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When you have family that might worry ...

Sven

Sven

Seglare
When we set out in La Petite we always leave a "cruise plan" with a friend or relative. Usually we say when we expect to be able to call in and we give instructions of when to call for help if we don't call.

A better alternative that we have been experimenting with over the last few months is Spot, a fairly inexpensive unit which kind of works like a GPIRB, but for web-based non-emergencies tracking as well as emergencies. It has a built-in GPS and can send messages via satellite from most of the world. To get the details go to http://findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=1100 and see what the company says.

Now that we have used it for one crossing to Catalina and a number of trips to San Diego we can recommend it to others who might have relatives they would like to keep informed about their safety.

The user interface is not perfectly engineered and initial activation was a pain in our case, the shared website server is also down for maintenance from time to time (does not impact "help" or "911" services). It runs off lithium (only ?) batteries and can not be hardwired. It needs a relatively unobstructed view of the sky.

The shared webpage is kind of neat. San Diego drive example: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0JiV9BZ8bbCyBbE0qoybcYJqRlMxOhrYS

The e-mail announcing that we are ok and where we are at a push of a button is even better.


Despite its imperfections we still really like it.


We have no interest in Spot other than as customers.



-Sven
 
R

rgoff

Member III
I used SPOT extensively in my RV travels the last 6 months. Since I don't travel on a schedule, I can't tell my kids where I'll be. Also, I usually change campsites every day. Every time I get to a campsite I press the "OK" button on my SPOT and my kids get an email with a Google Map link to my exact location.

I've only had problems with the report getting to them when I've been in the mountains with heavy tree coverage of the sky. The GPS part works OK then, but the message sent to their satellite doesn't get there (blocked by the trees).

When I made a recent boat trip from Dana Point, CA to Oceanside and back I sent a msg when I was halfway and also one when I reached port.

I highly recommend this unit. It's very reasonably priced for what you get, I think. Note: No connection to the company. Just a satisfied user.
 
R

rwthomas1

Sustaining Partner
While I understand the premise and I'm quite certain that some people will want a device like this, I'll never have one. Call me a Luddite, etc. but there is such a thing as being too connected. The last thing I want when I am on my boat is people knowing exactly where I am. Perish the thought, I turn the cellphone off too. I file float plans and several designated people know where I am going and for how long but thats it. If I ever start going far enough I'll get an EPIRB. My occupation can be several orders of magnitude more dangerous than sailing, which statistically is a pretty low risk activity, nobody needs to know where I am at work every day so they don't need to know where I am recreating either. Its just another electronic leash. But maybe thats just me..... RT
 
E

Emerald

Moderator
Luddites unite

I must also be a luddite. I can't stand being connected 24/7, and my job has me stuck behind a connection device (computer) too much of the time. One of the things I love much about sailing is gazing off in whatever direction shore may be, and thinking something along the lines of I'm here, they're not, they can't find me or get me, the office is another world away, and the cell phone my office requires me to carry is safely down below in a bag where I can't possibly hear it ring. Family can't get me either... :egrin:
 
M

Mike.Gritten

Member III
I dunno' guys! SPOT messenger is not really designed to help me (us/you/the sailor), it's for those who might otherwise worry about us/me/you. I think that this is a GREAT way to tell those folks that I'm okay WITHOUT resorting to one of my electronic "leashes". Remember, it only does its little trick when I press the appropriate button and then it only informs those folks that I have predetermined before leaving. I like the fact that I could program an emergency notification that could send help to my exact Lat & Long. Without getting into a discussion on the "ethics" of calling for help, this is a very economical way of getting some of the benefits of EPIRB's and some remote tracking capabilities for less than 20% of the cost of an EPIRB. I have it on my Xmas list this year. :)
 
Sven

Sven

Seglare
Mike.Gritten said:
...
WITHOUT resorting to one of my electronic "leashes".
...
Click to expand...

Exactly. This is a one-way communication. You don't call someone to tell them you are ok only to have them tell you that your dog ran away and you have to come home.

You push a button and they either get an e-mail that says that you are ok, or if you push one of the other buttons it tells them you need some degree of help. This is anti-leash technology.


-Sven (who shuts his cell phone off and doesn't bring a laptop to the boat)
 
E

Emerald

Moderator
Okay Okay, I concede that it's a cool technology and one button push to let them know you're OK beats having to actually talk to them, but I'm still not quite ready to crawl out from underneath the bridge I live under and start cooking the fish I wrangle out of the icy stream with my bare hands with that open flame stuff. :devil:
 
R

rwthomas1

Sustaining Partner
Like I said, some people will find these devices of value and if they do then I guess its your money and well spent. For me? Nope, I stand by my comments. RT
 
Stardust38

Stardust38

Member I
That seems like something that might be worth getting. My grandmother is very worried about us living aboard and cruising. If I can have something that will notify her that all is well, even when out of phone or internet range, then that would be great.
 
msFootrope

msFootrope

Moderator
Moderator
Spot Friends

We are friends with a couple (Michael and Karen) who do a three- to six-week cruise every summer (he does six weeks; she does three weeks). This year they invested $99 for a year of Spot coverage. They decided they would send via e-mail a location every time they set the anchor somewhere. It was really cool being able to track their trip and see all the neat locations they were visiting. But the main reason they invested in the Spot was because when Karen flew home from the Gulf Islands (B.C., Canada), Michael was able to let her know that he was settled in somewhere safe each night (after Karen left, he was single-handling the boat). In past years, she was home wondering how he was doing; this year she was able to track his trip and know he was having fun. Cell phones were only an option in emergencies because of the costs involved when calling from Canada. They did mention that the Spot had some issues if you needed it in an actual emergency because there was often a 20 to 30 minute delay before your location was noted and sent out, as well as needed a line of sight to the satellites (sometimes an issue when they were docked in certain coves surrounded by high expances of land). However, as two of the people who received the daily (or sometimes twice daily) e-mails, it was fun to watch them traverse the islands.
 
Sven

Sven

Seglare
Original batteries !

My first post at the top was 22 months ago. While we certainly don't use Spot every time we go out I'm still astounded that we are still using the same two Lithium batteries ... either very efficient electronics (beaming signals to satellites every 20 minutes !) or outstanding batteries, or both.



-Sven
 
Stardust38

Stardust38

Member I
It seems like it. I looked under settings and it had places I could click to link to Facebook and Twitter. I figured that would get the word we were okay to more people than just the 10 e-mail/cell phone contacts we could choose.
 
R

rwthomas1

Sustaining Partner
People seem to think these things are cool, or offer some measure of reassurance to "loved ones" etc. but I just don't see it. What exactly is the point of pressing a button to let someone "know where you are" when there IS NOT AN EMERGENCY? Who is to say that some 30 seconds after that "I'm okay button is pressed" something really nasty happens? How did pushing the button help in any way? What if the anchor drags in a squall, you have a massive heart attack or you get run down but a commercial fisherman asleep at the wheel? Did the "feel good" button really do anything other than make already paranoid people sleep better? Let them pay for therapy, not my SPOT fees.

Its just a "feel good" idea with no real merit outside of broadcasting an ACTUAL emergency.

I have a real resistance to the latest social trends of letting everyone know where you are, what you are doing, thinking, etc. each and every second of the day. No one is that important and more importantly its in direct opposition to one of the primary benefits of sailing. The release from terrestrial bonds.

I don't get it and never will.

RT
 
E

Emerald

Moderator
I agree with you on not being into the social trend stuff, but I figure as an accessory in conjunction with traditional signaling devices, its distress signal capability has some appeal as an all terrain EPIRB, sorta. But for the record, I still live under a bridge and wrestle raw things out of the water to eat with my teeth (see my earlier post(s) if this makes no sense).

:egrin:
 
Stardust38

Stardust38

Member I
Yes, 30 seconds after the button press something could happen. But that's the same in anything at all in life. If I were ashore and called my grandmother on the phone, something could happen when I hang up from her. I was fine when I had just spoken to her and then something happened after the fact. Maybe it's because I'm living on my boat that having a way to let people that care about me know that I'm doing okay, and being able to do it without using a ton of minutes on a cell phone, or being able to do it when I'm out of range of things like phone or internet, can really help those who are concerned for myself and my family. I understand that you view sailing as a way to get away from it all and not deal with being always connected. I view it as a way to go forth and see more of the world, to be more connected to the world around me than I have ever been. To see places I have only ever heard of, or spoken to people from. I'm sorry if that doesn't make sense to you or you can't understand it, but you really don't have to. Just know that in my case, friends and family have asked that I keep in touch and let them know what's going on with us and this is another tool that I have at my disposal to do just that.
 
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