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My son, who does a lot of deep wilderness canoeing and exploring, is interested in a product called a "DeLorme InReach satellite tracking device". DeLorme InReach
Anyone of you long distance cruiser sailors have any experience with this product that they care to relate?
WOW I sure wish I had seen your Garmin 500 series before taking ownership of my new 441s (but that's a different story).
A friend of mine uses a Spot "messenger" and he likes it (but he is pretty much a cheapskate). His plan is similar to the the 9.95 monthly plan, but the cost of the device is drastically lower. I assume the InReach has quite a few more bells and whistles (ie two way TMs).
Its a spot competitor, they both use the same satellite network though as I understand. Right now, I would say go for Spot, proven hardware on the same network. DeLorme might prove to produce better hardware in the long run, but personally I would opt for the guy whos been in business for a few years when my life depends on it (this isnt buying an iPad or Droid phone where being cutting edge is chic). Couple years on the market before you consider a DeLorme in my opinion.
A lot of cruisers ask me about Spot vs Epirb, I always told them Epirb, but a few years later now I find myself telling coastal cruisers (ie those not crossing oceans) to seriously consider Spot instead, time proves things, and some new techs may be life saving, but you dont want to be the first to find that out. Spot is there, DeLorme, let someone else find out (not that I wish ill on anyone!).
Russell
s/v (yet to be named) Tayana 42CC
s/v Lady Pauline Cape Dory 36 #117 (for sale)
DeLorme has been in the GPS business for many many years. I have not reviewed their latest but would trust them to have done it properly. If tracking is what your are looking for I would not exclude them. If emergency response is what you desire then carry a PLB.
I have recent experience with DeLorme, Spot and EPURB. My friend has the DeLorme and was able to send me a message on a recent Gulf crossing. One thing that was interesting was even though I got the message it show him being off the coast of Africa.
I have owned a Spot for several years. It works good most of the time. Every now and them it messes up in bad weather. Some people prefer to go with the plan that automatically sends a message every so often but I do mine manually. This lets my wife know that I am truly ok.
Now the EPURB. On my last trip across the gulf we got caught in a blow with 50 to 60 mile per hour winds and copious amounts of water. Our ARC EPURB was in the pocket of an ARC ditch bag that ARC said to put it in. A couple hours after the front hit we were buzzed by a Coast Guard jet. They were looking for us. The EPURB must have gotten wet and went off, even though when we pulled it from the bag it was dry and had no signs of going off. Anyways it turns out that the coast guard used our Spot messages we sent to one of the guys wife to find us. From what I understand the non GPS EPURB is only accurate to about 3 miles and the Spot can show me just about at the dock. Here is an account of the crossing. http://kaldenbach.us/sailing/irwin38delivery.html
