where are we??

The post below, with the catchy title of "OK ESN:0-7404110", is a test "ok" transmission from my Spot satellite beacon.  The last two days I've been watching the Spot tracking page of  Sandybottom and Dances with Sandy Bottom as they take their Core Sound 20 (that's Dances with Sandy Bottom and son on that boat with reefs in both sails, looks like a great ride) to Cedar Island to do a little scouting for this fall's North Carolina Watertribe event.  Above is a screen shot from their track.  It has been fun to watch them and it also has reminded me that I needed to set up my Spot for the Skeeter Beater.  

I created a new profile with the "ok" message you see below.  For the "help" message I ask my friends and family to contact my brother and have him call BoatUS with my location and BoatUS membership number (I don't want ten people calling BoatUS with the same request, so I asked them to just confirm that my brother is handling the call).  

For the 911 message, which would be directed to the Coast Guard, I gave them our names, gave a description of Spartina and a list of emergency gear that we will have on board.  I've talked to Coast Guard helicopter pilots and rescue swimmers a few times.  They have all told me the more information they have, the better they can deal with a search and rescue.

For this test transmission I've just got myself, Bruce and the blog email addresses in the profile.  I'll add several family members and friends before we go.  I'm glad to see that the email was automatically posted to the blog.  We'll send "ok" message three times a day - when we raise anchor in the morning, midday and then again when we drop anchor for the evening.  So position updates will be posted here.  I'll also put a link somewhere on the right side of the blog to the Spot tracking page which will show our progress every 10 minutes.  

Bruce took advantage of a tip from Kiwibird and snagged a FREE Spot when they had a special program a few weeks ago where you paid for a year's full service and they threw in the hardware for free.  Great deal, thanks Kiwibird.  

We'll have two Spots, two gps's and an epirb on board.  I don't think we'll have any trouble knowing where we are.

-Steve