Where is Strider?

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Roger Long

Roger Long

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Nov 22, 2008
3,562
Endeavour 32 Portland, Maine
I carry a SPOT beacon on Strider because family and friends enjoy knowing where I am. Now that "friends" includes my readership here, I'm going to post the link so anyone who wishes to may follow my adventures.

First, an important note, even though the SPOT can serve as an EPIRB in all but distant blue water, the tracking feature is not for safety. It is prone to interruption. I have a group of people briefed about what to do if I should send out a "Help" message which goes only to them or an "SOS" which will be referred to the Coast Guard and other appropriate agencies.

Please if you are not one of those people, do not contact anyone because of anything you see on the tracking page. Just because the tracking stops, or the lines drawn between fixes make it look like I've run aground (which often happens), it doesn't mean I'm in trouble. If I am, I'll send the appropriate message via SPOT to the right people.

I mention this because a friend who posted a link to his SPOT beacon had an extensive USCG search, including Falcon jets, conducted because someone he met casually at a marina saw the tracking stop when he forgot to reset the beacon and called the Coast Guard.

Here is the link:

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0JjTC23pqUeh7ugZrB7KECYzoDc5YLsHO

I send an "Ok" message every night just after anchoring or mooring before turning off the beacon. There is a button at the upper right to switch to Google Earth satellite view so you can see where I am.
 
Ed Schenck

Ed Schenck

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Jun 2, 2004
5,802
Hunter 37-cutter, '79 41 23' 30"N 82 33' 20"W--------Huron, OH
SPOTs are fun. I used one from Lake Erie to Tampa. Probably unnecessary since we were never out of Verizon range, even four miles offshore. Still those regular "OK" messages were comforting to the ground crew. Never thought about the possibility that someone might panic when it stopped or was where it shouldn't be. Kind of like you being stuck at #15 right now. Are you at anchor? :)
 
Roger Long

Roger Long

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Nov 22, 2008
3,562
Endeavour 32 Portland, Maine
Ed Schenck said:
. Kind of like you being stuck at #15 right now. Are you at anchor?
Click to expand
No, that was my morning run out to do a quick sea trial on the prop. I turned the SPOT off before it could send another fix. One reason I send an OK every night is to fix the anchoring or mooring position so it doesn't look like I'm spending the night out in open water or a channel somewhere.
 
Stu Jackson

Stu Jackson

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Feb 26, 2004
22,777
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
It looks like you're also showing us your ashore trips to the chandlery or the coffee shop! :)

Any way to clear out the older spots once you get going?

Safe journey.
 
Roger Long

Roger Long

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Nov 22, 2008
3,562
Endeavour 32 Portland, Maine
Stu Jackson said:
It looks like you're also showing us your ashore trips to the chandlery or the coffee shop!
Click to expand
Those are actually just GPS fix wanders. The SPOT is not WAAS enabled since standard GPS accuracy will generally get searchers close enough to see a signal or hear a yell.

I can delete fixes whenever I have Internet access. They age off the system after 7 days anyway.
 
L

lindacdsailor

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Jul 20, 2011
4
Cape Dory 25 Maine
Roger,
If you have an iphone or smart phone and can download apps, my nephew created an app called TrackPath that follows your GPS signal and lets you create a link to a website where others can view your live progress. I used it when I was driving from Annapolis. The web link is private, so you are the one to give it out to others to share. Check it out.
 
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