I’m planning a four night San Juan trip coming up soon and am trying to account for everything. The currents, the winds, the sun, meals, other activities, preferences of the friends we’re going with, everything.

Of course I was doing this after a full day’s work so my brain stopped working at some point. The timing just didn’t seem to work on one of the jaunts until I realized (third time’s a charm!) I’d switched the ebb and flood and instead of fighting the current coming back we’d have an extra couple knots floating us back.

That’s when we decided to turn on a movie.

The Imitation Game.

And I realized he had a way harder problem to solve than me and the ramifications were worse than being swept out to sea.

What kayaker wouldn’t feel like Alan Turing while deciphering the enigma of currents and routes?

Then I realized he built a computer to solve his problem, which led to a great backup if my calculations can’t keep up with all the variations.

There’s an app for that.