The Fran Finder! - following Fran's Big Adventure
Frances Gifford set sail from Waldringfield in Suffolk on Saturday 15th May, on a voyage around the UK in a Wayfarer dinghy. She is equipped with a Zest : trak™ Lite - a compact GPS tracking device from Zest Tracking, which is regularly updating Zest's mapping service with her location via the GPRS network.
Follow this link for more news about Fran's Big Adventure
Fran is using a GPS tracker that is primarily designed for land-based tracking of vulnerable individuals (such as children).
Taking the Zest : trak™ Lite into a harsh marine environment is a very severe test indeed. Not only is there the corrosive exposure to salt-water, but also much of the UK coastline is sparsely populated with very weak mobile GPRS signal out at sea.
To illustrate the challenge, Fran's first Zest GPS Tracker accidentally came into contact with Salt Water in North Wales, but a replacement 'Fran Finder' was made available and was first picked up leaving Findhorn Bay (near Forres in Scotland) at 06:30 on Wed 30th June as Viper starts back South to home...
Nevertheless, for Zest Tracking, this voyage is providing valuable insight into the potential for GPS trackers in extreme environments, whilst Fran's followers can see her position updated every half-hour for a remarkably high proportion of the time at sea, as well as readily being able to identify which bed and breakfast she is staying in overnight!
Where Was Fran?
Look at a selection of GPS plots for individual daily voyages
Fran leaves Findhorn Bay with the new Fran Finder
Where is Fran Now?
The interactive map below was used to show Fran's last reported position. The tracker was configured to send an update every 30 minutes in order to conserve power.
- Note: the tracker communicates over GPRS, so if she's too far offshore there may not be a strong enough data signal.
- Hold the mouse over the marker to see the corresponding date and time.
