Software Development While Living Aboard?

[AllezCat]

I have a "personal hotspot" thru my Verizon iPhone (not sure if its Verizon or iPhone specific)
works quiet well. But, has monthly data limit.
Only place where I could find limited wifi is around east end of long island. But, very strong signals from the cable companies. They usually have free wifi for subscribers.
I tried to sign up for cable - then get the free wifi - but they wouldn't allow it...
Will ask friend to get it for me this summer...

[gonesail]

i don't see a reason why anyone would want to bring that dimension into a boat .. along with being tied to the computer and the internet .. you also get phone calls and meetings. i met a guy that did it more as a hobby and way of staying in touch .. of course his boat never moved and had a phone line to the shore. i guess doing it part time could be enjoyable.

[dacust]

Originally Posted by gonesail

i don't see a reason why anyone would want to bring that dimension into a boat .. along with being tied to the computer and the internet .. you also get phone calls and meetings.

...

Well, if I had a choice of doing computer work in a cubicle, or doing computer work on a boat, I'm pretty sure I would choose to do computer work on a boat.

It would be nice to be on the boat without having to work, but then I guess we can't expect everyone to be independently wealthy.

-dan

[ScuzzMonkey]

Development isn't what I get paid for, but I do a fair amount of it aboard as side projects. I use a Mac Mini, a widescreen LCD sized to fit the space at the nav desk (I think it's a 19"; not in front of me right now) and the generic keyboard/mouse of my choice. I do miss having a second screen, but widescreen monitors help a little.

Hardware and internet access have not been the obstacle, really, although internet is obviously going to be location-dependent. Really, it's been workspace. My wife also works from home, so monopolizing the salon table was not an option (in addition to all the other drawbacks to putting workspace in the middle of the primary living space aboard). The nav desk was wide enough, but tucked beneath the companionway so it didn't have a lot of vertical clearance, and my posture ended up being terrible while working there.

So we sold the boat. We're couch-surfing now while looking for the new one, and workspace has been a primary consideration but I've given up on nav-desk based spaces; in the range of newer models we're looking at, postage-stamp sized nav desks are the rule.

Instead, my focus has just been on finding boats with spaces that are amenable to customizing in a desk/monitor mount. What I'm finding is that there are a handful of designs that have aft cabins that are large enough that a seat could be fashioned at the edge of the berth, and a drop-down or fold out desk could be mounted on a bulkhead or in a hanging locker to be deployed while docked to provide enough space.

With the Mini as my primary work machine, I don't have to worry much about space for the computer itself... it can tuck into any old compartment, and that opens up options for monitor/keyboard/mouse space. My wife isn't thrilled about losing the master berth to my office needs, but she'll be happy to have a door to shut on me when necessary.

We had a printer aboard for a while but ended up ditching it; it mostly stayed stowed, we found we didn't need it much and may not bring it aboard at all on the new boat.

[JonathanSail]

Good thread,

I've been working as a wandering software developer for most of the last 10 years, though most of my work/wandering has taken place on land in my small camper. I really like bringing work into travel and find that it makes travel more enjoyable for me. I've gone without working for long periods and don't appreciate the off-time as much after a while. A few hours of work make the rest of the day spent playing much more rewarding and fun for me though. I'm sure that's different for all of us, but don't knock it if you haven't tried it.

I'm currently setting up my new traveling workstation (sailboat) so have put a lot of thought into this topic lately.

The first step with setting this up on this boat was rebuilding the seating so that the seat-backs had a good angle for proper posture. I also made new cushions with foam that I found comfortable (and batting/good fabric for breathability, etc.). I've setup a second electrical panel that will control power for various tech related devices and be reachable from my workstation. These circuits include things like the on-boat access point, mast-mounted bullet, small inverter for the laptop/monitor, the amplifier that I'll plug my laptop audio out into for work tunes, the fan dedicated to the workspace, etc.

I've yet to mount the monitor on it's swing-out arm as my mast is out and will come into play with clearances/mounting options. I'll place it so that my head stays level when looking at the screen which helps with back/neck issues and encourages good posture vs. a low monitor. I'll also use this monitor for entertainment and it will be nice to fold up the keyboard/mouse and watch a movie through the boat sound system, etc.

In my camper which I've lived/worked in for most of the last decade I've got a similar setup with a raised screen and separate/ergonomic keyboard/mouse. Being able to place the keyboard/mouse and monitor in different locations is a must. I work in a captains chair with adjustable arm rests etc. in the camper and I may end up adding arm rests on the boat but will have to start out without them. I can run audio through the camper sound system, have a dedicated fan, small led lighting just for the keyboard for night work/etc.

Multiple screens is great but I've developed a preference for Ubuntu with it's multiple desktops. You can't look at more than one thing at a time anyway and instead of moving my head side to side to look at the different screens, with Ubuntu I simply switch the current desktop and continue to look at the same screen. I usually use 4 or 5 desktops. I'll have one with project documentation, one with my time accounting, one with my music player, one with graphic editing tools, one with my code editor and preview/testing window etc. etc. I do web developing for sites that run on LAMP environment so it's also nice to be able to easily duplicate the server environment on my local Ubuntu pc.

For connectivity you can't beat a bullet with an omni antennae in my opinion. I also run a Verizon access point through my cell phone which is great. The 4G speeds in some areas now are faster than many of the WIFI connections that I use. Fortunately I've been Verizon so long that I've still got unlimited data but I don't think you can get that plan anymore.

I also like to step out and work from just the laptop screen/keyboard but definitely prefer my proper workspace and am way more productive with it.

Jonathan

[JonathanSail]

Oh yeah, I also ditched the printer. It's really handy sometimes but rarely used. I've found that it's usefulness was at it's max when printing documentation at border crossings. If you plan to cruise internationally this may be a consideration to keep in mind. I also found that the ink went dry faster than normal from the high-temps my camper sometimes see. My printer lived on the roof rack in a dry back for years though and still worked when I gave it away so I can't really complain I don't guess.

Jonathan

[stevensuf]

why would you need 3 monitors to do software? maybe things have changed in my time, but at the start of pc's a 14 inch crt monitor was sort of standard, perhaps there are a lot of people needing glasses or?

[ReMetau]

Originally Posted by JonathanSail

Oh yeah, I also ditched the printer. It's really handy sometimes but rarely used. I've found that it's usefulness was at it's max when printing documentation at border crossings. If you plan to cruise internationally this may be a consideration to keep in mind. I also found that the ink went dry faster than normal from the high-temps my camper sometimes see. My printer lived on the roof rack in a dry back for years though and still worked when I gave it away so I can't really complain I don't guess.

Jonathan

Unfortunately we still find a need for our printer so we have a portable color deskjet.

[janders]

Originally Posted by stevensuf

why would you need 3 monitors to do software? maybe things have changed in my time, but at the start of pc's a 14 inch crt monitor was sort of standard, perhaps there are a lot of people needing glasses or?

64K of RAM was also standard and a 10M hard drive was a brilliant luxury. You can do software development on a 14" CRT but why?

When I'm developing, I like at least two monitors, preferably with lots of screen real estate. I like my IDE on one monitor and a couple terminal windows on another, usually tailing log files. The second monitor will also have a few browsers open if I'm doing web development and some sort of SQL interface if I'm doing database work.

[ReMetau]

Originally Posted by janders

64K of RAM was also standard and a 10M hard drive was a brilliant luxury. You can do software development on a 14" CRT but why?

When I'm developing, I like at least two monitors, preferably with lots of screen real estate. I like my IDE on one monitor and a couple terminal windows on another, usually tailing log files. The second monitor will also have a few browsers open if I'm doing web development and some sort of SQL interface if I'm doing database work.

I do too, but being on a 33' boat and keeping an extra monitor just didn't make sense for me. I can use our flat screen tv, but I have gotten used to just my laptop screen, and when we are at anchor, the tv is power hog.

[Canibul]

Have any of you guys figured out a way to work remotely in the Bahamas? My wife is
using a Remote Desktop Protocol Session over a Virtual Private Network - and we've had good luck with the verizon mobile hotspot and a Wilson amp in the US.