Among the tons of
electronic gimmicks that we seem to be accumulating for this trip there will be
a DeLorme "inReach explorer". This is a little GPS, satellite email
connection, way point and chart plotter, and emergency SOS rescue beacon. It is
about the size of a deck of cards and has its own solar cell so it is
independent of the boat batteries. LINK
You (And anyone that
you tell about it.) can go to the “Share” page https://share.delorme.com/Shadowside . That will
show where we are at the moment (Out in the ocean.), our track, our plans, etc.
Go there. Check it
out. Use the Track Filter to get rid of the mess of track points. If you want
to get fancy, set the filter to:
Then the Chart should
look like this:
Pretty cool? A little
sail on “Yellow Bird”.
There are lots of
different ways to use the inReach to (crudely) communicate with your
fans.
For example, if I choose the "Location" display, it will ask me if I
want to share the information. If I say yes and pick names from a contact
list, it will send everyone an email with my location, course and speed, etc.
There will be a link to web site where there is a chart showing my
position and a pop up window where you can send me a short reply. This will be
a similar webpage to the one above, but not identical. The web site is:
It only works when
you click on it in a message from me, so don’t plan on going there directly.
The unit is so small
that it is kind of a pain to type on. Consequently, most of our outgoing mail from
this device will consist of pre-planned notes that we just pick from a menu.
Any questions? This
is just one of many ways we will be using to stay in touch.
