Internet over seas

[Muckle Flugga]

Yep. Iridium costs around $10 per MB (and believe me you burn that quickly) and Inmarsat rather less but set up costs a lot more. Speeds are, with a very expensive set up (sub superyacht), comparable to dial up speeds of 15 to 20 years ago or rather slower.

But, as ka4wja queries… why would you really want to? Part of the joy of being in the So Pac is that you have almost no comms. No planes passing overhead, and precious few even visible satellites. Wonderful!

But if that's not your juice then ozskipper has the best and most correct solution.

Other than that, for grib files you can use saildocs with SSB or else Iridium phone for not much money using mail compression services etc. Those are useful and worthwhile.

It is REALLY worth downloading as many satellite images of intended island groups and detail of those islands/atolls prior to departure with a mainland connection. It will be worth the time and effort, believe me, as satellite imagery is your best bet for accuracy in the So Pac.

[Harry Brown]

Originally Posted by Muckle Flugga

It is REALLY worth downloading as many satellite images of intended island groups and detail of those islands/atolls prior to departure with a mainland connection. It will be worth the time and effort, believe me, as satellite imagery is your best bet for accuracy in the So Pac.

What would be the best way to download these images?
Is it just a matter of zooming in to the required area on Google earth and taking screen shots, or is there a better way?

[svlamorocha]

Originally Posted by jackdale

To be technical.

The Internet will be pretty much restricted to the mailto and ftp protocols; the latter will require the latest and great technologies, the former can use SSB. You can forget about http (the Web)

That is true only for us the poor. I have used http over a KVH connection onboard someone else´s boat. The same IP connection is used for KVH´s phone service, which is just voice over IP.

As it happens, KVH´s internet service is not that expensive. The hardware (including directional antenna, etc) is very expensive.

[Muckle Flugga]

Originally Posted by Harry Brown

What would be the best way to download these images?
Is it just a matter of zooming in to the required area on Google earth and taking screen shots, or is there a better way?

Pretty much yes. Screenshots are how I have done it in the past. Not everything is represented. The likes of Beveridge reef is simply not even there, and there are a fair few areas with cloud interference and the like, but for identifying areas of shallowness, coral heads and the like, and importantly good anchorages, this format is excellent. Treat it very much as you might a chart catalogue and in addition to that same. Remember the charting in the So Pac is highly variable and often completely absent in terms of bathymetry.

Mark I eyeball.

And… for the record Harry, my weapon is well maintained.