Kayak return to start

The main feature I bought the watch for doesn't work the way I think it should: Kayak-Return to Start-Straight line. When I select that it briefly gives me the screen I want (the map view with the breadcrumb trail and the straight line back to the starting point) but in about 10 seconds or so it changes to a screen that just says "Arriving at straight line" with an exclamation point in the little round window, and then it reverts to the timer screen. If I go back to the map screen the breadcrumb trail is there but the straight line is gone. Is there a way to get that straight line view to stay there? I had a Support Chat session and the guy told me that is just the way it is programmed. I go kayak fishing in the ocean, and if fog rolls in I want to be able to go straight back to the starting point. There is sort of a work-around: if instead of selecting the activity "Kayak" I select "Walk" when I go kayaking, it works fine. But then if I save it on Garmin Connect it looks like I claim to walk on water! Anyway, I guess it isn't a fatal flaw but it is annoying. Has anyone come up with a better solution?

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 3 years ago

    It's not a solution for the Kayaking app, but a precaution in case you're out on the water and fog comes in.  Save your starting point and use the navigation app to go back to that point.  I don't own an Instinct, but I see there's also an app called Tracback.  I'm not sure what metrics you might lose using this as opposed to the Kayak app. 

  • Thanks. The TracBack features takes you back the same way you came. Anyway, it isn't a huge problem (I also carry a regular old-fashioned compass, and the watch has a compass. Also my brother has a fishfinder with GPS in his kayak). It is really just a minor annoyance. And a slight frustration in that it shows me the screen I want for about 10 seconds, then that disappears; it is taunting me. Oh well, first world problems...

  • That certainly sounds like a bug in the Kayak activity.  My last kayaking trip, I used my fenix6 and I think I used in the same fashion and thought it worked fine.  I'll try with my Instinct to see if I get the same results as you have.