BCA Fleet Map

Keen eyed visitors to our BCA website will have noticed a new item on the homepage menu called ‘Fleet Search’:

This will lead you to a sub menu where you will find the new BCA Fleet Map, which shows the last reported position of boats registered with the BCA Fleet, and a guide to the options available to report your boat’s position. See the pink dots and boat names on the map below:

The BCA Fleet Map is based on each boat having an MMSI number and a free account in the MarineTraffic database. It utilizes the services of MarineTraffic who are a leader in the field of AIS vessel tracking. We have been testing this since early summer and have had some 15 BCA boats registered so far, with positions ranging between BC’s northern mid-coast and La Paz, Mexico. While simply broadcasting one’s position with a typical Class B AIS is the easiest way to report position, it is also possible for non-AIS equipped boats to participate using the On Course app on your iPhone or Android smartphone.

To join, once you have chosen your preferred position reporting option,  send a note with your boat name and MMSI number to vifleet@bluewatercruising.org and you will be added to the BCA Fleet Map. All current BCA member’s boats are eligible, whether cruising locally or offshore.

We believe that this will help BCA boats offshore connect with each other as well as feeding the dreams of cruisers back home. Many members will recall the Currently Cruising pages which formed the centrefold of the printed Currents magazine – our goal is for this BCA Fleet Map to restore some of that information. We hope you will enjoy this new feature – let us know what you think!