Has anyone heard the term, "magnetic disturbance"? Here's a bit of info from the Green Bay sectional aeronautical chart (published by the FAA), which covers the BWCA.

"Magnetic disturbance of as much as 12 degrees exists at ground level between Tower and Ely" . . . as much as 18 degrees . . . from Duluth to Grand Marias".

I'm certain it has to do with the iron ore in the region. Compass error will be constant in a given area, therefore local deviation can be recorded and noted on your maps. Plot a straight line course and read the heading from your GPS. Subtract the difference of the GPS heading to what the compass reads to get the deviation.

-YB

PRATICE before you go!

This means with new gear, new techniques (setups with that tarp), and as Bannock already said, new recipes.

Wind sailors "weed" rule brings to mind the following story!!
My first trip to the BW 20 yrs ago or more was with 6 other guys.
This was the trip with the "topless" college paddlers
3 of the guys were from Atlanta, with one having Mi roots and is how the other two came on the trip.

DAN, and one of the Atlanta guys are/were hard living guys!!
Were all children of the sixties but other than some cannabis, by then I was basically a beer guy.
One night we get into camp and DAN and his paddling buddy announced out of  the blue that they don't like the chosen campsite and are going to camp on a island about 1/4 mi away.
Seemed strange to me because we had just caught a mess of lakers and they wanted to leave?

I didn't make to much of an effort to change there mind because Dan's paddling buddy and one of the Mi boys had developed a instant dislike for each other and had almost come to blows!
So they paddled over sans trout and promised to be back in morning for breakfast and early start.
We had a great meal(first laker for me) and enjoyed a nice campfire.
We could see there fire as well and what seemed like a WHOLE lot of flashlight use around the campfire and some loud unintelligible sounds late into the night??
Well morning came and they didn't show?? We paddled over to find them still in tents.
Of course we were pissed and rudely got them up and then the REAL truth came out!!

Seems like Dan's buddy had brought some Columbian nose candy on the trip!!
Somewhere in the area of a 1/4 ounce!!
And being the kind of guy's they were they figured(wrongly i might add)that we would want some and so they concocted that story to keep it all for themselves
Well the irony of that plan is that somehow while setting  up camp and "snorting", they lost the "candy"!!
The flashlight use was there futile attempt to find it!!!
Well the rest of us laughed our collective butts off and when they asked  us to search with them refused and laughed even harder!!
We had the maps, and so they were forced to leave there precious illicit cargo and suffer derision and ridicule the rest of the trip!!
Over the years I always wondered what happened to it??
I NOW have a theory of what happened??

In the recent post"WHAT IS THIS" there was a freaked out picture of some poor woodland creature that looked like mother natures version of a strung out coke head!!
CSI BW/Q mystery solved!!!

86 - Avoid pitching your tent in a depression, a drainage valley, or the lowest flat spot in camp.


102 - In the tropics: Do not pitch your tent under coconut bearing palms.  Or in a patch of "sand burs". Or on top or even near a fire ant nest.  Be sure you have no-see-um proof screen.

MERRY CHRISTMAS !   

Quote Yellowbird:"Has anyone heard the term, "magnetic disturbance"? Here's a bit of info from the Green Bay sectional aeronautical chart (published by the FAA), which covers the BWCA.

"Magnetic disturbance of as much as 12 degrees exists at ground level between Tower and Ely" . . . as much as 18 degrees . . . from Duluth to Grand Marias".

I've conducted magnetic and electromagnetic surveys in N. MN and the iron formations and other ore bodies definately have an influence and cause anomolies on the EM field.  That's how geologists find ore deposits.  The technology developed during WWII that was used for submarine hunters.  The classic tell tale sign is to look at USGS maps and see the deviations of the grid lines across the formations.