On 17th March 2020, Salty Lass joined Marine Traffic. We had set up a test rig on the 14th and we were really excited to see all the other vessels pop up, but we could not determine if we were transmitting, as we were not on Marine Traffic and it was getting too late to knock on any ones door to see if they could pick us up. The next day, we set up our test rig once again, but this time we attached the aerial to a halyard and sent it up the mast. Marine Traffic was still not showing us, so we knocked on the door of a neighbour, to see if we showed up. Initially, we were not showing, so I went back to Salty Lass disappointed. However, I had barely got my coat off, when he was knocking on the boat, to say that he could detect us, so I went back to his boat to see for myself. It felt so good to see us on his display. On top of our MMSI number, he could see our name and that felt fantastic. We were still not on Marine traffic, but we were one step closer to our goal.

Now that we had tested the system, it was time to commence the install, so we started by running the long cables and by the end of the day we had the aerial and the long data cable all in place. The next day I had managed to install the GPS mushroom, while Beverley had sorted out the data cables and the aerial connections. That night we made a make shift power set up and powered up the system. With in minutes of firing up the system, we actually appeared on Marine Traffic. The reason that we think Marine Traffic had picked us up this time was:-

1. Now the aerial was at 90° to the horizon, while when we had the aerial up the mast it could of been at an angle
2. This time we soldered the inside connection on the aerial while when we had it in the test system, the core was just folded in the centre of the connection.

We were so happy that we were on the system, Beverley and I had a wee chortle as we jocked that the stalking could begin. So now that we were on the system, we uploaded a picture of Salty Lass and added a few other bits and bobs to our account. We tried to search for ourselves but still no result. It was the very next day the 20th that we actually appeared in the search and we laughed as there was only one Salty Lass in their register.

So now we have created our very own Marine Traffic Page which allows you to see where we are.