[Yesterday we had some issues with formatting and our remote posts. Sorry if
this is formatted poorly, I don’t have a wifi signal to take it down, just
bear with it until we get back to civilization and I’ll fix it. Also, it
would be great if someone reading this would call us and leave a voicemail
and let me know if it looks right. Thanks!]
If you see this (and it’s formatted correctly) S/V Joint Venture has finally
mastered the ultimate trick of blogging while cruising, the fully remote
post. The eloquent prose you are reading was disseminated without the help
of a terrestrial wifi signal. That’s right! We’re now blogging through
satellites, bouncing our tales of afar through the heavens to distract our
faithful followers as they sit in their cubicles.
You might be asking yourself what this might mean for you, our reader? For
starters, you should expect timely updates of our current situation, no more
waiting for an update until we make landfall at our next destination that
may (or may not) have a free wifi signal! Unfortunately, there won’t be any
posts that include photos, those will have to await our next high-speed
connection. (And there probably won’t be up-to-the-minute posts when we are
reefed down in 30 knot winds, either.)
The satellite phone that we’re using is painfully slow, basically, I’m
posting through a modem, you remember those, right? The
RRRRRRRrrrrrrrrkkkkkkkkk—chchchchchhcchchchchchchhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-
beeeeeeeeeeeep that means that you have the ability to access the World Wide
Web? Remember that modem? And remember how it moved at the blistering pace
of 9.8 kilobytes/second? And now remember how long it took to get that
floppy disk that held a whopping 1.4 megabytes to load to the internet? Now
consider that every photo we snap, or webpage we try to visit, or email
attachment we receive totally dwarfs that floppy disk.. And then factor in
that our satellite connection is spotty, and you understand the headaches
that I have when I try to download a webpage, or load a photo, or receive
attachments through our email.
So, enjoy the timely updates, but you’ll have to wait till we hit shore for
the pictures – and no complaining!
On a side note: Those cruisers that are considering Single Side Band radios
and don’t already have them installed on their boats. Carefully consider
getting a portable Sony SSB receiver for weather and a sat phone for data
and connectivity. If your goal is to stay in touch with folks at home, a
sat phone can call any phone number (unlike an SSB,) a sat phone has no
wiring or hard installation, and we found it very cost effective for our
relatively short term cruise (25% of the related cost for an SSB.) Yes,
it’s cool to talk on the SSB nets with folks in Denver, but I can call
anywhere in the world with my sat phone, just something to consider. I’ve
figured out how to get weather gribs, send and receive emails, and place
calls with our sat phone, the SSB receiver provides us with our other
weather needs. Post a comment if you’re curious about our exact solution.
In the meantime, enjoy our updates! Family Island Regatta starts next week
here in Georgetown, stay tuned for the racing!
Looked great to me–yesterday and today. Unfortunately, I have not mastered the art of voicemail to the sat phone so someone else will have to tell you that it looks great.