I used both a knotstick and a GPS, and had a fixed distance I covered. The distance between Cape Lookout and Beaufort Inlet is about 6.5 nm, which I covered in about an hour and a half (I know, real scientific so far!). In rough terms, I averaged about 4 knots. During this run, the knotstick (which claims to be accurate to .1 or .2 knots) almost never read below 5 knots, and sometimes came off the scale (past 6 knots), while the GPS would read in the 4-5 knot range.
I would have expected one of 2 things--either the GPS was slow and I would eventually see 6 or 7 knots on it as compensation (as eventually, if I'm doing 5.5 knots the GPS would error the other way), or the knotstick would bounce up and down due to waves, between 4 and 7 knots). Neither happened. I suspect the reasoning behind all this is we were sideways to the waves, and keeping a reasonably steady course, we went sort of straight at about 4.5 knots, but also back and forth in tiny increments about a knot? Does this make sense?
J.J. Falkanger
Cary, NC
P-19# 792 "Fozzguppy"
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