Not too long ago you left the pier and there was no way to communicate until you arrived at your destination.  Now even recreational sailors have satellite communications.  But, nothing is perfect.  So don’t get anxious if you don’t see a continuous stream of dots.  We are out at sea bouncing around and there are many reasons why our signal may not reach the tracking websites or the websites just aren’t behaving.  

Two ways of Tracking: AIS and Predictwind GPS. 

Predictwind Satellite

https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/SV-HeartOfGold/

On board we have an Iridium Go! Exec satellite phone which also has limited internet.  This is how we get our weather forecasts at sea.  When the phone is on, it also transmits our GPS position to the PredictWind hosted website.  Position updates are sometimes automatic and sometimes require manual pushes.  We can also send short texts.  Good news is that as long as we have a satellite in view and stay connected we can update our position.

AIS Tracker

Automated Identification System (AIS) is a global tracking system that uses transponders on boats and ships.  The transponder is linked to the VHF radio, so the radio must be on and the receiving station must be in range (line of sight).  It is mainly used by ships to see each other on chart plotters.  USCG maintains shore stations that receive and re-transmit signals to increase the range ships can track other vessels.  The USCG provides the data for free and commercial companies, like Marine Traffic provide tracking apps.  AIS depends on the boats VHF radio transmitting the signal and a shore station receiving it.  Just because there is no current position, doesn’t mean there is anything wrong!  https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/shipid:8842266/zoom:15

Our MMSI is 368366030

Caveats:

The Marine Traffic website is a commercial service.  It offers free tracking for vessels within range of shore.  For offshore tracking you need to buy their premium service.