SPOT

Chuck Creel · Jan 16, 2011

have used my spot for 2 yrs now and love it. For safety reasons the admiral frowns on single handed trips but with the spot, she can get e-mails that all ok and doing well .

also great for friends to track your progress.

Roger Long · Jan 16, 2011

I haven't got time to give you the full rundown now but here's the quick summary.

Cost is insignificant in an overall cruising budget.

Friends love it.

If you take it ashore, it will bring help just as quickly if you bust an ankle on a hike inland. Most users are non-marine so the service center in Texas will respond to a location on land. If the USCG gets an EPIRB call from a mile inland, they will probably spend 2-3 days trying to figure out whether it warrants a response.

You can use if for all sorts of land based things like road trips so I don't have to keep making cell phone calls, illegal in many states, to let people know when I'll arrive.

You can call for help without involving the USCG. This could save your boat because if you have an injury, they will evacuate you from your boat without much regard for what happens to it whether you want to go or not. Better in some cases to have a friend arrange for help from a local harbormaster, Seatow, or some other outfit less tightly wrapped.

Get one. You won't regret it.

There are more expensive units available from DeLorme that let you compose text messages in the field instead of relying on the ones you've preloaded via Internet.

I'll be around here for questions and advice until summer. You'll want to experiment and practice with it in the car before heading out on a cruise.

Rick Webb · Jan 16, 2011

Easy to Set up and to Use

Works great anywhere ther is sat phone coverage so it is not a substitute for an EPIRB if crossing the Atlantic or Pacific. The other major difference is a distress signal is sent via email to email adresses you set up rather than a signal going to JRCC for the EPIRB. The Coast Guard responds to distress signals originating from ocean enviornments including Hawaii and the Air Force to ones over land. With SPOT you can send an "OK", "Help", or an "SOS" signal.

Spot would be a VERY good idea for anyone making an extended cruise or if you do any outdoor activity where there is any posibility of needing assistance and needing to be located. Also just a good way of checking in so that others know where you are and that you are OK. I thought about strapping it to my daughter when she started driving but the idea was vetoed.

Roger Long · Jan 16, 2011

Rick Webb said:
The other major difference is a distress signal is sent via email to email adresses you set up rather than a signal going to JRCC for the EPIRB.

This isn't quite accurate. The "Help" messages go that way but the "911" message button sends your location and distress message to an Onstar like center in Texas. They will then assess your situation and determine the best responders, USCG if on the water, police or other service if the location on land. They will probably first call your emergency contacts to verify that you are actually sailing or if they have heard from you. This introduces some delay but the USCG spends quite a bit of time determining whether EPIRB signals are real distress signals as well.

Your "911" button press message also goes to your "Help" list. If your emergency contacts are on the ball, they can proactively call the Coast Guard and other agencies and say, "This is for real. We know he's out there. We've been tracking his progress. Please get SAR underway immediately." This, together with a call from the SPOT center in Texas, may well get help on its way to you much faster than an EPIRB signal alone.

If you are going very deepwater, you also need an EPIRB because of the coverage issues. An EPIRB is a good thing to have anywhere offshore also because of the automatic activation features. If USCG gets an EPIRB signal, a call from SPOT, and a call from your emergency contacts all at the same time, you can bet they will scramble.

Ed Schenck · Jan 16, 2011

Love mine too. Tracking on the website was easy. If you can post here then you can handle it there. More info too at the SPOT website: http://www.findmespot.com/en/ .

srhummer · Jan 16, 2011

We got a SPOT to do a Key Largo to Ches Bay trip last summer - it worked great. We followed the Gulf Stream and were 100 miles off shore sending spot OKs out to friends and family so they could follow us. Definitely did not have cell coverage. Wife got a little concerned when we were late with a normal check in so be sure to set expectations. I would not think of gong offshore without one.

gettinthere · Jan 16, 2011

is there an easy way to keep all the tracks? IIRC, your tracks are wiped after a certain time frame.

Roger Long · Jan 16, 2011

gettinthere said:
is there an easy way to keep all the tracks?

No point. Your GPS does a better job of keeping tracks. They are much more detailed and it's fairly easy, with Garmin Mapsource anyway, to import them into Google Earth.

Like this:

http://www.rogerlongboats.com/2010September.htm

Click the image.

chuckwayne · Jan 16, 2011

We've had a spot since they first came out and it's fantastic-easy way to let family and friends know you're ok and send them your exact location on google maps. When I first tested it in my company parking lot, the google earth sat photo actually showed me in the correct parking space! As has been said, SOS alerts go to Spot's onstar like emergency center and then they send on to the best govt service for rescue. We've never tested the SOS service, but the spot's performed flawlessly for us. If you plan in advance, you can use the "help" function for support-when we're cruising we may change daily stops but ashore has our itinerary-a "help" mesage means we need non-emergency help at our next stop and try to connect with us or the local harbormaster for details

gettinthere · Jan 16, 2011

It would seem to be easier & nicer to save the tracks with dates from spot for use with a blog...no?

Roger Long said:
No point. Your GPS does a better job of keeping tracks. They are much more detailed and it's fairly easy, with Garmin Mapsource anyway, to import them into Google Earth.

Like this:

http://www.rogerlongboats.com/2010September.htm

Click the image.

Roger Long · Jan 16, 2011

gettinthere said:
It would seem to be easier & nicer to save the tracks with dates from spot for use with a blog...no?

SPOT doesn't make tracks. It posts positions every 20 - 90 minutes and connects them with lines. This is fine for offshore sailing but in waters like Maine, the lines will go through islands and over headlands which doesn't make for a very nice presentation. I used the SPOT on the delivery of a research vessel and someone called up alarmed because they thought we had run aground. Later, a high official in the university called up to ask why he couldn't see the vessel when he zoomed in on Google Earth. I told him that NASA was short of satellites and hadn't been able to task one to follow us

I don't know of a way to save the SPOT tracks but I haven't looked into it as my GPS just saves them and it's much easier to use those.

My "Help" message includes a link to a page on my web site (that isn't linked to from anywhere else) which contains full instructions about what to do, contact numbers, etc. This is becoming even more useful now that so many people have smart phones and could get access to that information anywhere if they received a help message.

My help instructions state that, if they receive just a help alert or series of help alerts, the problem is medical. If they receive "Help", "OK", "Help", "Ok", "Help"; the problem is mechanical or I am aground.

I posted a thread about this quite a while ago with a sample of my help instructions.

If you post public link to your tracking page, it's good to have it first take you to a intermediate page like this one:

http://www.rogerlongboats.com/SPOTbeacon.htm

The SPOT tracking has to be reactivated every 24 hours. A friend of mine forgot during stressful weather and someone he had just met once on the dock saw the tracking stop and called the Coast Guard. They arrived in the Bahamas to find that a full blown search, complete with Falcon jet sweeps, was underway.

Rick Webb · Jan 16, 2011

Track mode

Spot sends a signal every 10 minutes when in track mode for 24 hours. We posted our positions into Google Earth. On our trip we sent a signal every four hours 7, 11, and 3 or when headed into a port or mooring and then again when engines were shut down to show we were at a stop. When we departed from a stop we'd do just the opposite send a signal when we stated the engines and again when out of the harbor then every four hours again. I'll look and try to remember how we imported them and post it.

RichH · Jan 16, 2011

Example of trip/log from SPOT -- http://www.spotadventures.com/trip/view?trip_id=195598 then go to or choose 'hybrid view".

Spot 'Cons' - Nickel metal hydride (required) batteries are expensive and dont last all that long when the SPOT is on continually. (Ed/correction -1/17, Lithium batteries are required)

Features/benefits ... especially when out of VHF range or when HF/SSB is prevented, etc.
• direct connect to rescue service (sat link) with 'prerecorded' message.
• Direct to prearranged email/text msg. addresses for 'check-in' ... someone you designate as your 'guardian angle' to religiously follow your progress and to contact pre-designated 'authorities' if there is a failure to check-in within a reasonable / prearranged time. Prearranged Intermittent directions given to 'guardian angle' via email, sailmail, etc.
• Direct uplink to BoatUS for towing/salvage need (when in US waters).

SPOT info: http://findmespot.com/en/

Roger Long · Jan 16, 2011

RichH said:
Spot 'Cons' - Nickel metal hydride (required) batteries are expensive and dont last all that long when the SPOT is on continually.

I don't know about the smaller and newer SPOT 2 but my original SPOT 1 which uses two AA Lithium batteries went all summer on the same set of batteries. It was on for almost all of the over 2000 miles covered. The batteries still seemed to have some life in them when I replaced them.

chuckwayne · Jan 16, 2011

Hi Roger,
Last summer I updated to the spot 2 (they offered them to current users for 1/2 price). It uses 3 AAA lithiums, is faster and adds messaging options including direct links to Towboat US and an extra preset message. The batteries seem to last a long time-we went the entire season on one set and at the end (October) they still tested full

RichH · Jan 16, 2011

Roger Long said:
I don't know about the smaller and newer SPOT 2 but my original SPOT 1 which uses two AA Lithium batteries went all summer on the same set of batteries. It was on for almost all of the over 2000 miles covered. The batteries still seemed to have some life in them when I replaced them.

I only get about 3-4 weeks.

chuckwayne · Jan 16, 2011

Rich, both of my spots specify lithium-NiMh batteries have a lot less capacity

RichH · Jan 16, 2011

I must have dame brammage from too much sailing. You are correct - lithium, and I only get 3-4 weeks. But my SPOT II was a 'replacement' one from the initial 'problem batch', hmmmmmmm.