For some months I have been looking for a service that will allow me to provide real time location information here on where Pandora is at any given point. This will be particularly valuable when Brenda and I head south in the fall so that family and friends can follow us as we make our way south for the winter. Of course, the natural question that some to mind is “why would we want to follow your trip?”. Well, that’s simple, because you can…
There are a number of services available that will track progress and I settled on a unit called SPOT. This is a nifty device that’s just a few inches long and sends a signal to low orbiting satellites to keep tabs on where the unit is at any given time. With an update every 10 minutes when it’s turned on, it’s an amazingly simple way to keep in touch. This is an amazingly affordable service and you can click here to learn more about this remarkable device. Even more interesting is this overview of how the unit works. As simple as the device looks, it’s part of a system that looks REALLY COMPLICATED and EXPENSIVE.
This video gives a good overview of the tracking function. What an awesome gadget!!!
“Spot” will be aboard Pandora most of the time but for now it will be with me as I head this coming week for Nassau Bahamas to help my friend Bob bring back his South African Islander 56′, The Abby, to Norwalk CT. At least, that’s where I think we are going. Not sure as the boat spends a lot of time in Newport. Well, I guess that will learn more when I head there on Tuesday. I know Bob from my years as a member of the Norwalk Yacht Club and also as member of The Corinthians.
There will be a total of four of us on this trip and we expect to leave on the 18th or 19th of May and will arrive at some point late the following week. As I understand it, we will head out into the Gulf Stream and ride it north. This will allow us to make the trip as quickly as possible given the fact that the “stream” moves north at several knots which will give us a boost in speed as we head up the coast.
Anyway, back to the issue of tracking our progress. With SPOT aboard, there will be a real time record of our progress as we head north. I won’t turn the unit on until we leave the harbor except briefly when I get to Nassau to post an initial position on my SPOT page. You will have to pan out on the map to get a better feel for where we are as the link defaults to a close up view.
It should be fun and I hope that you will enjoy “ride” with me.
More to come.