{"id":190,"date":"2012-02-08T22:09:49","date_gmt":"2012-02-08T22:09:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=190"},"modified":"2012-02-08T22:09:49","modified_gmt":"2012-02-08T22:09:49","slug":"a-trail-of-breadcrumbs-for-pandora","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=190","title":{"rendered":"A trail of breadcrumbs for Pandora"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we prepare for our trip south next fall, a key need is for our family to be able to follow us and our position along the way. \u00a0In the past sharing such information required equipment that was expensive or, at the very least, complicated. \u00a0 However, with the advent of more sophisticated\u00a0satellite\u00a0technology, it appears that there are now systems available that enable us to set things up in a way so that our friends (and random blog readers) to follow us as we make our way south. \u00a0To say that we are in Charleston is nice, but for me it would be totally choice for someone to be able to look at a map online and see exactly where we are any day or any time of day, for that matter. \u00a0And as we move along the map will display a trail of bread crumbs to show where we have been.<\/p>\n

Yesterday I called Henry Marx the owner at Landfall Navigation<\/a>, a group that sells all sorts of boating safety equipment. \u00a0Henry is very\u00a0knowledgeable and I expected that he would have something to say about this topic. \u00a0Yes, he’s never shy about saying what he thinks. \u00a0Today he responded with a note suggesting that the DeLorme inReach<\/a> unit might do what we are looking for. \u00a0 As a side note, Henry doesn’t stock the product as he specializes in safety products and does not want to take the chance that his customers will confuse this product with an EPIRB<\/a> which is a critical safety device for the sort of sailing that we are planning. \u00a0Yes Henry, Pandora has one of those units aboard and happily, we have never had to activate it. \u00a0And yes, the batteries are up to date and it is properly registered.<\/p>\n

The system works off of the Irdidium<\/a> system of\u00a0geosynchronous\u00a0orbit\u00a0satellites. \u00a0(I’ll bet you didn’t think that I could spell geosynchronous. \u00a0 No, I can’t but that’s what spell check is for.) \u00a0I have always thought of anything associated with Iridium as being terribly expensive but this one isn’t at all. \u00a0 The inReach unit itself retails for about $250 and the communication plans run anywhere from $9.95 to $49.95 a month with a year\u00a0commitment. \u00a0The variables in these plans are related to the number of position fixes and text messages allowed per month.<\/p>\n

The plan for us will likely be the $24.95 one as it allows unlimited position fixes and a reasonable number of text messages. \u00a0A text might say something like “headed to Andros on Friday”. \u00a0I understand that it also ties in with Twitter and Facebook but I don’t know exactly how that works.<\/p>\n

In any event, in a day when we want to tell the world what we are doing every waking moment, including our trips to the bathroom, this is a great option.<\/p>\n

This is an interesting video, sale pitch though it is, about the product.<\/p>\n