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Updated on 30 Jun 2024

Configure and use the tracking via E-mail

You can use the email tracking with any e-mail account. Simply send an email to a private recipient address and following a specific formatting to transmit your location and other information.

How does it work ?

Once enabled, the system generate a personal recipient address for your account following this format : tracking+xxxxxx@skipperblogs.com. This address is specific to your account and you must not communicate this address to third parties or publish it publicly. Each time you send an email to this address, the system will parse your message to update your position.

The system periodically fetch messages you sent to this unique address and then parses them. If a relevant position is found, your position is updated on the map.

E-mail content formatting

The system in charge of reading and parsing your email is not an artifical inteligence and only a rigorous formatting allow your information to be well interpreted. Please carefully follow the guidelines for sending your email.

Enable the tracking

Go on the page Administration Tracking E-mail tracking and click on Enable tracking. Once enabled, the same page will display your personal recipient address.

Format your email and send your position

Compose a new email with your email client. The subject of the message does not matter and you may not type any.

Prefer plain text/unformatted message

If possible, compose your message in plain text format and not in formatted HTML. In most of mail client, you will have to enable this option in the mail composing interface. Please refer to your email client documentation.

In some cases, it may be difficult for the system to decrypt the content and you may also consider to remove any signatures.

In the e-mail body, add your position like in this example :

LAT=28-14-04N
LON=17-04-11W
TIME=2023-01-09 22:10
SPEED=4.0
COURSE=005
COMMENT=100miles left to Tonga. We should land during the night.

Except for the TIME and COMMENT, all data should not contain white space. Each data must be on a new line.

Latitude and longitude are mandatory and must be in decimal degrees with a negative value for west or south coordinates OR in sexagesimal format. Examples:

Coordinates	Decimal degree format	Sexagesimal format
14°04'11" N	14.069716	14-04-11N
167°45'00" W	-167.75	167-45-00W
03°50'33" S	-3.8424999	3-50-33S

The minimal required data is latitude and longitude. If you do not enter the date and time, the system will take into account the time of when your e-mail was received.

SPEED and COURSE data and COMMENT are optional. They will be added to the waypoint on the map.

Give a try before setting sails

After activating the tracking but before casting off, we recommend you to give a real condition. You can use the "Test receipt" function in the tracking configuration page. The system will provide you with sample data to send and then wait for your message to be received to give you a quick response. You can also do a "live" test and check that your new position is added to the map. You can then delete this test position via the map editor.

Was is the update frequency ?

Every 60 minutes the system fetch the messages sent to your personal recipient address and updates your position correspondingly. If you sent multiples messages during this interval, all will be taken into account if they respect the geographic limitation of 1 nautical miles between each points. See How the tracking works for more details about this limitation.

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