Kayak Orienteering Tips

Kayak orienteering, or Kayak O, is the sport of navigating and maneuvering a kayak through a set course of checkpoints as quickly as possible. Practicing kayak navigation in a competitive atmosphere improves your map-reading and compass skills, in turn building your proficiency and confidence as a paddler. The sport offers a fun way to become a safer, more knowledgeable kayaker.

Map and Chart Navigation

Use a combination of maps and charts to visually orient yourself in the landscape and maintain a predetermined course through the water. Detailed topographic maps, produced by the United States Geological Survey, provide accurate geographic information about the land surrounding a given body of water. Nautical charts, published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, provide important information such as water depth, tidal zones and navigational buoys. Together, maps and charts provide enough information for you to accurately and safely navigate waterways or a set course of orienteering checkpoints.

Practice on Land

Practicing with both topographic maps and nautical charts before taking them out on the water will improve your skill and speed in a competitive situation. Maps and charts have many similarities but use different symbols and colors to represent features in the land and water. Kayaking alone can offer plenty of challenge without trying to navigate at the same time, so practice both activities separately before combining the two.

Compass Navigation

When visibility is low or when it's important to follow an exact course, a compass can be a powerful tool for kayak navigation. By simply following a compass heading, you'll know you're heading along a straight course in one direction. You can also use a compass to triangulate location, using two remote fixed points to determine exactly where you are on the map. Understanding how to triangulate will help you pinpoint your location on a body of water lacking distinctive features.

Magnetic Declination

Anyone using a map and compass will quickly realize there are actually two north poles. Maps are drawn based on the geographic north pole, whereas the needle of a compass points to the magnetic north pole. The difference or angle between these two poles is called magnetic declination, or magnetic variation. Magnetic declination varies depending on location, so maps and charts denote the exact declination for the area they represent.

Practice with GPS

Global positioning system units provide pinpoint information about map and chart location. They will also chart or track exact routes over land or through water. Practice orienteering with a GPS unit to evaluate your skills. In a kayak, it's difficult to know exactly where you are. A GPS can confirm or deny whether you've hit the checkpoint or course you were aiming for.

Waterproof Gear

The deck of a kayak can be a wet place. Waterproof chart cases will keep a chart, compass, GPS unit and other orienteering supplies dry and in full view at all times.