a lot of geography in college. No GPS in the boat or car so far.
 
yzer, my first GPS was given to me as a Christmas present about 6 yrs ago. I didn't think I need one in th4e Delta either. I was quite surprised how quickly I came to depend on it! I especially like the "tracking" feature, so I can get back home, even if it gets foggy or is dark. Also, if one needs to contact CG or Vessel Assist, they appreciate getting your lat/lon position as well as a descriptive position [such as just north of Webb Tract].

And it is invaluable in case of a MOB situation!

That original GPS finally conked out, so I immediately bought myself another one from BoatFix......
 
Gees, since I am the retired person I have time to screw around with some of these things. I find that if I use one of the commercial real estate sites, like Zillow, they update their pictures more often. I pick on some real estate near by, as close as possible, and then move over to my specific interest.
And, you must have had a better system than we had on B-52s. We used an astro-tracker when we were carrying Hound Dog missles. Talk about inaccurate. We would practice launching them and it was not unheard for them to take a 90 degree turn off course. Long ago in a different time and era, when we used to fly those 24 hour airborne "Chrome Dome" nuclear armed flights along the Russian border, when we were close to 90 north, the nav team would go into "grid" navigation. No such things as gps in the 60s. So here we are at 40,000 ft or more, crusing along at .77 Mach with 6 H bombs, with nothing but white outside. I have to go to the bathroom so I climb out of my seat and head down the ladder to the urinal, which is located behind the nav team. I look over and there is a bunch of "grid" navigation charts hanging up vertically next to the navigator. I tap Mike the navigator on the shoulder and ask him what's that all about. He yells back.... "I spilled my coffee all over the maps." My face must have shown my consternation when Lee, the radar navigator smiles back at me, and says "don't worry- I have us on my radar scope". Somehow we won the cold war.
 
Dugsboat,
You were in Bufs? I was in Tankers. Grid, Grivation...flying from Texas to California...due north in Grid. Running the counters
on the ASN-6 up and down. 3 Star fixes, shooting the lower limb of the moon. Then I worked at CCTS and CFIC. Then staff work.

But I remember "Glass Top" and refueling you guys. For those of you who weren't there, we would call the lead B-52 coming in out
of Guam and they were always "On course, be at the ARCP on time" And we were painting their beacons a couple hundred miles out.
B-52 crews originated the saying..."You lie and I will swear to it...." (Actually we just figured they couldn't tell time)

A lot of teasing between the B-52 crews and the Tanker Crews. Until we started teaching them to read and write. Those old D models were scary...the wing tips would flap in the breeze...I forget how much...32 feet maybe. I watched lightning hit one midship...while we were passing 6500 pounds of kerosene a minute. The lightning circled around the Buf and headed on down towards
the Islands.

We are last to navigate around the world with the stars, plotting pressure pattern LOPs and speed line sun shots. God Bless GPS.
From being allowed 50 nautical miles deviation to being allowed less than a mile when penetrating our ADIZ. Our radar fixes were considered excellent if we were within 3 miles of the TACAN fix. Tanker radars were a poor excuse for radar, the B-52s had a great radar.

The crews who flew the B-52s were the toughest bunch of guys you could ever hope to meet. SAC screwed them every way they could and those guys always accomplished the mission. They would fly from Guam to Vietnam, drop up to 108 of the 500 pound bombs, then
on the long mission home, SAC would make them fly a low-level training mission through the Phillipines. (Never could remember how to spell that word). The bomber guys gutted it out. I tease them, but I promise you...there was not a better bunch of people defending us. So if you get the chance to buy this man a drink, do so. I certainly will if I ever meet up with him. He deserves it.
 
Gees you bring back many memories. When we flew the Chromedomes out of Mather, we would hit two tankers right out of Elmendorf... or was it Eilson? Can't remember, but it would take two tankers to fill us up on our trip north. And yeah, Guam and UT were all sorts of fun. There always seemed to be a Thunderstorm line we had to fly through on the way from Anderson. On the other hand the MTIO takeoffs used to scare the heck out of my too. Lots of stories, so many that my kids think I should ride a book about my flying career.
 
At the risk of boring the others, many of the things we did on a daily basis, as part of our
training, are not allowed today.

For non-flyers, Combat Crew Training School (CCTS) was where many an airline pilot first learned "engine failure, takeoff continued..." because the Instructor Pilot (IP) would pull a throttle on the upgrading pilot...if he was going to be in the left seat, and he had 50 or 60 lives depending on his landing capabilities.

Simulators are used for the more dangerous stuff now. Thank goodness.

The Minimum Interval Take Off (MITO) was invented so Strategic Air Command (SAC) could look important and make lots of noise. Or you could believe we did it as a survival technique.

Either way, these places he is talking about were scary on a good day...the runway at Anderson AB, Guam goes downhill...ground speed would go 140..145..150..155..then uphil
150..145..and so on. After we took off...it felt like we would just suck the gear up and
you would lose your lift from the "ground effect" because the ground wasn't under you any more. Or the runways, especially UT, in Thailand, had 18 inch crowns in the middle, so the water would run off. If a plane landed left of center line, on the left main gear,
chances were good they might drag an outboard engine. Fun things.

Almost as bad as pulling your boat out of WillowBerms R dock with the 6-7mph current at a 45 degree angle.

Your grandkids sound like mine...tell them the funny stuff, they love it. Nukes were just a rumor.
 
You guys remind me some of my son [a pilot in Nome Alaska] and some of his exciting moments. Of course, he doesn't tell his Mom the worst ones. smart kid!
 
Flutterby, I started to write some stories, but thought better of it. Boating forum and all. We need a raft up. Get Dugsboat there and first liar won't stand a chance.
 
Why don't you and Dugsboat get a raft up going? We could name it in honor of Tom [RIP]........
 
Sounds good, but he has dropped out...typical Buf guy, needs a Tanker Toad to get him gassed up...that or a Red Dot 1.
 
That's too bad, I would find a way to make it to that raft up. Nothing better than great flying stories told firsthand.

-Vaughn
 
Hang on guys, I'm still in Hurricane country. But... just started school bus driving again, and I have a 6 yr old, and my wife is about to have a hystarectomy. Real busy chasing my ass right now.
 
Sounds like you have a plate full now! You're whole life will revolve around your six-year-old's school schedule and extracurricular activities. All of which tend to interfere with boating!!!! At least your job won't conflict with the kid's days off!!!!! Best of luck to your wife with her surgery. Give her lots of support!
 
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