Tracking App

Stache

Member
Does anyone know of a good tracking app for sailing.
I have been using Ski Tracks in "Cross Country" mode.
Trying "Map My Hike" next time out.
Looking for one that posts online so S.O. can monitor me out on the lake alone.
I would think some parents might like that real time monitoring as well (I think my Mom either used trust and faith in the Lord or Mom's intuition when I went all over the place alone as a young'un).
Here is Ski Tracks data from yesterday's sail.
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I carry my iPhone with me in a little dry bag and just use the Runkeeper app. I've also used the app MotionX-GPS. But I don't think either of them would allow live tracking.
ford-lake-2013-07-11.jpg
 
Thanks.
Ski Tracks is an app for my iphone, put in a zip lock sandwich bag, then wrapped in large bubble warp then put in a gallon sized zip lock bag, to stay dry and float if I ever go over.
Looking like "MapMyTrack" might do it with the upgrade for real time tracking online.
 
Agreed, I was just looking at the MapMyTrack website. I'll probably stick with RunKeeper myself for now - I use it to track running, cycling, walking, etc already - and have several family and friends linked up with me there.

I'd highly recommend getting a dry bag for your cell phone. They are $10 to $15 and you can still operate them and take pictures, etc while out on the water.

I took this picture of my 9-yr old son sailing our (new to us) Minifish out on Lake Michigan last week. with my iPhone, through the clear part of the dry bag. I've been very happy with that purchase!

img_0230.jpg
 
Nice Pic.
Yeah, I'll get the real bag.
Just making do for now, and other things have a higher priority.
 
I took this picture of my 9-yr old son sailing our (new to us) Minifish out on Lake Michigan last week. with my iPhone, through the clear part of the dry bag. I've been very happy with that purchase!

img_0230.jpg

.
Great picture; great post; great thread. Looks like a mini class revival should be in the cards some day soon. What a great boat this is for kids. Whenever I have let our club's younger sailors borrow the mini it disappears for the longest times, and eventually the embarrassed parent on shore will start apologizing for their kid's enthusiasm.

Looking at that first app screen pictured in the thread, I thought the recorded change in altitude was a particularly helpful feature. In all my years sailing I could usually tell if I was on the upwind or downwind leg, but I never once was able to figure out whether which legs were the uphill or downhill ones. To tell the truth, I was not even aware of a difference! Until that app screenshot I had no idea how much that matters.

What would be really awesome, and educational for many in the fleet, would be to be able to record several boats in a race with same same app and superimpose the tracks. I wonder if that's possible with any, and whether the results could be compiled without too much difficulty.
 
I posted it in a skiing forum and questioned if it really tracked me going up and down over 120 6" waves.
One of my skiing buddies ventured that it was one 60' wave and photoshopped this:
file.php
 
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Omg, Stache - great picture, even if it is photoshopped! Can I post that on my Sunfish sailing blog?

tag
 
I posted it in a skiing forum and questioned if it really tracked me going up and down over 120 6" waves.
One of my skiing buddies ventured that it was one 60' wave and photoshopped this:
file.php
Fantabulastic work, but isn't the rig on the 'wrong' side of the mast?
 
Me and alllll of my friends (sailing, diving, paddleboarding, kayaking...you name it) use Navionics for tracking. We love it! It comes in iPhone app or Android. Great for tracking, planning trips... you can even update the map with your own information.

They even now have a version of the app for Windows 8.1 so if you've got a bigger boat and have your laptop you can track with that!
 
Currently using MapMyTracks.
Some learning curve items like setting starting point and ending point before saving (reports me as from null to null).
But you can review the track and speed, (still looking into real time internet posting, prolly just more $$).
So here is yesterday's outing. VERY shifting and variable winds. Some rigging changes made and other playing around being done at dead points.
http://www.mapmytracks.com/explore/activity/1671379
 
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Me and alllll of my friends (sailing, diving, paddleboarding, kayaking...you name it) use Navionics for tracking. We love it! It comes in iPhone app or Android. Great for tracking, planning trips... you can even update the map with your own information.

They even now have a version of the app for Windows 8.1 so if you've got a bigger boat and have your laptop you can track with that!

You mentioned planning tips. Is there any help there with weather routing? I am looking for something that helps to plan the 5-6 day passage in advance and check the planned route against forecast.
 
One of best for mobile is Endomondo. It is free (if you want premium not) GPS tracking is correct. Modes sailing or swimming and few another like running. Of course with map and parameters.
 
You mentioned planning tips. Is there any help there with weather routing? I am looking for something that helps to plan the 5-6 day passage in advance and check the planned route against forecast.
Good question. I don't think there is yet. That's a good suggestion. I do know it has tides, etc. but I don't think weather is integrated yet.
 
Good question. I don't think there is yet. That's a good suggestion. I do know it has tides, etc. but I don't think weather is integrated yet.

True, there are some products, but they all seems to be targeted - either to sell something like weather forecats ot official charts, or have lots of free useful information, like NOAA web site, but it's hard to extract what is required and use it with other pruducts. I saw also CruiseAider web site - they looking good, but no tides (yet?).
 
Yeah, that's one of the things that I like about the Navionics app, the tides. We even use it to check the tide from our condo before going out to the dock so we know if it's time for "Beercan island" to appear (beercan is a local sandbar that only comes out at low tide). awesome!
 

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