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Old 18-02-2016, 16:02   #1
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Writer friendly Caribbean destinations

Hi,

I'm a writer and looking to sail through the Caribbean on my 36' Cape Dory. Would love to identify destinations that I could find reliable internet either off the hook or dingy in - multiple locations where I could hang out for 6 months or so. Saving some $$ for the more important things in life lol...
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Old 19-02-2016, 06:04   #2
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Re: Writer friendly Caribbean destinations

Too many to list. Almost every populated island in the Caribbean that I have visited has had internet available. Either from a marina, a hotel, a local cafe, or something like that. It is not always free, but it is almost always available in one way or another. The only exceptions have been some of the very sparsely populated out-islands.
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Old 19-02-2016, 06:10   #3
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Re: Writer friendly Caribbean destinations

What in the Caribbean?
Hmmmm this place is populated by savages with bones in their noses. The few missionaries left are boiling slowly.
One island just received a car. Model T Ford. But it broke down.
Another island has just been intoroduced to fish hooks. Dunno what they do...

Whatever you are asking for we have never heard of it.
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Old 19-02-2016, 06:25   #4
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Re: Writer friendly Caribbean destinations

Very nice MarkJ - you could be a writer too maybe something like Gilligan's Island?? Or a swashbuckling ditty on Blackbeard!
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Old 19-02-2016, 06:26   #5
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Re: Writer friendly Caribbean destinations

Any personal favorites?
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Old 19-02-2016, 07:01   #6
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Re: Writer friendly Caribbean destinations

You can anchor close to a waterside bar and use their wi-fi. Just make sure you buy your drinks and coffee there.

I found the tropical islands difficult to write - too many distractions and attractions but then again everybody is different.

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Old 19-02-2016, 07:05   #7
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Re: Writer friendly Caribbean destinations

Then again, if you can write offline then upload you will be happy everywhere. This depends on how much you need the Internet to be able to research and write the piece.

b.
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Old 19-02-2016, 08:09   #8
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Re: Writer friendly Caribbean destinations

I am a writer of historical romance, complete with an editor who gives me deadlines just to make my life more interesting. Internet is an expensive a hobbled together sort of thing. After a season in the Caribbean, before we returned we bought a second T-Mobile phone (we have on At&T phone unlocked). We also bought a Digicel mifi box, although an unlocked broadband box would work just as well. T-Mobile doesn't have a roaming charge for most countries, but it won't let you get on line with the 3G signals we have down here. But the phone calls are less expensive and you can check email and do some stuff on FB.


We have to get a different Digicel card for each country (except the US islands), but it's fast and reliable. In the USVI and PR we use the T-Mobile unlimited internet plan, supplemented by AT&T. Sometimes T-Mobile just doesn't have the necessary speed. In the BVI you have to call in to the store to top off, and they aren't open on weekends or holidays. We also had to get a new card, at no cost, when we came back for this season. Going down to St. Martin/St Maarten, Digicel is only on the French side. That is not really much of a problem. It's a nicer anchorage anyway. The same card will work in St. Barts. Antigua will require a new card. Guadeloupe will word in the St. Martin card, but there is a roaming fee. It might be easier just to get a new card, certainly it's cheaper. You can also get unlimited internet from Hot, hot, hot, spot, but it will slow down when a bunch of other people are on it. Forget Dominica, it is so slow you'll want to through your computer away. Martinique has a fabulous connection. We have not gone further south than that. If you're thinking the Bahamas, we had to go through there due storms, and you need to get their box and card, and make sure your near a new cell tower.


A lot of people will talk to you about public internet spots, if you can work with noise, that's an option. I only use them when I'm doing promo.


If you have any questions, PM me. If I don't get back to you right away it means we don't have a signal.


Maje (w/a Ella Quinn)
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Old 19-02-2016, 17:08   #9
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Re: Writer friendly Caribbean destinations

My frustration with this issue is that in addition to being an author is that I am also fairly adept at IT. So the marinas I have been at here in the states (granted I am a newbie sailor) - the internet totally sucks! I don't want to cruise the Caribbean in trial and error. I'm just looking for destinations that have GREAT internet - it's vital for accessing information on the fly. Blessings :-)
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Old 19-02-2016, 18:21   #10
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Re: Writer friendly Caribbean destinations

Having a home-base ashore with an always-on well connected PC, you can have a remote connection to it through a keyboard emulating software. A weak connection could thus be acceptable....

Or, a satellite connection.

Or, become IT-adapted vs IT-adept:-)
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Old 19-02-2016, 19:15   #11
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Re: Writer friendly Caribbean destinations

Why don't you try doing it the other way 'round?


Get an internet backbone map, see where the fiberoptics go, then look for marinas located on or near backbone junctions. Preferably in large industrialized ports, there there is enough demand to have "good" service. Somewhere in town.


But marinas? Really? I can't see any reason that any of the would offer really great internet service. The guests that are willing to pay for it, have their own Inmarsat or Bgan systems onboard. The rest normally have little concept of what their connect speeds are, or how to optimize them.


Or you could try to find folks in potential marinas, and ask them to Skype with you to find out if that's been blocked, and what the throughput on other transfers is.


If my Kindle can fetch an entire book in a minute...how much internet do you need for the thousands of novels you're going to write every week?
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Old 19-02-2016, 21:00   #12
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Re: Writer friendly Caribbean destinations

Quote:
Originally Posted by vonchris7 View Post
Hi,

I'm a writer and looking to sail through the Caribbean on my 36' Cape Dory. Would love to identify destinations that I could find reliable internet either off the hook or dingy in - multiple locations where I could hang out for 6 months or so. Saving some $$ for the more important things in life lol...
All you need is a pen or typewriter, what else do you need to be a writer.
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Old 20-02-2016, 04:32   #13
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Re: Writer friendly Caribbean destinations

Quote:
Originally Posted by vonchris7 View Post
My frustration with this issue is that in addition to being an author is that I am also fairly adept at IT. So the marinas I have been at here in the states (granted I am a newbie sailor) - the internet totally sucks! I don't want to cruise the Caribbean in trial and error. I'm just looking for destinations that have GREAT internet - it's vital for accessing information on the fly. Blessings :-)
The only marina I've found with great internet is Lagoon Marina in St. Maarten. If you want to spend thousands of dollars a month, you can have great internet without cobbling together a sometimes frustrating system. Otherwise, you just need to deal with it. BTW, if you come up with a better system than mine that doesn't break the bank, let me know.

Maje
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Old 20-02-2016, 09:18   #14
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Re: Writer friendly Caribbean destinations

Quote:
Originally Posted by vonchris7 View Post
My frustration with this issue is that in addition to being an author is that I am also fairly adept at IT. So the marinas I have been at here in the states (granted I am a newbie sailor) - the internet totally sucks! I don't want to cruise the Caribbean in trial and error. I'm just looking for destinations that have GREAT internet - it's vital for accessing information on the fly. Blessings :-)
So ... do not get stuck in Martinique le Marin marina. They have a token system that truly sucks. You pay, you get nothing, you get killing thoughts. Much better access at St Anne - talk to bar owners, get you pass, use all night. Make sure you have omnidirectional high gain antenna and decent wifi hardware on the boat (we use a two antenna wifi extender with 2 removable antennas - we plug the external high gain antenna into one of the router connectors .... et voila!.

We had great wifi access anchored on N shores of Antigua (posh hotels) BUT any N swell may limit your time there.

b.
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Old 22-03-2016, 21:28   #15
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pirate Re: Writer friendly Caribbean destinations

A big consideration is the cost of internet access. In the Bahamas it is expensive as hell so everyone charges for internet access and it is very, very, expensive.

In some places they charge you by the hour, terrible connectivity and the cell phone coverage is not covered by the normal international pricing schedules published by Spring, Verizon, etc... It's a very archaic phone network that does not work well with others.

BVI is better but also very expensive. You can't pull into a Starbucks and access the internet like here.

Even in the USVI internet access sux. Cell phone access is better. I use my cell phone as a hot spot on St. John. I stay at the Westin a lot and their internet access is horrible, as is everywhere else on that island.

Messenger pigeons can deliver your books faster than uploading them through the internet.

My suggestion:

Write your book's there and make your publisher pay the phone bill.

Good luck
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