Being only 8 weeks away from departing Borneo for Australia and busily provisioning, repairing, researching and debating our attention has now turned to safety and email comms.
We've been looking at the YellowBrick set up as used by ARC and a number of other yacht rallies and now available to individual yachts.
I like the fact that it can be set and left and will happily ping away your location either hourly, daily or to what ever timing you set it. Those reports appear instantly on a web based map that family and friends can track back home. Some versions also allow for limited SMS messaging in both directions. My wife likes the fact that if Australis starts to deviate from our agreed route and can be seen heading for the Philippines or Somalia, she can begin calling authorities and organising other tradesmen to finish our home renovations and painting
YB Tracking | Truly global satellite tracking beacons for yacht racing, adventures, treks, expeditions and challenges | Home
This week I came across the Iridium Go which delivers satellite WIFI and unlimited downloads for approx. 200US per month. You purchase the unit (1150 US approx.) and simply pre purchase the plan required. It also gives automatic, timed location reports that can be viewed on a web-based map at no additional charge as long as the unit is switched on. The Iridium Go runs in parallel to the Predict Wind programming and should enable us to get some excellent weather routing and reports. We'll have local sim cards for Malaysia and Indonesia as well as our HF radio reports which will pick up the Australian high seas reports. At this point we're favouring the Iridium option.
Any thoughts or suggestions?
https://www.iridium.com/products/Iri...ection=support
Meanwhile I'll continue house demolishing and paying ransoms to the shipping companies and the airline 'additional' luggage - pre purchase pirates
I was just quoted $1500 AU to ship 5 x life jacket CO2 cartridges to Borneo as you can't buy them up there.

They are apparently 'Dangerous Goods' and you have to be extremely lucking to have the airline allow you to carry them aboard your flight. Even though there is one under every airline seat
Fair winds,
Mico/Australis
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