Marine rescue app

[JonD]

Many people using it ? 

If not why? 

Those who do, do you allow the tracking to follow your phone ?

Myself I find it pretty easy and straightforward, especially extending return times etc. I tend to travel to so many areas over a day on the water that having to keep calling in a new location was a bit of a pain, especially if I was out of radio line of sight. The phone tracking shows a breadcrumb trail of my travels through the day on the marine rescue headquarters computers, which makes perfect sence in any search and rescue event. Also not broadcasting my position or return to home time makes my details a little more private.

[Welster]

Hi John, 

I use it primarily because of the tracking for that bit more piece of mind.    It's a great service.  
 

it still pays to do the occasional radio check though which I can be a bit slack with. 

[Smobaby]

Honestly like to communicate with a human voice and know your 100% logged on phone coverage only works to a limited distance. Have recently registered with the app.  Have found positions can be hard to pinpoint with the app whereas with marine radio you can give a more exact position also keeps you more alert to your position if all goes bad. When this was ever to happen you still speak to a human providing you are trained correctly. Probably I’m old school.

[Berleyguts]

I use the app for convenience and check in via VHF from time to time, especially if my phone battery’s getting low. I like using the app and have found that MR rings me up if they notice anything odd... like the time I put my launch point as Broughton Island instead of Little Beach and they could see me going out through the heads (I was tired and it was my first trip in a while, OK!).

[Guest Guest123456789]

I downloaded it and have been meaning to use it but keep forgetting! Thanks for the reminder Jon.

[Berleyguts]

Of course, it also helps if you remember your charger cable so your battery doesn’t run out! 😉 Or make sure your cable hasn’t had it, or you don’t grab a micro USB cable (for an android) instead of a lightning cable for an iPhone or vice versa, like I did the other day! (It was dark, OK?)😂

[Welster]

Yeah I agree with the cable and keep one on the boat.

You can also ring up to log in.   Last time I radioed in I was on the other side of the headland and I got no response.   I figured I'd radio one again when I moved out but the marine rescue guys heard the boat name and called my mobile. 
 

I also have the local marine rescue bases, fisheries and the like in my phone contacts.    I generally add extra words so it's more likely to come up if I have a mental blank and use the search function.  

[Berleyguts]

20 minutes ago, Welster said:

Yeah I agree with the cable and keep one on the boat.

You can also ring up to log in.   Last time I radioed in I was on the other side of the headland and I got no response.   I figured I'd radio one again when I moved out but the marine rescue guys heard the boat name and called my mobile. 
 

I also have the local marine rescue bases, fisheries and the like in my phone contacts.    I generally add extra words so it's more likely to come up if I have a mental blank and use the search function.  

I have all the bases in my contacts. I can just ask Siri to call them - saves me getting muck all over my phone. 😉