Did you know there’s a Free Yacht Tracker built into the noforeignland app?

Every week, thousands of boats update their position on noforeignland. The simplest way to do this is in the noforeignland app using the Move my boat button. It is fast, easy, and reliable: you tap the button, the app grabs your GPS location, and you simply confirm it.

But what if you want more than just point-to-point updates? What if you would like a smooth, accurate track of your journey?

Many sailors achieve this by using a dedicated yacht tracker. These devices are designed for one job: recording your position at regular intervals and transmitting it over cellular, Wi-Fi, or satellite networks to a tracking service. They work very well, and noforeignland integrates with all the major tracking services to show your track on our map. The trade-off for you is extra hardware to install and a subscription to keep it running.

The good news is that you do not need one. The NFL app can do it for free, using your phone’s GPS.

In fact, take a look at the screenshot in the header image for this article, and you’ll see the track recorded by our friends Nigel and Veronica on Novara, who ditched their satellite tracker and have been using the noforeignland app to record their track through the North West Passage.

Recording Your Track

To get started, open the app, tap the big red My boat button at the bottom of the screen, and choose Record my boat track.

• Before you set off, press the Start recording button.
• While underway, the app will continuously log your movement using your phone’s GPS.
• You will see your Distance, Time, and Average speed in knots updating as you go.

If you want to keep your followers updated while you’re sailing, turn the Send live position updates switch on. Your latest location will be sent to noforeignland every few minutes and your position will be updated immediately on the map for them to see.

When you arrive, tap Stop recording. You will then be given the choice to:

• Share track on map to upload immediately, or
• Save the track locally to upload later.

Tap below to see a demo on YouTube:

Managing Saved Tracks

All your recordings are listed under Saved tracks. From here you can:

• Share them on noforeignland
• Review them in the app
• Rename them
• Delete any you no longer want

Tips for Reliable Recording

Continuous GPS tracking uses more battery, and many phones (especially older ones with short battery life) will suspend apps that are drawing a lot of power. If that happens, simply reopen NFL and tap Resume tracking.

Tips to reduce interruptions:

• Keep the phone plugged in while recording
• Adjust your power-saving settings if needed
• Keep NFL open and on screen if your device is aggressively suspending apps

Bonus: GPX Export

As an alternative, or in case you forget to start recording, you can also import tracks from your navigation app. Most apps, including Navionics, let you export a GPX track at the end of a passage. Before we built the app, Helena and I used this all the time as our preferred way of updating our track.

Export the GPX and email it to noforeignland. Our server processes it immediately and the track appears on your boat’s history on the map. Full setup steps are available here.

Why Use It?

With Record my boat track you get the benefits of a yacht tracker: smooth tracks, regular updates, and live sharing. All without buying extra hardware, paying subscriptions, or leaving the NFL app. Just use your phone to record your trip, upload it, add stories and share your adventures.

By Steve Neal

Steve and his wife Helena have lived aboard their Hallberg Rassy 43 Amalia since 2014 and have sailed extensively in the Mediterranean and more recently the Caribbean, the east coast of the United States and Central America. Together, Steve and Helena develop and run noforeignland as a free service for the cruising community.

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