Wifi Rant

[Charlie]

I cruised for in the late 80's. Communicatons at the time was letters or telegraphs. I would tell people where we were headed and then they would send mail to general delivery or the harbor masters office. I kept those letters for about 20 years till they were destroyed by a leak.

It is funny but it is almost universal that a blog includes information about where to get Wifi. "If you have a 600 giggle hurts antenna with a bipolar antenna and exactly .37589432 meters of # 16 coaxial cable in white. It is very easy to get Wifi in (insert the foreign port here)."

Opening a letter was so much more real then getting an email. The stamps were fantastic. I kept a journal in a notebook. At the back of the notebook I had a list with everyone I had sent letters to and when and if they had written back. After a certain point if I didn't get a letter back I would put them on the Christmas Card list and If there was no Christmas card then crossed them off of the list.

I remember the harbor masters office in Tahiti. "Oh here is a letter for Seahawk that will be waiting for them when they get here. Oh this one is for Christopher Robin. They left yesterday. I think we might catch them in Fiji." Were thoughts that crossed my mind as I scored the mother lode of eight letters wit information from a month previous." I right this as my computer downloads 64 emails b/c I didn't turn it on yesterday.

Not sure of the reason for this post. Just find it funny how much the internet has become the focus of our lives. Because I am not a full time cruiser I tend to wait till I get home before posting pix and stories on the internet. I don't want the bad guys to know when I am gone.

[rebel heart]

It is a little easy to get addicted (or reliant, if that's more palatable) to the Internet for folks. It's fun, has tons of stuff at your fingertips, and a lot of socialization takes place online (which really isn't a bad thing).

Kind of nice though because unless you have the money for a big sat phone bill if you want reliable access you're going to be stuck to marinas for the most part. Thins the heard a bit.

[kevingy]

Similarly, historians are already lamenting the loss of paper photographs due to digital photography. For 150 years or so, photographs clearly captured an instance of time for the future to interrogate. Just before digital photographs, it was common to expose a roll of film, develop the entire thing, perhaps display a few pictures, and store the rest for the future. Today, it's common to take thousands of cheap, "disposable" pictures and then print perhaps only a handful. The rest are either deleted or stored on media that will be unreadable in 25 years - either because the media has degraded or the hardware needed to read the media is outdated.

[keepondancin]

In the early-mid ninties we cruised the Eastern Caribbean, home based in Trinidad so we could go back to earn some money then get back on the boat. Peakes was being built, Power Boats, TTYC, and the Yacht Club was really the only place to hang out. A couple years later, Crews Inn was built at the old Bauxite dock. Sitting at the bar at Crews Inn, mid afternoon, we observed most of the boats there were American, most of the boats anchored in Chagaramus were European. There was no sign of life on the docks around the American boats. Everyone had internet connections and cable TV. I thought then, and still feel the same way, why go through all the aggravation of owning and maintaining a boat, experience all the difficulties (experiences) that it takes to get there, then sit in front of a video display all day. There is such a good feeling to be sitting in the cockpit and seeing a boat come in that you really didn't think you would ever see again. Making real friends, not virtual friends, are more meaningful. I agree there is a wealth of info available online, but to sail away is to escape. If you have to be that connected, you could avoid getting seasick by just staying home. It seems as if you can't leave the dock until you have all the newest, most technical gear, then dread the thought of it breaking down. Guess I'm just not adjusting.

[boatman61]

Hey 'Keepondancin'......
Greetings from another 'Mal-adjusted' ole geezer....

[SaucySailoress]

Originally Posted by Charlie

I kept a journal in a notebook.

I started many journals in notebooks. Lost most of them before February.

The only journal I have ever managed to keep for longer than 3 weeks at a time is my blog... perhaps it's a generation thing. Perhaps it's because it's easier to stick photos in there now we have digital cameras to boot. Perhaps it's because I know people will read it, including some family members who still show an interest in me...

Technology has its uses, and Wifi isn't all bad!

[sarafina]

Ahh gentlemen... I ferl yer pain, and in honour of it I award to each of you;


and your own personal burgee of the Buggy Whip Yacht Club, which sails out of the better past into the unknown future ; -)


Change is hard, but usually survivable!

After all, look where I met ya!

[speciald@ocens.]

We cruised occasionly in the late 70's too. Electronics consisted of an AM radio that rarely worked but cost about $1200 in 80's dollars, a radio direction finder, a depth finder with a spinning red light, and a CB radio for backup communication. Boy, do I miss the "good old days".

[boatman61]

Hmmmmmmmmm..... nice whip Sara....
Wotcha doing next w/end....
Pity I've already booked someone for Easter.....

[sarafina]

heh... now why am I not surprised that YOU jumped on that like white on rice?

; -)

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by sarafina

heh... now why am I not surprised that YOU jumped on that like white on rice?

; -)

YouTube - JAMES TAYLOR - GETTING TO KNOW YOU

Figured you'd enjoy 'JT' a bit more than Deborah Kerr.....

[atoll]

Originally Posted by keepondancin

In the early-mid ninties we cruised the Eastern Caribbean, home based in Trinidad so we could go back to earn some money then get back on the boat. Peakes was being built, Power Boats, TTYC, and the Yacht Club was really the only place to hang out. A couple years later, Crews Inn was built at the old Bauxite dock. Sitting at the bar at Crews Inn, mid afternoon, we observed most of the boats there were American, most of the boats anchored in Chagaramus were European. There was no sign of life on the docks around the American boats. Everyone had internet connections and cable TV. I thought then, and still feel the same way, why go through all the aggravation of owning and maintaining a boat, experience all the difficulties (experiences) that it takes to get there, then sit in front of a video display all day. There is such a good feeling to be sitting in the cockpit and seeing a boat come in that you really didn't think you would ever see again. Making real friends, not virtual friends, are more meaningful. I agree there is a wealth of info available online, but to sail away is to escape. If you have to be that connected, you could avoid getting seasick by just staying home. It seems as if you can't leave the dock until you have all the newest, most technical gear, then dread the thought of it breaking down. Guess I'm just not adjusting.

i think it was more because all the usa boats had aircon ,and the euro trash had to rely on the breeze in the anchourage for cooling.

also most of the euro boats were on their way,where as the us boats had come to the end of the road

[Doodles]

Yeah the good old days ...... they're gone, gone, gone.

[flysci]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

...if you want reliable access you're going to be stuck to marinas for the most part. Thins the heard a bit.

NO true. With the right antenna, you can anchor out (somewhere near town) and get lots of wifi. Course these days you have to pay. I Georgetown I paid $15 for a week.

Margo

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by flysci

NO true. With the right antenna, you can anchor out (somewhere near town) and get lots of wifi. Course these days you have to pay. I Georgetown I paid $15 for a week.

Margo

It's true on the west coast. Even on the Channel Islands which are ~30 miles from LA, you're not getting anything except for two harbors both on a single island. The others are completely devoid of coverage.

Mexcio is crummy as well.