The (Anti)Social Issues with Starlink

[chubby]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

I love these threads.

In my day, there was no internet, no cell phones, no gps, no starlink, not much of anything. Ham radio was pretty much the only tool available for long distance communication.
Mail was held for you in various post offices on your route.

To let people know where you are or where you were going, you sent postcards.

I had a blast. Managed to do a lot with little.

pretty sure every generation says the same about the youngins..

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

Could not even suggest how this will all end.

Here ya go. It’s coming. But it’ll probably be wireless. An implant.

Eventually, we are headed here.

You know how Star Trek got so many things right? The Borg is where we are headed. Not in our lifetimes, but we will merge with machines.

I don’t think it’ll be horrific. It’s just scary to imagine. But to actually merge will, of course be done in a way that seems good. Useful. Just like our phones are. People will want the latest super human abilities you can only get from the latest Apple iBrain implant. It’ll help them get jobs, it’ll be what the cool kids have.

[Celestialsailor]

I think in general, having connectivity is a double blade sword. Is it the technology of it or is it that lack of discipline of the individual using it? I've only cruised the west coast of the U.S. and in Mexico. There were certainly morning VHF nets, that I found interesting and helpful.
The one thing I would see is people gathered at hot spot...a lot of grandmothers talking to grandchildren. I'm sure that is a positive thing but I also think it enhanced the need to be with them physically and I would assume ended a few cruising dreams.
One could argue that GPS changed the face of cruising forever, dumping a lot of wealth on the water. I no longer use celestial navigation. It was always a PITA.

[requiem]

Good? Bad? To me, it's simply... different.

A certain amount of mental discipline and flexibility must be developed, just as a certain physical and mental hardiness was necessary on the physical frontier. Physical interaction will be increasingly by choice rather than forced circumstance. In a way that may make them all the more valuable and treasured.

Re: the Borg, I prefer to think of Iain Bank's Culture novels as a more desirable goal. In the medium term, the oneirochron of William's Aristoi may be a more apt analogy; or a fantasy equivalent might be the realms of the fae. As the old stories relate, time passes differently in such realms, and temptations abound. As the realms merge, humans must develop the skills to travel safely on both sides of the veil.

[Mike OReilly]

These kinds of thread just reinforce that my cruising is quite different than what most of you experience. What some of you are lamenting; the ‘lack’ of beach parties or constant cockpit gathering, has always been the norm for me. Simply put, most of the places I’ve cruised, there just aren’t that many people around. The few that you do encounter are (usually) easy to connect with.

My fear around Starlink-type technology is not that it will make people more anti-social. My fear is it will encourage more people to go to the remote areas I love.

BTW, I got to experience the joys of Starlink last season. We travelled with a buddy boat who had SL. We borrowed his link and were able to steam videos from the most remote locations.

[JPA Cate]

My fear around Starlink-type technology is not that it will make people more anti-social. My fear is it will encourage more people to go to the remote areas I love.

I can understand the feeling! However, don't you think that if they're the less social folks, that you may never see them, just their boat at anchor? Mostly, people don't seem to party hearty very much cruising, where we've been anyhow.

Of course, one difference is that it is mainly the older people who have more $$ to spend that get involved in the night life in foreign areas. We didn't, because we liked the remote anchorages better than towns.

If you want to have a friend, be a friend.

Ann

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

I can understand the feeling! However, don't you think that if they're the less social folks, that you may never see them, just their boat at anchor? Mostly, people don't seem to party hearty very much cruising, where we've been anyhow.

True... but there might still be more boats around. I'd have to start worrying about scope, and swing room. And there's the increased chance that some idiot, who thinks his music is so great, will drop anchor nearby and insist that everyone in the anchorage listen to it.

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

If you want to have a friend, be a friend.

Love this, my friend.

[JPA Cate]

Ah, Mike, I have a lot of aphorisms. Here's another one: trust in Allah, but tie your camel to a tree. Translated to sailor talk it is something like this: "Love Nature, but tie your dinghy up with a full round turn and two half hitches."

And another one: Be aware, before sharing coordinates of favorite locations, that you may find them full of others when you next arrive. It can ruin a pristine area to have too many yachties there. And also exhaust the local people.

Ann

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

My fear around Starlink-type technology is not that it will make people more anti-social. My fear is it will encourage more people to go to the remote areas I love.

Well, that's what's happening with us at the moment, spending more time in places we realistically couldn't before.


We have been cruising the Southern Great Barrier Reef about 60 nm out since early December during Cyclone season running back in to dodge "potential cyclones," and back out when all looks good again.
Into our 19th day on this outing with at least another 7 ahead of us.

Best cruising season ever, has been mostly mirror calm out here as per picture - rarely see another boat.
Certainly none that have sails up.

Having the world's weather at our fingertips has allowed for informed decisions which we could simply never have made over previous decades due to lack of comms
Even managed to sell our other boat and a house while out here, ain't DocuSign grand

[OldManMirage]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Isn't this thread just pure irony?

I'm not picking a fight, but I think the only ones it would be ironic for are the ones who are out there cruising right now.

Me, I'm still stuck in a land-based life and dreaming of being one of those people cruising the islands, or wherever.

But again, it really just depends on each persons situation. And again I say, if you want the connectivity and can afford it - go for it ! BUT don't let it keep you from the camaraderie of your fellow cruisers.

Let's face it - by and large they are the people who are going to be most like us. They are doing what we are doing (or plan to be doing, such as in my case). They may be doing it a little differently then you are, but they is us.

Or to paraphrase - "I have met the cruiser, and he is me !"

[Pegu Club]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

There may be a whole generation or two, who were mesmerized by the internet, at the same time that child care became focused on keeping children safe at all cost. Those children, nurtured by parents and the internet, have not been encouraged to acquire social skills. This is the harvest we are now reaping.

Sorry.

Ann

Thanks Ann, I could not have said it any better, as i may have not been as eloquent as you

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Ah, Mike, I have a lot of aphorisms. Here's another one: trust in Allah, but tie your camel to a tree. Translated to sailor talk it is something like this: "Love Nature, but tie your dinghy up with a full round turn and two half hitches."

And another one: Be aware, before sharing coordinates of favorite locations, that you may find them full of others when you next arrive. It can ruin a pristine area to have too many yachties there. And also exhaust the local people.

Ann

Nice. Mine seem to be all of a more moribund nature:

“Life… it’ll kill ya.”

Or

“None of us are getting out of this life alive.”

As for sharing coordinates of my favourite places, I see the self-inflicted downside, but to be honest, I really doubt many people here would follow me.

Most CF cruisers are drawn to the warmth and easy waters of the lower latitudes. And as this thread demonstrates, most also want to travel, or at least be, in the company of others — many others. Higher latitudes and/or remote places, will never offer these things, even if you can stay online 24/7.

[carstenb]

as sailorboy said - tnhis thread is ironic, here we are talking about internet while cruising and using the internet.

Oh well.

we have it, but turn it on in then morning for a hour or two. otherwise we don't care. The only social websites I am on are this one and DOCA (Danish Ocean Cruisers Association). My wife is on none.

We do enjoy being able to read the danish newspapers, but havng said that the news is about the same every day.

The BIG advantage is the weather - but let's be serious, we have been downloading grib files via sailmail for years now and that has worked just fine.j

Maybe I'm just getting old - we used to meet other cruisers who were always ready for an evening of mexican train or cards or just a bit of potluck and a couple of beers.

That is rare these days although we are not cruising extremely lonely anchorages here in mexico.

Yes Ann - we do go by and knock on hulls and we do meet lots of interesting neighbors, but generally we find the amount of spontaneous interaction to be falling

[mochifanta]

Like everything in life, it is a personal choice.

Starlink is an extremely useful tool, 24/7 access to information, but it doesn’t need to dominate your life.

Tune in and turn off and enjoy your surroundings and the people in it.

Like someone else said, want companionship, dinghy around and invite yourself aboard or invite people over.

Do you really want to hang out with people that can’t take their nose out of their device?

[alctel]

Has starlink really changed that much? I only know one cruiser/liveaboard with it (and she needs it for work) it's a pretty big power hog and is extremely pricey (nearly 200 bucks a month CAD!)

Plus for me at least, part of 'getting away' is getting out of cell range for a while.