Or can they? Two days before departure and Dodge & Tan finally made the time to double check that the GPS still worked (nothing like leaving it to the last minute!). Dodge, not trusting Tan’s non-Scout and non-Army background, also decided that it might be a good idea to check Tan’s navigational skills so that he could commence preparations to find a new travelling companion to sit in the navigator’s seat should Tan’s skills not be up to par.
Dodge rattled off one GPS reading after another as Tan used the 1:1 250 000 series of maps to pin point the corresponding landmarks. Not willing to relinquish her seat in the car, Tan performance was exceptional (being the perfectionist that she is, nothing under 100% was acceptable). At first, Tan found it fun, but after something like 4000 activities, the novelty began to wear off…
Eventually, Dodge decided that Tan could (a) could pinpoint a GPS reading on a map, and (b) could determine a GPS reading from a map. Whether this was because he was thoroughly satisfied with Tan’s abilities, or whether he just decided that she had the skills required in order to stop the dagger-like stare that Tan kept throwing in his direction, she will never know.
Dodge then turned to the 1:250 000 series of maps to check Tan’s ability to read grid references. Once again, Dodge asked Tan to calculate the grid references for around 5 million different landmarks, which she performed with 100% accuracy despite the frequent eye-rolling and deep sighs that now accompanied the harrowing dagger-like stares she continued to throw in Dodge’s direction.
Once again satisfied at Tan’s performance (Tan was now sure that he was only ceasing his never-ending tirade of questions not because she had proved to be reliable in navigation, but more to preserve the peace – sitting side-by-side for the 4500+ km journey across the state would otherwise not be a very enjoyable experience), Dodge then asked “Do you know how to plot a course using a compass from a grid reference?”
“Yes.” Tania curtly responded, hoping that her short response would signify that this conversation should not continue past this point.
“How?” Dodge tested, not picking up on the subtle vocal tones of Tan’s response.
“Simple. I give the map and the compass to you” she stated. Tan didn’t see the relevance of the question at all considering that we didn’t own a compass from which to take a reading and therefore the whole conversation was rather redundant.
Apparently this answer was not sufficient enough for Dodge as he launched himself into a rather long explanation of how to do it. Tan tuned out and diverted her attention towards the length of her toe nails. Dodge finished up and asked Tan to prove that she’d understood his explanation by getting her to paraphrase the process back to him. Dodge seemed a little disappointed when Tan said she hadn’t listened, so she sat there patiently as Dodge once again went through the process step by step.
Dodge, again, asked Tan to paraphrase. This time, Tan was ready and repeated his instructions back to him, exactly word for word.
“Well, there’s actually 3 norths. There’s true north, grid north and magnetic north. Now, we don’t give a sh1t about true north – it’s not important, so forget about it. So that leaves us with grid north and magnetic north.
“Now, the map will tell you the variation between grid north and magnetic north. So here, it says 6.6o. You see it also says that the variation changes by 0.1o in 10 years, so that’s negligible and we can forget about it.”
(Dodge seemed to be impressed with Tan’s ability to repeat all instructions, step by step and word for word, completely missing the hint of sarcasm hidden in Tan’s precise explanations)
“So now you know the variance, all you need to remember is GrandMa Sux and Machine Gun Ammo (which Tan thought sounded pretty reasonable if you didn’t like your Grandma, otherwise it was a bit dramatic). If you’re transferring a reading from grid to magnetic north, you subtract the variance (GMS). If you go transfer the reading from magnetic to grid north, you need to add the variance (MGA).
“Once you know where north is, you can begin to plot your course from the map to your compass. Align the bevel on the compass along the map grid and blah, blah blah.”
Dodge was not impressed. Tan suggested that if he was really worried about getting lost and felt that a GPS and sat phone weren’t enough to alert rescuers to our position, maybe he should hire an EPIRB rather than rely on Tan’s ability to prepare a course of travel using a non-existent compass.
