Find your way with map and compass

Navigation means finding your way on the water in a controlled manner. Generally, you should know where you are and where you're going. If you paddle in familiar waters, you probably have no problems with navigation. But as soon as you venture into less familiar waters, navigation becomes an important element. To help you, you must have a map and preferably also a compass. You can also use a GPS, but the equipment can be sensitive to water and depends on batteries, and in many people's opinion should be seen more as a supplement to map and compass. Map and compass always work.

If the weather is favourable and you're travelling in less familiar waters, it can often be sufficient to follow along on the map so that you know where you are throughout the trip. When you cross a larger body of water, a bay for example, or when you approach an archipelago from open sea, you often see only a featureless land ridge ahead of you. What may look simple from the map's bird's-eye perspective becomes considerably more difficult when the view is horizontal. It becomes difficult, almost impossible, to distinguish individual islands and narrow sounds, inlets and bays. With the help of compass and map, you can then easily maintain the right course. Should you encounter fog, which can often occur in spring and autumn when the temperature differences between water and air are large, you quickly lose your sense of orientation without a compass.

Nautical charts

There are basically two types of maps to choose from when travelling along the coast and on our largest lakes: nautical charts and topographic maps. Nautical charts provide very good information about the sea area. What the surrounding landscape looks like is, with certain exceptions, not shown at all. Exceptions may include certain high mountains, tall towers, etc. that are clearly visible from the sea and serve as good navigation points. However, nautical charts show all sea markers very well, such as buoys, cairns and lighthouses. The shipping lanes are thus very clearly visible. And as a canoeist, you should avoid these as much as possible during the boating season due to the risk of being hit or subjected to steep wake waves. At the same time, you usually don't need a chart to see where the shipping lanes go. That is usually apparent from the often heavy boat traffic.

Topographic maps

Topographic maps provide information about both the sea area and the land area. On the sea section, shipping lanes and certain lighthouses are indicated, but less clearly than on nautical charts. In return, the land section is much more detailed. As the name suggests, the topography is shown very clearly and in great detail. The silhouettes of the islands are easy to read because all elevation differences are shown. Buildings, larger jetties, steep shores, presence of forest, etc. are clearly indicated. Since as a kayak paddler you almost always have land in sight, the topographic map is, in my opinion, preferable. But opinions often differ on this. If you're part of a group, you can bring both types. The topographic map at a scale of 1:50,000, called the Green Map or the Terrain Map, is most suitable as it provides sufficient detail. The Blue Map, also called the Road Map, at a scale of 1:100,000 can also be useful but shows fewer details. Along coasts with few or no islands, it may be sufficient, e.g. along the eastern coasts of Skåne and Blekinge, the southern coast of Småland, and the Halland coast. Nautical charts come in the form of overview charts usually at a scale of 1:50,000, coastal charts at 1:180,000 - 1:250,000, archipelago charts at 1:50,000 and special charts for traffic-intensive or difficult-to-navigate areas. There are also so-called recreational boating charts with special information for boating. However, they are quite unwieldy to handle for kayak use. Regardless of your choice of map, you should have it easily accessible in front of you either in the cockpit or on the foredeck. Make sure to have the map in a waterproof map case that is attached to the deck lines. The slightest gust of wind can otherwise cause the map and case to blow away and disappear.

Compass

When it comes to the compass, you can make do with having a loose one accessible at the cockpit. Attach it with a cord to a deck line so you don't drop it in the water. Many also have a fixed compass mounted on the foredeck. It must then be easily readable from the paddler's position. With the loose compass you take the desired course bearing on the map, read the degree number and then make sure the fixed compass maintains the same degree number while paddling. To avoid fixating too much on the compass, look for a landmark on shore in the direction you're heading or near it, and then paddle towards it. This also helps you keep your balance more easily if it's windy and makes paddling more comfortable. So you can usually manage with just a loose compass. However, a fixed compass simplifies the procedure, provides greater security in fog and bad weather, and easily indicates any ongoing wind shift without you having to stop paddling to check against the loose compass.

Taking a compass bearing

Learn on land how to take a compass bearing and practise it so you can quickly determine the right course when you're sitting in the kayak and may have other things on your mind at the same time. The compass consists of two parts: an often transparent plastic baseplate with a fixed arrow in one direction and some parallel lines; and a rotating part, the compass housing. Place the compass with its edge along the route you want to follow on the map. The fixed arrow on the compass should point in the direction you want to travel from start to destination. Turn the compass housing so that its north marking points north on the map. This is important. If you point the south marking on the compass housing towards north, the compass will be off by 180 degrees, meaning you'll travel in exactly the opposite direction of what you intended if you follow that course. Turn the compass housing so the lines at the bottom of the housing run parallel to a meridian on the map. Meridians are lines running from south to north connecting the poles. Now set the map aside and turn the entire compass, don't touch the compass housing, in your hand so that the moving needle inside the housing points to the north marking on the housing's edge. When the moving needle aligns with the north marking on the housing, the fixed arrow indicates the direction you should travel.

Keep the map case attached to the deck lines within reading and reaching distance on the foredeck. Also bring a simple handheld compass with a short cord that you attach in the same way. Optionally supplement with a fixed compass on the foredeck.