SPOT is a great little satellite tracker, and one of my favorite cool ‘toys’ to have aboard. This is primarily for keeping friends and family updated, it is not a safety device. Occasionally the batteries will run out in the middle of a voyage, how soon we are ‘live’ again just depends on how soon we recognize the batteries need replacing and if we have batteries! As well the ‘tracker’ function needs to be activated once every 24 hours, if not it stops transmitting our position - so there have been gaps in coverage when we forget to reactivate the tracker. So rule #1 when viewing the tracked data - don’t panic if our location stops transmitting in the middle of a passage. SPOT will work in much of the world, but there are ‘blind’ spots where satellite coverage is unavailable. So if we are transiting these areas, don’t worry. For a SPOT coverage map click here.

Our primary emergency safety device is a 406 MHz EPIRB. This has worldwide coverage and is used for a ‘Mayday’ situation - defined as one ‘in which a vessel, or person is in grave and imminent danger and requires immediate assistance. It’s a tool we hope to never use, but an essential one.