2-way satellite messaging options

[csoule13]

Happy holiday weekend y'all.

My old man is currently picking his way from the Annapolis area to Rhode Island and for brevity, let's say the shore based part of this excursion would find it useful to have a means of communication and location tracking. Given that he'll be doing solo trips along the New England coast this year, that's a need that will likely continue.

Anyone have first hand experience with any of these? Spot, InReach, Zoleo, there's many, many more options in the marketplace than I anticipated. The goal of the product would be for us to 1) Get text messages to him 2) Get text messages from him and 3) Be able to do location tracking.

Much appreciated as always,
Chris

[Jim Walsh]

I just purchased a Garmin inReach Explorer + (not being pretentious, this is the specific name of the unit I have....there are several) so I am just familiarizing myself with its capabilities and operation. It will definitely allow him to text or email you, and vice versa, I have already tried those features. When I send a text or email I have chosen to also include the latitude and longitudinal coordinates from which I sent the message. I have not yet tested the tracking feature but it is one of the features of the unit. I have tested the local weather forecast feature for a waypoint I established 380NM along the rhumbline from my home port to Bermuda. That could be very handy in the future.
The additional purchase of a subscription plan is necessary to take full advantage of the capabilities of these units. I chose one which I can suspend in the off season which I felt best suited my intended use. It is not cheap to use the Iridium satellite network but it can be reasonable based on your particular needs.

[John Stone]

Happy holiday weekend y'all.

My old man is currently picking his way from the Annapolis area to Rhode Island and for brevity, let's say the shore based part of this excursion would find it useful to have a means of communication and location tracking. Given that he'll be doing solo trips along the New England coast this year, that's a need that will likely continue.

Anyone have first hand experience with any of these? Spot, InReach, Zoleo, there's many, many more options in the marketplace than I anticipated. The goal of the product would be for us to 1) Get text messages to him 2) Get text messages from him and 3) Be able to do location tracking.

Much appreciated as always,
Chris

I have thought about upgrading to a two way text device. I have used a SPOT one way without text it was adequate. It failed to send notices a few times during my four 1,4000 NM offshore passages. Other than that it worked OK. I only mention it because the SPOT two way messenger got only mediocre reviews. If you would be satisfied just sending lat/long and a couple preprogrammed text (also has SOS feature) it is the least complicated to use and least expensive to purchase. My subscription was $100 a year. The least expensive of all the satellite communicators.

I have read about these extensively though never owned a two way version of any of the devices. They are improving them all the time and my knowledge is about six months old. So they may have newer versions.

I have a friend that has the Iridium Go and he sang it’s praise especially when pared with a Predict Wind prescription. He sailed with it from the VI to Spain via Bermuda and the Azores. We texted back and forth and he even sent me a few small pictures. From what I have read it is the best performing device in its class. But it’s expensive and like all the two way devices requires a subscription though I think they offer a month to month service plan.

My choice, we’re I to go that route would probably be the Garmin Inreach mini. It’s similar but a little smaller than the one Jim W chose. Does not have maps or a screen. Cost a little less. It pairs with your phone via blue tooth so you use your phone’s key board to type messages and the screen to read incoming texts. It received very good reviews. Requires a subscription.

There may be other brands but those are the ones I am familiar with.

[csoule13]

Zoleo looks like a solid product that pairs up with the tablet he uses as a chart plotter. Includes Dark Skys weather, two way text.

The situation that drove this was his decision to try to go Atlantic City to Block Island, departing 8a Thursday. Given the conditions that were moving in over night and early morning Friday, and given it's his(and his crewmate's) first ocean experience, was not the call I'd have made. Anyway, we were very surprised to hear third hand that they were plugging along the Long Island shore heading to Shinnecock. With no ability to communicate or know where, exactly they were, and given the ability to put two and two together on the weather, it led to a level of concern in the shore based part of this trip that was unfortunate.

If we knew a little better what was shaking - they had contacted the Coast Guard to get a recommended safe harbor when they realized Block Island wasn't going to happen - things would have at least made a little more sense.

I guess as an aside, if you have a 180 or so NM leg and a gale coming in under 36 hrs, with winds shifting to on the nose at about hour 20 or so, don't give that a twirl in a 30 foot Ericson.

[jbenagh]

I have a Garmin InReach SE+ with the plan I can suspend during the off season, similar to Jim, with 40 messages/mo. I used the same one with John Ring on the races from Marblehead to Halifax and to Bermuda so I got the same one. I've been very happy with it. We share tracks with the family and use it to send a safe arrival to my float plan contact since cell service in Maine is a bit spotty. The bluetooth to android is the best for messages, otherwise you've got to use up/down/sideways to select each character. Messages sometimes take up to 15 minutes to go through (actually even 30 minutes) but usually go through in a minute or two. I haven't used any other system so I can't really compare.
Jeff