Navigation:

NAVIGATION.  To keep it straight forward and simple, most of the prep. work and tech setup will be done by me (Johannes) before the charge. What I do need is for everyone to understand some navigation basics,...and that is a tad more than steering a Harley to the next dive! :P But you all seem like hands-on kinda guys so i'm sure you will pick it up quick. 

NAV Basics: (with the use of modern GPS devices everyone can be an expert in no time! No complex triangulation calculations needed)

1. Know where you are! (don't get lost, we need to finish as a team)

   • Either you are close to the car or you are out in the bush. If you are in the Bush you should have a constant idea where the car, and for at least one other team member to know where you are. If you have a Garmin GPS handheld device you can quickly see your position and direction to our next way-point. So if you loose your orientation just follow the direction of the next way-point.

   • In the heat of the moment it can happen that the car charges onward without confirming that everyone is accounted for. So just make a habit of knowing where people are, so no "marine is left behind"!

2. Know where where the next way-point/guard-post is.

   • Especially the Driver (Ed), the Navigator (JJ), and the forerunners (Johannes & James) must have a detailed awareness of the way-points (intermediary points to the main guard-posts), guard-posts, and main obstacles. The communication and coordination between these members must be clear and concise. It is Captain Edward who will digest all this information and take the best line forward.

Seems quite straight forward, but we have lost orientation a number of times on the charge. This is where our Navigator is key to keeping an overview of where we've been and where we are going. So JJ these next point are directed at you. With all the gear set-up before the charge we will be able to focus on the Route Planning the night before the charge.

• Route Planing is where we take the coordinated from the Drivers Briefing, and plot some 12-15 GUARD POSTS onto our map, one of which will be our STARTING POINT. Then we use a number of tools to find the best route to cover all GUARD POSTS in the SHORTEST DISTANCE possible. This ROUTE will be drawn on the map and this route will be transferred to all GPS devices.

• Route Notes is a Leg-by-Leg description of our Route Plan, showing a map section of that leg, the way-points that lead us to the next Guard Post, and any obstacles to watch out for. The Route notes is one of the KEY reference points of the Navigator, to keep us on track.

• Navigators GPS will allow the Navigator to keep track of where the car is, where is has been, and which heading to follow to get to the next way-point/guard post.

  • Route: the route is a pre-set combination of way-points and guard posts that defines the shortest designated route for the car to follow. This is like a Navigation Software in your car/bike which directs you where to go.

  • Way-Points: these are saved coordinates which we have chosen in the Route Planning to guide us from one Guard Post to the next. As we cannot always follow a straight line from one Guard Post to the next, because of large obstacles like gorges, cliffs, hills, or washouts, we need the way-points to guide us around these large obstacles.

  • Track: the track is a record of where the car has been, and plots its movement over ground onto the map, to show us the exact line we have gone. This allows the Navigator to ensure we are "on-route" so that the TRACK is a close on top of our planned ROUTE. This will minimize the distance we cover, and avoid us veering off our route.

  • Active Routing: Since "shit happens", especially in the bush, we sometimes need to change the Route. This can be done in a number of ways:

    • Changing to other EXISTING way-point. If we want to skip, or target another way-point for any reason you will need to find the saved name of the way-point on the route notes, then find it in the saved way-points list in the GPS, and set it as the new active way-point target.

    • Changing to a NEW way-point. if we get a radio call from a forerunner telling us he found the entry-point to the next Guard Post, we can enter his given coordinates and target that NEW way-point directly.

    • Back Tracking can be done if we get to a point where we cannot proceed with out planned route, and we need to back track on our track to get back to a certain point. We will have to select our current track and select it to follow it in reverse.

There are many more details we can discuss moving forward or once you land in Kenya, but these are the basics. I would strongly recommend everyone comes with a GPS Handheld device, as it is a practical tool you can use in many aspects of outdoor life. The basic version Garmin eTrex 20x starts at about 100 USD and can be bought on Amazon or at the local outdoors shop. This is lightweight and can do the job on the day. We have the basic setup for Navigator and Driver. JJ, or anyone else have questions about this or would like to organize a phone call to discuss some of these points feel free to reach out to me.  I have attached a Google Earth screen shot of our Route in purple and actual Track in yellow from our Charge in 2015. As you can see it is not always easy to keep our track on route!📷

Another interesting read, and important to understand for the Charge is how the UTM Coordinate system works, rather than the traditional LAT/LONG system. Details below.

UTM Notes

At the Rhino Charge event all coordinates are given in the UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) coordinate system. It is important to understand the system so that it will be easier to navigate the course.

UTM is basically a map grid system which designates meter locations rather than traditional Long.

Lat. Locations by degrees. This can be useful on smaller distance map sections where is is easier to

relate to meters and kilometers rather than minutes and seconds of the Degree format.

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In short, it creates a rectangular cutout of the world (using the Mercator projection) and allocates

a "quadrant" segmentation via numbers on the x-axis (Eastings) and letters on the y-axis (Northings),

which is then known as the GRID Zone in the form of i.e. 36M.

At the Equator the meter count starts counting North at 0,000,001 m and counting South from

10,000,000... where one meter South of the Equator is 9,999,999 m. There are 60 numbered Grid

Zones each 6 Degrees of the Globe (60 x 6 degrees = 360). Depending on what Latitude you are on

the globe the Grid Zone will be skewed differently, because of the Mercator projection. In Kenya the 37M will start at 166,000m at the wester grid border and range until 833,000m to the eastern grid boarder. Since we are close to the equator the grid is 667,000m across x 60 grids = 40,020,000m, which is the circumference of the Equator around the earth. In Russia, near Moscow the Grid Zone 37V will start at 315,000m and range to 686,000m. The importance of this is that you have to stay mindful where your Grid Zone changes to the next. If the Rhino Charge takes place on a Grid Zone border you will have to be mindful to change the Grid Zone accordingly, which will not be clearly evident by the grid numbers given by the organizers.

On the given UTM Map given for the Event, it will give you the Grid Zone and then the meter grid reference lines creating smaller quadrants on the map. Depending on the Scale of the Map these quadrants will give you a square of a specific scale, such as 1,000m or 10,000m etc. You can then use the RAW coordinates, two 4 digit numbers for East and North, to locate the point on the map. Here it is IMPORTANT to notice, that the 4 digit coordinates are not scaled to 1m accuracy, but 10m. As the UTM Map is scaled to 1m it is important to add a zero to the 4 digit number to give its actual meter specific value. i.e. 0902 will represent 09,020m and not 0909m.

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