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Chris71

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I would like for my children to be able to track me on my journey from home, in case of incapacitating emergencies. I will be all over the Bahamas. What is the least expensive, simplest system to allow that?
 
Chris71 said:
I would like for my children to be able to track me on my journey from home, in case of incapacitating emergencies. I will be all over the Bahamas. What is the least expensive, simplest system to allow that?
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I used to have a system called Skymate on my fishing boat that my wife could access on her computer and see on a chart exactly where I was and tracking as well, I could even message her through it when I was out. I don't remember the cost as I had to have it for my fishing permit. I also don't know their coverage but they have a website.
 
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Hi Chris,
I am not able to answer all of your questions as to best, least expensive, etc. However, this past summer we used a Garmin InReach to communicate, obtain weather forecasts, and to allow friends and family to track our progress in real time on our 1500 mile voyage to the Alaska border and back to Nanaimo. I found it easy to use, and they allow you to "suspend service" when you are not boating so you only pay for the months when you are actually using it. It is satellite based, so should work in most places and we had no issues with it.
Hope that helps, at least a bit,
Tom
 
Get them an App for their phone, Boatbeacon. It costs ($10 a few yrs ago maybe more now). Then leave your AIS turned on.
 
If you do not have an AIS transponder then the Garmin InReach is a great way for you to control who can track you and who can communicate with you. We turn ours on for about one month a year. It allows us to communicate with the office even when we’re are out of cell or WiFi range.
 
The new Spot X is cheaper and you can turn it on and off for 30 days at a time.

Bill
Double-Wide
 
Until more reviews are in, I'd question the reliability of the Spot X tracking. It was quite unreliable on the original Spot, and quite reliable on the inReach. Recent changes: inReach has been bought by Garmin, which always seems to make things less reliable, and the Spot X is supposed to have verified position reporting which they lacked before (reports were sent in the blind). Initial reviews on Spot X not encouraging.

I've used an inReach all over the US, up into Canada, and down to the Exumas, with perfect reliability.
 
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Which is the best for last known position in case your transmitting unit has become operable for a time period?
 
DDW said:
Until more reviews are in, I'd question the reliability of the Spot X tracking. It was quite unreliable on the original Spot, and quite reliable on the inReach. Recent changes: inReach has been bought by Garmin, which always seems to make things less reliable, and the Spot X is supposed to have verified position reporting which they lacked before (reports were sent in the blind). Initial reviews on Spot X not encouraging.

I've used an inReach all over the US, up into Canada, and down to the Exumas, with perfect reliability.
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The InReach when it works is impressive. But it is indeed less than 100% reliable. One total hardware failure in about 30 days of use. The replacement unit requires too much tech support from Garmin to keep it working. The marine weather forecasts (one of the main reasons I chose the InReach) are not worth the trouble. Nearly all the time when I ask for a forecast the system tells me I need to ask for a forecast over a large body of water, this when I'm 20 + miles off shore in the Pacific.

I have for a very long time used Garmin products with confidence. The InReach is changing my mind.
 
Phone app or web site to track AIS is easy and a good way to go. But it only works when your boat is within range of a shore station that picks up AIS signals and pushes them up to the web. I'm not familiar with the Bahamas but there are big portions of the west coast where you go "dark". People tracking you get worried for no good reason.
 
Be aware that nothing is absolutely guaranteed to work 100% of the time. Position fixes may be missed now and then. Your children need to understand this, and not panic if you miss one or two fixes. Nor should they call out SAR just because of one or two missed fixes. When you are overdue at your next destination by a meaningful amount, THAT'S when they should call out SAR!
 
denverd0n said:
Be aware that nothing is absolutely guaranteed to work 100% of the time. Position fixes may be missed now and then. Your children need to understand this, and not panic if you miss one or two fixes. Nor should they call out SAR just because of one or two missed fixes. When you are overdue at your next destination by a meaningful amount, THAT'S when they should call out SAR!
Click to expand...


Excellent points. I don't know if you want to be this formal but here's how I do it:

  • Designated contact shore side, with backup person. I provide them with all of the relevant contact info and instructions on what to do.
  • A "no later than" report-in time daily. I like 11:30 AM their local time. It just seems to work.
  • Daily report includes a note about boat and personnel status, location if not using a tracking device and general plan for the next 24 hrs.
This procedure has saved my butt once and keeps all ashore well informed.
 
Have the red Garmin Inreach and used it for my Great Loop trip in 2017. Unit performed flawlessly with tracking set fot every 10 minutes. Used the text messaging feature in maybe a dozen locations when cell signal wasn't available. That feature is also very good, but not the same speed as cellular, 30 minutes to an hour typically.

Ted
 
Chris71 said:
I would like for my children to be able to track me on my journey from home, in case of incapacitating emergencies. I will be all over the Bahamas. What is the least expensive, simplest system to allow that?
Click to expand...

I think you have two distinctly separate requirements.

One is for emergencies in which case: EPIRB + PLB.

Another is for tracking your vessel. Since it would be out of sight of cellular towers, you'd need something satellite-based. We took a spot with us across the Gulf of Mexico and it did not work that well. I would recommend a professional grade sat tracker. Won't be cheap and there will be an on-going monthly cost.
 
We also used the IN Reach this past summer cruising in BC, through the Broughtons. Worked as advertised, with extensive use of texting, and we were tracked by friends and family that were interested. Upon our return, we had it turned off.

Bill
 
I wouldn't call the inReach hardware completely reliable, it is a consumer electronics device and they do fail. However the position reporting between Spot and inReach are different animals. The inReach uses the Iridium constellation of satellites, global coverage and proven reliable (this is the system that is used and paid for by the US military). Spot uses the Globalstar constellation which has been unreliable (in fact, it's failure as a voice system is what gave birth to Spot). The inReach sends a position report and asks the satellite for confirmation of receipt. The original Spot sent it a few times and hoped it was received. Often it was not. More recently, Globalstar had launched some new satellites and the Spot X is supposed to close the loop on position transmissions. Early reviews suggest is it still lacking in reliability, must have a completely clear sky view, etc. I typically run my inReach inside, under the carbon fiber dodger or if in the glider, inside the carbon fuselage and it still has no trouble reporting reliably.

Garmin has a history of not supporting their own products (I've thrown out 3 Garmin GPS units now due to dropping support), also a history of acquiring companies and ruining them. Their most recent acquisitions (Navionics, inReach, and Active Captain) are already suffering. For that reason I hope the Spot X is successful.
 
Chris71 said:
I would like for my children to be able to track me on my journey from home, in case of incapacitating emergencies. I will be all over the Bahamas. What is the least expensive, simplest system to allow that?
Click to expand...

Neglecting the actual passages; get Life360. free. You already prolly have international data roaming plan?
 
Skymate is a commercial unit that has a variety of options, it uses iridium and covers most of the globe except the Indian ocean and central Pacific. I don't know prices now but when I had it the cost was about fifty dollars a month and I don't recall what I paid for it.
 
DDW said:
I wouldn't call the inReach hardware completely reliable, it is a consumer electronics device and they do fail. However the position reporting between Spot and inReach are different animals. The inReach uses the Iridium constellation of satellites, global coverage and proven reliable (this is the system that is used and paid for by the US military). Spot uses the Globalstar constellation which has been unreliable (in fact, it's failure as a voice system is what gave birth to Spot). The inReach sends a position report and asks the satellite for confirmation of receipt. The original Spot sent it a few times and hoped it was received. Often it was not. More recently, Globalstar had launched some new satellites and the Spot X is supposed to close the loop on position transmissions. Early reviews suggest is it still lacking in reliability, must have a completely clear sky view, etc. I typically run my inReach inside, under the carbon fiber dodger or if in the glider, inside the carbon fuselage and it still has no trouble reporting reliably.

Garmin has a history of not supporting their own products (I've thrown out 3 Garmin GPS units now due to dropping support), also a history of acquiring companies and ruining them. Their most recent acquisitions (Navionics, inReach, and Active Captain) are already suffering. For that reason I hope the Spot X is successful.
Click to expand...

Garmin does a WAY better job of support than their other consumer electronics competition. They are superior to Simrad, Raymarine, Ultra, Avidyne, Aspen, and others. (some aviation).

I've had ALL of the above over the years and Garmin is clearly the best support. Yes, they do screw things up at times.
 
Tom.B said:
This system is not really real-time and it is based on "volunteer" land-side stations to pick up their AIS signal. That leave a lot of holes in the coverage when AIS is out of range. There is a paid version that uses satellite coverage, but I have personally not looked into it.
Click to expand...
I use these in Alaska where I know there are no land stations and they seem to agree with my AIS plotting and visually.
 
I just started looking at electronic boat logs and found a couple free ones that look interesting. Daily email w route map sent w ability to share. I don't know if real time sharing is available.
They are NEBO and Blue Boat Log if you want to take a look.
 
If you want accurate & reliable position reports, go to the pros...

https://blueskynetwork.com/industries/maritime

I've used BlueSky for years on aircraft tracking systems and they are just about bulletproof. Might be a bit pricey for individual systems but I've not priced service for boats, even though they offer it.

Check out this one: Hawkeye 5400 since it has both GSM and Iridium satellite. If you're within GSM range and can send location updates, it uses GSM, otherwise, it uses Iridium satellite link and small packet data to deliver the GPS updates.

https://blueskynetwork.com/products/tracking-devices/hawkeye-5400/
 
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My passions, after boating, include mountaineering and backcountry skiing where the Garmin InReach is a great safety tool. Many of the suggestions are not inexpensive so you may want to consider other uses (hiking, backcounty, global travel, remote cabin etc.) in your evaluation.
 
Tender Tracking

we have been using a system called TenderTracking by protegear for some time, it works also with InReach, but also with other hardware and for us it was pretty reliable up to now.
 
+1 for the InReach. Its ability to send and receive text message via satellite makes it ideal for your intended usage, IMO. We've had one for 3 years and never had a problem with it. And you can turn off the service for months at a time if you don't need it.
 
If you only need your children to be able to see where you are, perhaps the cheapest solution, (ie, free) might be the free app called “Find my friends”.
If you have a smartphone or tablet, it will enable them to see you on the google earth map. No charge / no subscription.
It seems to use gps to find you - not sure if it works outside of cell coverage?
 
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