From:
To:
on the Trip Planner map in a Google Maps window

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Search for a location by name:
Search

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Distance along track	mi	km	Nm
As the crow flies	mi	km	Nm
From
To
Start Over

Measuring distance along a track

Follow the instructions below to draw a track on the map. The distance along the track and the coordinates of the endpoints will appear in the table above as you draw.

• Draw a rough outline of the track by clicking points on the map. A rubber-band dotted line will follow the cursor as you draw. Click the final point a second time to finish drawing.
• To refine the track, drag any of the white squares which appear when the cursor is over the track. Dragging a solid white square repositions an existing bend or endpoint; dragging a transluscent white square creates a new bend. Hint: to follow the coastline, drag squares to the points and coves along your path.
• To remove a bend from the track, click its solid white square.
• To extend the track without moving any of the existing bends, click either endpoint and resume drawing.
• Click the Start Over button to erase the current track and start a new one.

If you switch to another tab (e.g. Tides or Weather) the track will temporarily disappear from the map, but it will come back again when you switch back to the Measure tab.

To Change Views

There are standard Google Maps controls near the top of the map.

• Zoom/Pan Controls (upper left side of the map):
  • Drag the slider bar up to zoom in and down to zoom out.
  • Click the + button at the top of the slider to zoom in.
  • Click the – button at the bottom of the slider to zoom out.
  • Click any of the arrow buttons to move the view in the direction of the arrow.
  • Click the hand to return to the location that was displayed when the page first opened.
• Map Type Buttons (upper right side of the map):
  • Map: Map view with streets and highways.
  • Satellite: Satellite image. Click it and you'll get a checkbox which controls whether streets and highways are shown.
  • Terrain: Shaded relief map with main street/highway overlay.
  • Traffic: This shows the current traffic conditions of major highways.
• Drag Mouse: Drag the map view to a new location by placing the mouse over any part of the map, pressing and holding down the left mouse button, and dragging the mouse across the page.
• Overview: In the lower-right corner of the map is a miniature map with a blue rectangle in the middle. The blue rectangle represents the area displayed on the big map - drag it to move the view. You may also drag the overview background until the blue rectangle encloses the desired view. To hide the overview window, click the small white square in the lower-right corner.
• Click Icon: Click any icon and it will move to the center of the map. Click it again and a brief description of the location will pop up.
• Show or Hide Icons: Click an icon in the map key beneath the map to hide all icons of that type; click it again to show them.
  • Tides: Tide height prediction stations.
  • Currents: Tidal current prediction stations.
  • Put-Ins: Kayak access points.
  • Destinations: Interesting places to go in your kayak.
  • Meeting Places: Places on land where kayakers meet.
  • Aerial Photo (normally hidden - click to show): There is only one Aerial Photo icon, but you can drag it anywhere on the map. A thumbnail-sized aerial photo of the nearby coastline will pop up. Click on the thumbnail to open a new window with a larger image. Photos are provided by the California Coastal Records Project.
    Note: Currently no images are available for the SF Bay shoreline.

To Display Location Data

Hover the mouse over any icon to see a tooltip identifying it. Click the icon to display associated weather, tide, and current information on the tabbed sheets to the right of the map. The selected icon will move to the center of the map, and a dot will appear inside it to indicate that it has been selected.

• Tides Tab: A text table of tides or currents, below a graph of the same data. On current graphs, positive (blue) values are flood currents, negative (green) values are ebb currents. Use the clickable text between the graph and the tables to get a prediction for another day, or to select how many days of predictions are displayed.
  The red cursor line on the graph corresponds to the red entry in the tables; click on another table entry or another part of the graph to move the cursor.
  Note: The tide and current predictions are done by XTide, using data from a variety of sources, some official and some not-so-official. Most of the current predictions inside SF Bay are based on unofficial data. Click the Details tab to see where we got the prediction data.
• Weather Tab: The NOAA marine forecast for the selected icon is displayed. The banner at the top shows the current weather conditions for a nearby city, according to Weather Underground.
• Details Tab: A brief description of the selected location. For tide and current stations, you'll see a description of the TCD data on which predictions are based.
• Directions: Get driving directions to or from the selected location. You have the choice of displaying the suggested route either on the Trip Planner map or on a separate Google Maps window. Google Maps has some useful features which are not available in the Trip Planner, including future traffic predictions, public transit directions, and Street View photos.
• Search Tab: Type something into the text box and click the Search button. The list of all locations matching your text will be displayed. Click any of the results to select that location. The Tides, Weather, and Details tabs will now show data for the selected location.
• Measure Tab: Measure distances along a track, and get GPS coordinates of points on the map. See instructions on the tab page.
• Help Tab: You're looking at it now!

Saving and Sharing your Session

Click the Save link, to the right of the Help tab. This will pop up a dialog containing two items: a text box which you can copy and paste from, and a clickable link. They each contain the entire state of your session, including the map view, the selected icon, the selected tab, and (optionally) the tide prediction dates and your From address in the Directions tab. Copy and paste from the text box into email, for example, to send a link to this page to someone else. If you want to bookmark the session in your browser, click the link, wait for the page to reload, then bookmark it. Check the "Use tinyurl.com" checkbox to shorten the link using the services of tinyurl.com.