Internet at sea, now!

[Rumrace]

Sounds great. In the 70’s I was working on a second degree. I dropped out work family got in the way. I went back to school. The university library gave me a seniors discount. I was 40 years older than my classmates. Was kinda humbling. I made it got called to the bar. I’m great at pro bono immigration law, suck at making money. It’s an expensive hobby with the occasional pay day from a fierce fight. I mostly scrap with insurance companies and protect people from themselves. It’s a grand paper shuffle to be honest. Easy to provide good service on the hook. I talked to one client for about 40 minutes locking through from Lake Erie to Ontario. My goal is to break even before I’m too old to shuffle papers.
I really don’t miss my big Sea Ray with 3 fridges and air which always worked. I do miss Georgian Bay and intend to take the trip around to it. My Grandson took the helm over as soon as we got on the lake heading for Kingston. I had him driving twin 395 diesels at 12 but he’s taking to sailing like a pro. I got in 2 hours of work while my wife spoiled him with breakfast and drink. I used the phone to file a few documents. A real internet connection would have been fantastic. Those few hours a couple days paid for 3 weeks in the thousand islands Kingston and parts. Lots of scuba sites to show the youngsters. Fort Henry tour.
We couldn’t got to Brandt Castle or slip over to Oswego due to boarder Covid thing.
One of my developer friends had a condo building drawing redone to include a home office area. Even a 1 bedroom has a nook wired up for working at home.
Yup lots of new people need a person to physically motivate and train them. We all do really.
I use to fly to Chicago for 1 day meetings for $1,200.00 average. Now folks zoom.
Half the meetings were a reading of memos we already read. My home is in view of the Toronto Airport and International Airport line ups. Air traffic is way way down.
Those of us who’ve worked hard for a boat cottage RV or a nice tent can take advantage of the changing times. Spend less time travelling. I laugh at gas stations cause I’ve been driving electric for 5 years but for those of us who have to drive to work it’s a chunk off their side of the ledger.
Working from home boat or park bench I think balances folks stress level to manageable

[KneadingWater]

With internet at see, we don't have to wait until we get home to search for solutions on Curisers Forum!


KW

[sailcrazy]

Is this what they call thread drift??? I thought this was about Starlink, it's capabilities and suitability for use on boats......not about YOUR choice of lifestyle. Can we please get back to dicussions about Starlink, what it can/can not do, and how well it may work on a moving boat? Come on Admin....where are you at?

[Rumrace]

Years ago I saw a boat tied up to a lock wall in the Trent in a pocket cruiser with a tripod and a two meter dish on land.
So his kids could watch TV. Cool Dad.
The dish would not work on the boat constantly tipping and stay in touch with a satellite. Would this be a problem with starlink also staying connected?
I’ve just read snippets of the Box Elon Musk made and I cant I understand much.

[southatlantic]

Originally Posted by Dave Lochner

I've heard, but can't confirm, stories that the satellite dish for Starling can not keep up with a boats motion, the servo motor burns out quickly. I don't think they're ready for prime time.

Take a look at the latest two episodes of M/V Freedom on YouTube (I guess you'll need the internet for that ). They actually modified "dishy" by removing the servo motor and leaving the dish permanently mounted facing straight up. It worked well, at least in the first few days of testing. So I guess the servo motor is irrelevant.

[MJH]

Originally Posted by BilgeRat

Finally, internet at sea. Been waiting my whole life and now too old to go to sea. Small boats are a lot different then ships.

During our journey through life each of us builds our unique lifestyle. With so many possibilities to bring into our life it is easy to make most of them NEEDS rather than options. I remember when I decided to cancel my American Express card in 1999 and then coming to realize that I didn't miss a thing without it...I laugh about it now. We can live happily without many of the frills we think we must have.

I'm a news junky and will watch every daily news cast if I get a chance. But during my two and one half month roundtrip trip to Hawaii I didn't see one broadcast and have come to realize there are other lifestyle options I don't NEED and can live without when called upon for a higher priority like sailing. It just takes some planning and a little courage to step into that unknown in your life.

[merrydolphin]

Yes folks, it’s not perfect yet but it is PROGRESS. Great news. And it will just keep getting better.

Thanks Elon!

[paulajayne]

Once available at sea then no need for a sat phone with expensive data contract.

We sat in a 98 mph storm on the boat and watched Netflix via Starlink - stable as a stable thing.

[Rumrace]

That’s what I understood that a boat motion may be an issue. I’m led to believe this Box Musk has made may not have the same issues.
I have 2 stepper motors 2 magnetic locks and 2 5V servos wired up to a raspberry pi in my boat. Basically I can see the boat all winter in storage with an interior and exterior camera (2,servos ) read interior temp humidity turn on heat or air open one hatch, blower and a vent. The heat is two golden rods.
My grandson and I discussed this topic while we were following Jupiter to navigate on any raspberry we tossed together.
My 15 year old teacher said you can follow 2,3,4 satellites and your gps plots along. He explains it as kinda a passive relationship. He told me some one will put up a satellite which can not only find you but link through any other satellite around to find you.
He said the fault is not hear on earth.

[Rumrace]

And what’s this crap about old. Two of my grandkids are way more fun to boat with them my two children. We’ve done a lot miles power boating. Happy with our first sailboat since I was a kid.
The downside of getting old for me was the Beneteau First 53. I’m too old to go kick ass with one. My wife would find out how much they are worth. When we bought the Jeanneau the dealer said you wife will be happy your trade in paid for it with cash for upgrade. I told the broker not to bring up the price she has be idea what I paid for the trade in.
In a new 1984 Sea Ray Cruiser we had a Sony TV I think 14”. Had rabbit ears. We got 3 channels just about everywhere. Was high class.
We have two flat screens in the boat. Grandkids would love Netflix at night.
As it is we make trips to Kingston to restock the boat and do all of our internet stuff at the town dock. My oldest grandson gets iPad and war game stuff on. I seem to keep them too busy to game all day. We’ve expired the bin of movies to play

[conchaway]

Read the poem "Ulysses", by Alfred Lord Tennyson.

[Fortytwo]

I would love to be able to check the weather, contact a Marina or boat yard, find an anchorage or order parts any where.

[Rumrace]

Brilliant poem Thank you.
I still take days off my busy retirement to volunteer at Shakespeare in the Park. I’m adding it to my CV High Park Escort. I sell overpriced drinks and Hagen daus to unsuspecting tourists for non profit arts.

[sailingharry]

I would love to let Mom know I'm ok and send her a few pictures every day.

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by sailingharry

I would love to let Mom know I'm ok and send her a few pictures every day.

With an Iridium Go you can do exactly that, at the cost of a relatively expensive and very slow data connection. But it works pretty much everywhere.

However, given how fast Starlink has moved into Starlink RV, it surely can’t be long before Starlink Global comes along. I assume it won’t be cruisers driving the offshore market - rather cruise ships and airlines and perhaps super yachts? It doesn’t sound like a boat’s motion generally affects the connectivity.

Regarding working while cruising, it depends. I had a Zoom meeting interrupted by a 30 knot squall - as I had called the meeting I had to make my excuses for cancelling the meeting half way through. Another time, we had arrived early at a tricky anchorage, right before another meeting I had scheduled - juggling navigation and the meeting was not fun for either us nor my coworkers. Irrespective of connectivity, any more than about 4 hours of work per day really takes away much of the joy from cruising and you do get driven by a schedule that isn’t related to the local environment.

Still, it’s better than being in the office and in our case broad mobile coverage and lockdown-inspired remote working arrangements have made cruising while working possible. Starlink connectivity really will let us get more remote without worrying about how many bars of coverage there will be where we want to go.