Cruising World - June 2018

june/july 2018

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requires a separate Navionics

subscription) to navigate

with mazu’s app. In all cases,

mazu users send and receive

small packets of information

over Iridium’s SBD network;

should the connection be dis-

turbed mid-upload/download,

the system restarts where it

left off rather than restarting

from scratch. This feature

reduces data-transfer fees.

Critically, mazu connects

users to SkyMate’s servers,

not to the internet directly,

which allows SkyMate to apply

a proprietary compression

algorithm to make the data

packets as small and as cost

effective as possible.

“It typically takes 30

seconds to a minute to send an

email, and maybe fi ve minutes

to download a GRIB fi le,” says

Craig Myers, mazu’s product

manager. “We’re not talking

about megabytes or gigabytes

here. We use compression

and do enough work with the

data that we’re only sending

kilobytes.”

For example, explains

Myers, a 200-nautical-mile

GRIB fi le that’s downloaded

from SkyMate’s server might

weigh in at a featherweight

300 to 400 bytes, meaning

that cruisers can download a

lot of forecasts and send or

receive a ton of email using the

8,000 bytes of data that are

included with Skymate’s mid-

level monthly data plan. All

SkyMate subscription services

can be winterized, meaning

they can be suspended when

the boat is not in use.

Additionally, mazu provides

users with an SOS button

that contacts GEOS World-

wide’s privately operated

International Emergency Re-

sponse Coordination Center,

which in turn passes emergen-

cy information to the correct

rescuing authority, such as the

U. S. Coast Guard. The SOS

functionality supports two-

way communication via email

or texts with the emergency

center or Coast Guard. How-

ever, sailors should not rely on

it (or any of the other devices

mentioned in this article) to

replace a properly registered

EPIRB.

Finally, users can also

purchase Sentry, SkyMate’s

vessel-monitoring and track-

ing hardware and services

(sold separately), which uses

the mSeries’ connectivity to

send alerts should an onboard

sensor get tripped.

Affordable Email

Given that most satellite-

communications systems’

airtime bills are a function of

the amount of data used, one

clever practice involves using

third-party software to shrink

the amount of data that’s being

transferred. XGate’s suite of

apps and services allow users

to reduce the size of their

incoming and outgoing email

by up to 95 percent by direct-

ing it through XGate’s email

servers. Cruisers can either

use an XGate email account

or forward their regular email

through XGate’s servers, which

apply signifi cant compression,

thus reducing the amount of

transferred data.

XGate provides virus

scanning and spam fi lters to all

emails while also employing its

BigMail feature that searches

incoming mail for large and

expensive-to-download

attachments and images.

BigMail gives users the choice

of instant gratifi cation or

the option to wait and open

those fi les until they’re online

using a less-expensive internet

connection. Users can also

employ XGate’s additional

XWeb service, which enables

fast and affordable Web access

by scything ads and pop-ups

and compressing webpages

by three to fi ve times their

original size.

XGate is available as a Web

service that users can subscribe

to for as few as seven days or

for as long as two years, and

it comes bundled with Pre-

dictWind’s Offshore weather

forecasting at no additional

charge. Sailors can download

GRIB fi les and use the detailed

report within PredictWind’s

GRIB viewer for weather

routing and departure-time

planning.

Users can share this service

with multiple wireless devices

by using XGate in concert with

RedPort’s Optimizer, which

takes any internet- protocol-

based satellite-data signal

and shares it via a hotspot

with multiple networked

Android and iOS smartphones

and tablets, and computers

running Apple OS X, Linux

or Windows. RedPort’s

Optimizer features a robust

fi rewall that blocks all satellite

traffi c except that which is

sent over XGate (or other

RedPort-certifi ed data ser-

vices), as well as a feature that

signifi cantly accelerates the

email transmission speed. And,

because this is 2018, RedPort’s

Optimizer also allows you to

update your social-media feeds

while enabling vessel tracking

via RedPort’s tracking site.

It’s Personal

Devices such as Garmin’s

inReach or the SPOT Gen

3 give users a huge amount

of operational fl exibility

within their small, lightweight,

portable bundles.

Garmin inReach devices

allow users to send and receive

texts globally via Iridium’s SBD

network, and to download the

latest weather information

(subscription levels include

basic, premium or marine)

based on information from

Ocens, Garmin’s contracted

marine-weather provider.

Additionally, inReach can be

used for navigation and for

two-way SOS communications

with GEOS ’ International

Emergency Response

Coordination Center or

other rescue authorities. On

EQUIPMENT

RESOURCES

Garmin: garmin.com,

800-800-1020

GlobalStar: globalstar

.com, 877-4 5 2- 5782

Ground Control: ground

control.com, 800-773-

4600

Inmarsat: inmarsat.com,

877-748-4320

Iridium: iridium.com,

(Phone number

unavailable)

RedPort and XGate:

redportglobal.com,

877-317-7283

SkyMate: mazu-marine

.com, 703-961- 5800

mazu by Skymate inReach Explorer + 1 Spot Gen3 RedPort Optimizer

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE MANUFACTURERS