STRANDED AT SEA!? 4 TOOLS TO GET HOME WITH NO GPS 

As a former US Navy navigator, this is all great advice, and very impressed with your nautical SA diligence. However, in addition paper charts, dividers, and parallel rule are a must have as well.

Tool #5 PAPER CHARTS! Especially if you normally boat in one certain area (like the Keys). They'll help with the landmarks and give you a _rough_ idea of water depth once you get closer inshore. Your smart phone will have a compass app on it even without the navigation apps. The reason I emphasized paper charts is, as long as they don't get wet or burned up, they WILL NOT stop working. Plus, when planning a trip I like to lay it out on paper then transfer it over to a chartplotter system. What can I say, I'm an old fart!

You gals are the best tutors of safe fishing and boating! Major props to you both!

A compass is key when you’re at sea 😜

Long before you two were born I used to fish offshore out of Ocean City, Md. We'd have to run out 30-40 miles to get to good water. The commercial boats had loran for navigation but I couldn't afford to buy the equipment. We used a compass, a watch, the tachometer, the depth finder and local ocean charts to navigate. Added to these were observations of water movement, sun position and cloud formation. Now days, with my brother at the helm, I'm glad we have GPS and phone apps.

I plot all my courses on a paper chart. Chart plotter is great when working properly, my compass is always on point. Love my Navionics for planning and finding bottom anomalies. Compass is key.

Hi ladies! Really great videos! I just have something to say about the batteries. If they are loose in a bag they could touch something metallic and discharge giving you a false sense of security. I seal my extra batteries in a plastic bag using a bag sealer. Keep up the good work ladies!

I have been searching for this topic explained on RU-vid FOR EVER!!!! Finally, someone explains this PERFECTLY!! Thank you so much, this really helped me as a new offshore boater.

Really good video, it reminds me of years ago when my boat experienced alternator issues . We had enough power to run the engine, but we shut off the electronics to keep the engine running. We ran 26 miles on just the compass heading and hit the shore about 1/2 miles from the inlet. It was the second time we had taken my 16 ‘ Boston whaler offshore out of Wahapreaque, VA, so it was sort of scary for us (father bought me an EPIRB before i went offshore again!)

You guys are seriously awesome! Your videos are not only inspiring but they are always informative. You girls continue to develop and move the fishing community in the right direction with creative content. Always looking forward to new videos! Keep it up!!

Well done, life critical information. I recall when I was in grad school 30+ years ago,one of my favorite professors told me, “if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.” I’ve never forgotten that. You ladies are fabulous, keep up the good work!

Having fun on the boat and learning too ......... you girls are so watchable. You explain and demonstrate whilst keeping it fun. Your passion for fishing / boating is infectious . From Lockdown England, watching your videos helps keep me going. Big fan, so keep doing what you are doing. ( still waiting for you to be given that Regulator ' Gale Force Twins ' 41 ) x x

A most excellent and informative video !!! Thanks for making it fun too !!!

I love your chanel it is fun to watch! I am a still young so I love learning about this for now and the future. Thanks So Much For posting! 😄

Great job ladies much needed not only for beginners but everyone that has become dependant and always expects technology to work. Always look forward to your videos.

Man oh man you ladies are good ----------- crystal clear explanations with all of the bases covered. Thank You Very Much !!!!!

That was your best on-fishing show I’ve seen yet. Very professional and informative. Excellent

Wows you guys are really untangling my self. I love all the good input that I get from your knowledge. Thank you

Thank y'all for the information God bless love y'all my friends

Love the videos ! Keep up the good work ladies

Another good tip to keep you from getting lost at sea....Moss grows better on the north side of trees lol. Seriously though, it's always good to let others know when you're leaving, where you're planning to go and when you plan to return and also always bring extra food and water. That way if you have a breakdown or get lost with no navigation tools you at least can survive longer giving greater chance for help to find you.

I’m 64 and new to Keys offshore boating. Great informative advice.

Very informative ladies! Love your channel!

PUT TAPE ON ENDS OF BATTERIES!!! They can start a fire 🔥 great information. Thanks for sharing this

Great work ladies. Love your channel. It’s helping so many new boaters.

Once again, good info ladies. Thanks.

Great Advise! Another great tool to have is a decent pair of binoculars on board as well. This can buy many miles looking for land etc. great Job on this! Safety first! Captain Anthony

That was a very good education you just gave us. You both have great knowledge for as young as you are. Me being grandpa age to you, I promise I would listen to you on these matters. Subscribed.

Excellent video really good content when traveling offshore Thank-you

Great stuff ladies. I learned the old fashion way navigation from my dad as a boy, with no electronics. Things are different when you can see the island mountains from far way, and line of sight navigation is easy. Here in Florida is very different. Thank you for sharing all those modern tips for safety.

Great video and 100% agree. I have used the compass much more than the electronics-use both.

Great information. Thank you !

Thank you ladies! I see some comments are critical about the methods and may seem obvious, but you put together another great video. People forget how people want to try things after they watch your fishing videos or other videos. We have a lot of novice people trying offshore fishing due to fishing videos. Some have never thought about the items you cover and could be life saving while it may seem obvious to others. I have a great story about no electric, one engine down, night time, and 45 miles from port and using these techniques. Again, thank you for sharing!

Great advice ladies. Thank you

What ever happened to radio signal direction finders? On the west coast of California, every marina has a unique radio tone emitting from the entrance that is easy to locate. If you find yourself in a fog without fancy electronics you can triangulate a course for home (compass) using 2 or more beacon signals. Are there no radio beacons in Florida?!

Thank you again ladies

We love you too !! ❤️

Awesome! Thanks for the app!

Hi, great information really like your channel ! I have that same model Garman hand held gps it takes 4 AA batteries I vacuum seal 4 extra batteries and keep them on the boat - works real well chillc

Hello guys Im watching here Again in Abu dhabi UAE thank you so much for the great! Tips always keep safe guys happy fishing and fish on!

Great video as always girls I'd like to add Always not only have paper charts, but use them as you go If you periodically update them as you go, and suddenly lose all navigational aids You will have a much better knowledge of your current starting point Especially when you realize in Florida there are often dangerous reefs between you and land many miles offshore Like Molasses, French and Especially Key Largo Dryrocks Thx for all you guys do to educate You two 🎸 rock

safety is number one rule to boating great video. I keep a rapid ditch bag with a hand held eprb, first aid kit, mirror, strobe light . funny thing with a compass I was heading south out of Ramrod key but compass said i was heading north ? oops i had a screwdriver on dash with magnetic tip 😞😂. don't for get cudjo blimp for land mark my favorite.

Love your videos so much😍😍

Thanks for the advice

Worst night of my life was spent in a new demo 24' Excalibur, in 1983 (?). In Sarasota Bay cruising restaurants and ran into heavy fog, day after Thanksgiving. Way before GPS, cell phones etc. No compass, no food, no water. We ran aground and spent the night getting swarmed by mosquitos. 4 of us in a little cuddy cabin. In the morning a duck hunter came to our rescue and showed us how to walk out. My brother in law owned Excalibur, so we called the troops (mechanics) to replace the burned impeller and wait for high tide. Maybe a compass would have helped some but the fog was so thick we couldn't see the bow from the helm! Should have headed in sooner!

I love watching your videos!!!

A couple of points. 1. Put extra batteries in a vacuumed sealed bag. Anything steel tends to rust on a saltwater boat, even in a ditch bag. 2. Redundancies, two (or more gps’s, I have 3 on my boat), two vhf radios. One of each wired to separate batteries. Chances of battery/wiring problems are cut in half. 3. Returning on a reverse course isn’t always the correct answer, you may visit several fishing spots miles apart. Taking a gps on someone else’s boat should be discussed with the Captain, some are paranoid, you might loose your gps.

Thanks for the video. I like to take fishing charters and I always quietly try to know where I am in case something happens to captain. I hope this year to go Mahi fishing it’s on my bucket list.

thanks for sharing!

I miss Big Pine Key so much! I used to live there.

great information!

It's called "situational awareness..." I may be old school, but I would have paper charts of the area and some basic navigational tools, such as parallel rulers, dividers, etc.

Good info. Thanks.

Very informative video. I like it a lot!!! Keep up the good work Galeforcetwins❤❤

another very informative video!

Thanks for the info

Great video ladies.

Sun rises in the East and sets in the West. followed the sun home 👍🏾.

Just downloaded Navionics next step is definitely EPIRB i have ran my old boat a couple of times without GPS due to lighting storms messing with satellite connection but thanks to my trusty compass got home safe

Very helpful tips😃

I actually just joined Navionics as a back up to my Garmin a few weeks ago. Still learning how to use it but def a cool option

I'd put the compass as the first tool to have on a boat. It used to be a good practice to count the time between two way points. Let's say you sailed 24' on course 145 and than alter to 176 for another 30' where you dropped the anchor or start drifting. Going backwards 30' on course 356 and alter to 325 for another 24' it will bring you close (taking into account the drifting caused by the wind and current) to the area where you've start from. Nevertheless, all your suggestions are spot on and the one I love most is whenever you get lost, don't start guessing, take the shortest way to the land and from there make your way home.

How about a navigation chart? It would definitely help when you see some landmarks you haven't seen before as well as the depth of the water around you. The travel of the sun in your area and season will also be invaluable in case of an emergency at sea. Thanks for your channel and all the information you girls share. Regards. M

I was stranded in a Nor-Easter blizzard ,during the wreck of the Edman Fitzgerald in the Great lakes, That night I was in the No. East woods near Lake Erie, hunting. I used the compass in my pocket to get back to the road after dark. The forest in a blizzard is very confusing. Always keep a Compass nearby.

Nicely done. Two things you might consider: Lithium batteries......their shelf life is longer, last longer in use & they don't usually leak when they are dead. Also, a dedicated battery container.

Very good video

A compass ? I’m a little older than the girls but, i was trained with a compass and nautical charts a long time ago. Learned to chart a course......came into north port harbor years ago with my dad when unable to see bow of boat in the dark and fog. Dropped anchor and went swimming the next morning. No gps

Most phones have a compass app already on them if your boat compass is broken. Could come in handy if all other things fail.

Good ole days we had no EPIRB or GPS, no Loran C, no Radar, no auto pilot and we were running 80 to 100 miles off shore. We did plot on charts reverse courses from the places we fished. It was still a guess because of the drift north of the gulf stream fishing all day. We ran SE so we had to run some where between W to NW to get home.

Thanks for that type of video. Can you please do a video by going more into compass explanation? Like... can you please choose 2 different locations on the map set up the direction from one toward the other (you know that straight line in degrees) and then show in the boat on the compass how do you apply that line to get to the second point? I'm not quite sure what a green "wire" on your compass is and how to use it... I guess you already see where my problem with the compass is. My second question is... if there is an object on the sea which I need to sail on its west side for example and I'm looking into my compass how do I do that in reality? (it's easy with the finger on the map to do it but how do I do that on the sea how do I read the compass). You can choose whatever side you wish does not need to be west exactly. Don't know for the other viewers but I'd appreciate those 2 answers. I also have a 3rd question... how do you anchor the boat while in the current and the wind. How do you apply that in reality? Which one do you choose wind or current if they are not the same line? How do you know without measuring when you are 250m close to the shore (273 yds). At this distance, we're not allowed to glide anymore. So how do you determine that distance without measuring? What's the rule in Florida? how close to the shore can you still glide?

Great info!! Maybe give a compass class for dummies

A compass is great but in Florida you have the gulf stream which can really put you up north.

More important than a compass is knowing how to actually use it. If all your doing is heading N then you are very likely going to get lost. Especially if you are in unfamiliar waters or at night.

Awesome lady’s!!

Paper charts are a must too I reckon.

Yeah most people boating today, does not even know what a chart is. LOL I was running the gulfstream for at least 10 years before being drafted. I wanted to be a Navy pilot, but my eye sight was too poor. I did not think the Army would take me, I told the Army Dr. I had bad eyes, flat feet and hearing profile and his response was "That is ok son, All we are looking for are bodies to shove into our body bags, welcome to the US Army. I knew I was in deep trouble then. Scored high in math and they put me in calibration for redeye ground to air rockets and when I refused to re enlist they shoved me over on tug boats. Went though about 15 weeks of sea school and several weeks of chart navigation. We had tons of nav charts all over the world onboard the tug boats we were throwing away each month as the new ones came out. I looked at Fort useless recently, and I did not see any tug boats there anymore. I ran LUC and LCM there too. Running the LCU was strange with 3 shafts. You kick 2 throttles forward and one aft and through the steering in the opposite direction and it would crab side ways to the dock. I wish I had one now to cruise the Caribbean islands.

The best part about the compass is that it updates way faster than the gps! Steering by a compass is almost as easy as steering to landmarks and way easier than steering by the gps.

Title is about how to get home without GPS...2 of the solutions are using GPS. Handheld is GPS. Cell phone with Navionics is GPS. Compass with situational awareness (SA includes knowing landmarks) are the only non-GPS solutions presented. Having said that, two back up GPS c/w batteries is a very good start. A lot of people do not know you do not need cell service for cell phone GPS to work, great that they mentioned it.

Amanda, Emily very informative video loved it , be safe and always have fun , #AFANALWAYS

Good video but you should explain what Epirb is and how it works.

Paper charts....that's how I learned to keep track of where I had been and where I was going

Always have a compass.first rule. Second rule ,always have a compass.On a clear night know where Polaris is, a sunny day, sun rises in the East. Third , moss grows on the shady side of the tree.🤣 generally the North or South, but try to find a tree out there.

I've had an old GPS and an old compass mess with each other and give conflicting info. Both were trashed and bought new. Always, always, always have good equipment and plenty of backup equipment. Can never be too safe, especially when life is on the line. 🤣 No pun intended

hey twins, great video. off topic question: what was the fuel cost for you to do this video? miles traveled?

I would have added having a paper map of the area your in as well. With a map and compass you can navigate anywhere.

I know a lot of Gulf fisherman than run 70 or 80 miles offshore and never think of backup navigations .

PS from JoeB note on Duracell batteries.....Twins, check the batteries in your hand held devices....GPS, Hand held vhf, satalight phones etc. It is only the Duracell brand with this leakage feature. I have used Duracell batteries for almost 60 years and always swore by them,,. My Dish Network serviceman said they use Energizer. Interestingly, I have purchases maybe 2 dozen mini LED lights from Walmart. The latest use Cree bulbs and are fantastic, . They use 3 AAA batteries and cost 10.00 for 10. Cheaper than the cost os 3 AAA replacement batteries. All use Chinese batteries and none have shown leakage. The are so cheap i give them away to anyone servicing an appliance or crawling under the house to service HVAC equipment. A couple are in esch center console in the vehicles. They are also wonderful stocking stuffers for Kids and the 4 grandkids. You grandads can thank me later...the Gale twins might want to check all their survival battery powered equipment. As qualification to be giving advice on boating and batteries , etc, I am 85 years old and moved my Trojan F36 down from Lake George Ny to the NC Albemarle Sound on the water, in Jan ‘99 partially in dense fog, no Radar, just a Garmin 45, one of Garmin’s original GPS devices. 8 days, 800 miles, 800 gal gas. F36 was 18,000 lbs, 13 ft beam, twin 300 hp Crusaders. No radar. Lost an engine offshore due to no wake wash clam shell protection on tank vents. Water washing from a NW wind wash into the port gas tank and the port engine did not like it. Used the Garmin to pull into Atlantic City in dense fog. Changes a waypoint about 20 miles from Atlantic City to the last outside buoy outside AC inlet. Put in a waypoint to the middle of the AC inlet channel. Turned on the buoy within 50 ft. Hit the center of the inlet. Wire thought we were going aground as she could heard that sounded like surf. 2 qts of dry gas at the AC ship store. Fixed the problem. A sailboater at the dick wanted to know where our “clamshells” were. HUH? On lake George the boats apparently didn’t have wave wash protection like Ocean going boats did. And my Trojan didn’t either. The point of all this gabbing on Duracell Batteries and Hand held electronics is this....LEARN FROM OTHER PEOPLES MISTAKES AND MISFORTUNES. It’S FAR CHEAPER AND SAFER THAN LEARNING FROM YOUR OWN ERRORS IN JUDGEMENT. Be safe out there. Check those batteries. Especially you two GALE twins. We love your videos . JoeB

ladies all very good points! but what about charts and knowing how to read them. these will get you home tks jm

Thanks for all you do. For some reason I thought the cell phone’s used triangulation from the cell phone signals rather than true GPS from satellites. If so, the phone app would only work where you have cell phone coverage.

Can y’all please do a video about and with river

Hey love you guys keep up the work

Dear Gale Twins, excellent video. In addition can you make a marine radio basic use, I am new to boating and want to be prepare to use one. Also does the Navionics app requires payment?

How about binocs or other optical aid to see landmarks from offshore?

Bad ass as always haha

a very primitive but effective method would be to have a needle magnetized at one end and a small piece of cork on the boat, the magnetized tip always points north, but a little sense of direction should be

The metal on your boat looks great is it new or what polish do you use?

A compass is most important. And knowing how to use it. So many people don't know direction itsa shame

Make sure you have a compass first. Keep your phone charged and bring a battery pack to recharge in case your boat system dies.

"red sky at night sailors delight. red sky in the morning sailors take warning." - THAT'S ALL I GOT / =

What do you two Captains think of the new Orca 4g cellular navigation aide ???