Phone Therapy While Sailing

[Dorle]

I am planning to join my husband sailing while maintaining a part-time psycho-therapeutic practice by phone and want advice about similar experiences, equipment needed and feasibility. So far I am practicing on the Chesapeake and would like to upgrade to coastal sailing (hubby wants to cross oceans). My questions are:
1. Should I assume that I can only conduct my phone sessions while at a marina or anchored somewhere? Of course I would not expect to have sessions while trying to deal with a gale, but is it realistic to assume that I could have some 50 min. phone conversations while sailing ( with my husband helming)?
2. I have a cell-phone (ok around Newfoundland what's the reach?); existing Satphone has bee tricky in getting/maintaining connection (other feedback?). Would Skype be an option (re: maintaining internet connection, and adequate audio quality, also privacy (and fees).
Thanks in advance for any feedback!

[lorenzo b]

The simple answer is no, there is no consistently reliable system for voice transmission when at sea. The only folks that have mastered this are the US Navy at a cost of some 14.3 billion dollars per year and as we know they do not " do " therapy as we understand it.
Your post does raise several other issues you may wish explore further;
your anxiety around your professional responsibilities
your desire to follow your " hubbie " on his sailing adventures, men can be such boys
your separation needs on a small boat at sea

and I'm sure we are just scratching the surface here.

Did you find us by referral?
Do you have insurance?

[skipmac]

I took the ICW from CT to FL last year and maintained constant contact with work about 90% of the time. Along the east coast of the US cell phone coverage, at least with Verizon, seemed pretty good, as long as you stay close in. Even near a major city I would lose connection about 4-5 miles off the coast. There are booster antennas for cell phones that can increase the range and reliability of the cell phone signal. Only a few times and places on the trip did I have trouble getting a call.

Once away from the coast there is nothing that is affordable by working class sailors that will give you reliable signals for phone calls. Best you can hope for is a satellite system but again, the ones that you could afford do not give 100% reliable sound quality and connection. Don't think you want to lose the call or ask the client to repeat in a very loud voice during a session. Also have the voice delay with satellite that can be a bit disconcerting.

[Hudson Force]

I agree that you will not find an easy solution for your communication needs while cruising offshore, but you will likely have cell phone service for much of your coastal cruising. We seasonally cruise from Maine to the Keys or Bahamas and typically only lose our cell phone service in areas north of Portland; in the Bahamas (where we use Skype), and some areas through the Carolinas and Georgia. We have a friend who lives aboard and teaches online courses while cruising the US East Coast. You may find success.

[Lancerbye]

Welcome aboard. Stay close to the big land mass. lol

[mrm]

Isn't it like not farther than 7 miles anywhere?

Not much choice for quality communication offshore. What skipmac said above.

[Lancerbye]

Originally Posted by mrm

Isn't it like not farther than 7 miles anywhere?

Not much in a way of choice for quality communication offshore. What skipmac said above.

Ya , but cell reception from Davy Jones really sucks.

[atoll]

i thought people went sailing to get away from work related stuff?
however the immarsat fleet system will give full data and phone coverage at a cost of about $1200 a month,worth the cost if the bussiness generated pays for it and still provides a reasonable income.....

[Doodles]

Originally Posted by lorenzo b

The simple answer is no, there is no consistently reliable system for voice transmission when at sea. The only folks that have mastered this are the US Navy at a cost of some 14.3 billion dollars per year and as we know they do not " do " therapy as we understand it.
Your post does raise several other issues you may wish explore further;
your anxiety around your professional responsibilities
your desire to follow your " hubbie " on his sailing adventures, men can be such boys
your separation needs on a small boat at sea

and I'm sure we are just scratching the surface here.

Did you find us by referral?
Do you have insurance?

I think you scared her off. I guess she has commitment issues too.

[Zednotzee]

You can get boosters for your cellphone- basically, repeater stations onboard to improve the range of your handset. It will always be line-of-sight though, so like the others said, it won't be usefull in anything other than coastal sailing.
http://www.digitalantenna.com/cellantennas_marine.html

It can be really frustrating to be on the phone with someone when the call gets dropped. I would suggest that you give your clients a window for sessions- when you're near a population center, with reliable reception.

I would expect cell coverage to be poor in Newfoundland.

[Dorle]

Thank you for the feedback, the variety of technical opinions and the psychological "pick-ups".

[perchance]

Originally Posted by Dorle

Thank you for the feedback, the variety of technical opinions and the psychological "pick-ups".

Take tour clients sailing. Probably all the therapy they need.

[hummingway]

It may surprise you the range around Newfoundland. Major carriers out here in the west advertise their coverage and are improving their networks constantly so I suspect that is the case around the rock. The oil platforms will have resulted in an improvement in some areas.

I have found coverage in remote spots sometimes is great depending on the community but you can't count on it holding while you're moving. There are going to be areas where the towers don't cover even if they are "in the coverage area".

Here's a google search that will help:
Google

[boasun]

In the Gulf of Mexico, in the area of all of those oil platforms, you have PetroCom for vessels that work offshore. But they are a tad spendy.
There are Antennas for your phone that can be mounted high up and then you can use the shore side towers, as long as you are about in twenty miles of the coast.

[sww914]

I looked at inmarsat and other providers for similar reasons and determined that it was too expensive at about $8000.00 minimum for equipment and more like $15000.00 for what I wanted and about $2000.00 a month for what I needed in service. We decided to make money another way. It turns out that cruising is more important than work.
Keep in mind that when cruising you spend about 95% of your time at anchor so you should be able to plan around your times away from cell service.
MarkJ (I think that's his name, Aussie guy) just finished his circumnavigation and it seemed like he was able to log on here almost the whole time with a cell dongle. Obviously his cell service wouldn't work out in the middle of the ocean but he really was logged on here almost every day with a couple of breaks here & there.