The Porta-Bote proved to be an excellent platform upon which to build the world’s first fishing boat for the blind.  It’s light weight, stability and handling were crucial to the deployment and trialing of the various electronic systems.  It’s only down side rests with the

There are Blind Sailing clubs in over eight different countries.  I’ve incorporated many of their same safety regimes into my own field trial practices.  The main issues are safety to those on the boat and others on the water.  For this reason, having sighted spotters to serve as back-ups is

Three days of GPS Trekker trials on Black Lake, next to Sharbot Lake Provincial Park, were carried out in Late August.  The weather was warm and still, and the body of water chosen for the trials was small and calm.  In other words, the conditions were excellent for determining  the

Further trials were carried out over the July long weekend on Mississippi Lake.  Several talking compasses have now been tested and have provided similar results.  Both talking compasses trialed require that the user position the unit almost perfectly at the horizontal for them to work

In June we camped for four days at Voyager Provincial park on the Ottawa River near Hoxburry.  The field trials were intended to test the Porta-bote and Minn Kota in waters with extensive weed growth.  I wanted to test the Boat’s handling in weedy water, and to determine if the motor had the

This year, for the first time since the “Blind Anglers International Tournament” (BAIT) http://ca.geocities.com/justgerry@rogers.com/bait commenced in 1988, I was the first fisher without sight to compete alone in his/her own boat. Needless-to-say, my participation was the source of