Farkwar is a free position reporting service written by me. While sailing across the Pacific with my family in 2012, I noted that, while cruisers are phenomenally social as a group, the tools we use are not. The popular position reporting tools did not allow me to easily embed a map on my blog, or export my waypoints for future use. And what about Facebook & Twitter? Should I really have to post each and every link myself to let my non-sailor friends know where I am?
So in 2014, while at a programming camp in Queensland Australia, I decided to do something about it. I wrote the first version of farkwar.com that weekend, and within a few weeks, a couple of other boats picked it up and started using it. Now, two years later, farkwar.com is hundreds of boats strong with tens of thousands of waypoints.
Submit Waypoints any way you like. Farkwar currently accepts new waypoints from a simple web interface, delorme inReach, Iridium Go! or email. If you use email, we automatically parse the Airmail position footer, so you don't have to fiddle with the formats.
Fleets allow boats to self associate. Once a captain joins her boat to a fleet, she can opt to receive daily updates of the other boats in her fleet. No more wondering, "When will we run into s/v Acme again?"
Social Networking. Farkwar ties directly into your Facebook and Twitter profiles, allowing you to (optionally) post every position report to your Facebook wall or Twitter timeline.
Yep. Totally. Forever. I made Farkwar because I needed it. I've built it up and added features because I love this community. I know that a lot of us are sailing on a shoestring, and those of us that are, are the ones who need Farkwar the most. I'm prepared to keep on adding features and supporting my fellow cruisers indefinitely.
The time it takes to write this software, to respond to requests for help, and to troubleshoot the weird parsing errors I run across; the hard costs for hosting the serivce. These are my gifts to you!
I'm not too proud to ask for help though, and after watching Amanda Palmer's wonderful TED talk, I wondered if asking for help wasn't the best way for me to strengthen my relationship with you, my community. So, if you love Farkwar, if it makes your life easier and helps your parents/kids/friends rest easier while you are crossing oceans, consider supporting me.
