Comms for an extended cruise

[rickym]

We are in the final planning of our extended cruise starting this summer. The plan is to head south from the UK to Brittany, Spain, Portugal, Gibralter, Madeira, Canaries, Cape Verdes, across to the Caribbean. Up to the East coast of the USA maybe get as far as Canada, returning in about 3 years.

What to do about communications? We have been debating this subject for some time now, ignoring the usual VHF and Epirb emergency stuff what to do about keeping in touch with friends and family? Weather forecasts etc. Coming from a generation where we do not expect to be in constant communication (SWMBO still sends postcards!)and sailing when all we had was the shipping forecast and a barometer we have come up with the following plan.

1) GOSim (or similar) roaming PAYG SIM reasonable charges, some free to receive calls, free to receive texts, easy and reasonably cheap to let the kids now we are OK and where we are.

2) Skype, e-mail etc via available WiFi, WiFi booster (Alfa and High gain antenna). Don't mind paying for a couple of hours where we cannot get free WiFi.

3) Short wave SSB receiver connected to the PC for weather forecasts, synoptic charts, weatherfax, Navtex, cricket etc

4) Web Blog so anyone who is interested can read our experiences

5) Sat phone for the Atlantic crossing, a 2 month contract will enable us to send texts and call in an emergency. Not worried about e-mail but probably a nice to have.

6) Local SIM for mobile phone use in USA, Canada and (Caribbean?)

7) Oh almost forgot we have a 3G Kindle. Brilliant!

Always useful to have other peoples experience and thoughts, so what does the team think?

Over to you!

Rick

 

[Conachair]

We are in the final planning of our extended cruise starting this summer. The plan is to head south from the UK to Brittany, Spain, Portugal, Gibralter, Madeira, Canaries, Cape Verdes, across to the Caribbean. Up to the East coast of the USA maybe get as far as Canada, returning in about 3 years.

What to do about communications? We have been debating this subject for some time now, ignoring the usual VHF and Epirb emergency stuff what to do about keeping in touch with friends and family? Weather forecasts etc. Coming from a generation where we do not expect to be in constant communication (SWMBO still sends postcards!)and sailing when all we had was the shipping forecast and a barometer we have come up with the following plan.

Sounds like you're pretty well sorted. A few thoughts...

1) GOSim (or similar) roaming PAYG SIM reasonable charges, some free to receive calls, free to receive texts, easy and reasonably cheap to let the kids now we are OK and where we are.

Had one of those 'til the phone got pinched, never worked it out for sure but probably cheper just to buy local sims. Or somewhere like trinidad where your phone won't work - a new phone and sim. I ended up with a few phones, price was so low and they usually threw in a tenners worth of airtime.

2) Skype, e-mail etc via available WiFi, WiFi booster (Alfa and High gain antenna). Don't mind paying for a couple of hours where we cannot get free WiFi.

People don't anchor in line of sight of hotels just for the view.

3) Short wave SSB receiver connected to the PC for weather forecasts, synoptic charts, weatherfax, Navtex, cricket etc

Degen 1103 , cheap from ebay and works all the way. Bit of wire for an aerial and off you go. Forget navtex that way though, you'll never remember to turn it on and useless away from europe anyway.

4) Web Blog so anyone who is interested can read our experiences

As with all the google stuff, blogger works well.

5) Sat phone for the Atlantic crossing, a 2 month contract will enable us to send texts and call in an emergency. Not worried about e-mail but probably a nice to have.

Data is nice, I never bothered with gribs using weatherfax instead, but emailing to update the blog is a nice little bit of structure to the day . And I think people do like to read the offshore bits almost live. Gotta use up that airtime somehow. recieving txts free on iridium is a great feature.

7) Oh almost forgot we have a 3G Kindle. Brilliant!

Plus a few rubbish ones for the book swaps.

Always useful to have other peoples experience and thoughts, so what does the team think?

JEALOUS!!!!!!!!!!

 

[rickym]

Thanks Conachair

A good point about local SIMs tried to do the sums as to the best way to go but brain got frazzled so had a beer instead! Roaming SIM is easy.

How difficult is it to set up the data with Iridium? I have a phone but no airtime at present, all the leads to connect to the PC. Is there a programme I need to load on the PC? Would be nice to update the blog on the ocean.

Found your blog on blogger, looks like you had a good time. Why come back? Have to be a bit 'hush hush' at the moment as SWMBO hasn't told them she is leaving will sort blog out as soon as we are public.

 

[jonic]

Thanks Conachair

A good point about local SIMs tried to do the sums as to the best way to go but brain got frazzled so had a beer instead! Roaming SIM is easy.

How difficult is it to set up the data with Iridium? I have a phone but no airtime at present, all the leads to connect to the PC. Is there a programme I need to load on the PC? Would be nice to update the blog on the ocean.

Found your blog on blogger, looks like you had a good time. Why come back? Have to be a bit 'hush hush' at the moment as SWMBO hasn't told them she is leaving will sort blog out as soon as we are public.

Hello Ricky

I think you have it covered there.

Wifi is far more prevelant now, so get yourself a five mile wifi or similar.

Local sims are easy. We also kept a UK PAYG for emergencies.

Configuring the Iridium is doable, a bit fiddly, but you will have no problem. If I recall we got some software from Iridium and used a cable.

Have fun and go and enjoy yourselves!

I quite liked it when no-one could phone me. ;-)

 

[rickym]

Hi John

Good to talk at LIBS the other week. Just got to get my head round the Iridium and the blog. SWMBO is far more creative. The thought of being uncontactable for several weeks is bliss! I am sure some would like to read my musings though.

I think we are fairly sorted, any thing you would like to pass on much appreciated

 

[KellysEye]

Some confirmation of suggestions plus a few things.

Calls are much cheaper if you buy a sim for the country you are in. You will need a quad band phone.

Be careful of free wifi it has become a hacker's dream. Yes to a high gain antenna. We extended the USB lead to be able to tie it to the boom. Skype is brilliant.

I would recommend an SSB trasceiver. The reason is you can obviously get synoptic charts and weatherfax with sotware, plus local weather from local hams but also email with a Pactor modem, the fee for which is not expensive, unlike satellite time. The key reason though it is the lifeblood of cruising. You will find cruiser nets almost everywhere including Atlantic crossings, it also allows you to keep in touch with boats you have met and you can also use Herb Hildernberg for routing on Atlantic crossings, which is free.

We set up a web site that we updated every three months and gave the address to friends and relatives. It saves hundreds of emails over the years.

We paid for Satphone airtime for long passages but not when we were island or coast hopping. Emergency calls to Inmarsat are free, and they pass it on to the relevant local authorites. Keep it in the grab bag, it's quicker than an EPIRB.

Note: local cruising nets cover subjects such as help with technical problems, planned social events and weather.

 

[pyrojames]

I am considering a Yellowbrick, auto updates of position as regularly as you like for the people at home to see, with email/text for limited comms. Cheaper than other alternatives, but no good for voice. But then I dont really what to be on the phone mid pond, and local SIM etc is fine for most of the time.

 

[robmcg]

Some confirmation of suggestions plus a few things.

Calls are much cheaper if you buy a sim for the country you are in. You will need a quad band phone.

Be careful of free wifi it has become a hacker's dream. Yes to a high gain antenna. We extended the USB lead to be able to tie it to the boom. Skype is brilliant.

I would recommend an SSB trasceiver. The reason is you can obviously get synoptic charts and weatherfax with sotware, plus local weather from local hams but also email with a Pactor modem, the fee for which is not expensive, unlike satellite time. The key reason though it is the lifeblood of cruising. You will find cruiser nets almost everywhere including Atlantic crossings, it also allows you to keep in touch with boats you have met and you can also use Herb Hildernberg for routing on Atlantic crossings, which is free.

We set up a web site that we updated every three months and gave the address to friends and relatives. It saves hundreds of emails over the years.

We paid for Satphone airtime for long passages but not when we were island or coast hopping. Emergency calls to Inmarsat are free, and they pass it on to the relevant local authorites. Keep it in the grab bag, it's quicker than an EPIRB.

Note: local cruising nets cover subjects such as help with technical problems, planned social events and weather.

Blimey chief, have you seen the price of a pactor modem though!!! Buys a lot of satellite air time!!!!!!!

 

[maxi77]

Can only comment as far as Portugal. 2 years ago local dongles in France were far to expensive to buy for 1 months use so we made do with local wifi. Netabord coverage was patchy in some marinas but we always got enough for forrecasts. We also had a "3" dongle which worked well when we had problems with wifi but was epensive. We were only in Spain for a few days so depended on local services, La Corruna has very good wifi but also had a bit more expensive "3" time. As we knew we were going to spend time in Portugal we bought a basic dongle, they are now down to 19.99 in portugal and I was getting an hour for 50 cents on PAYG.

Local phone SIMs are cheap in Portugal now and time on PAYG is very reasonable, though roaming on a UK sim is affordable if you do not need to make too many calls, I use Giffgaff now, easy on line top up.

Skype is OK but free calls need some coordination, and call quality is variable.

In general for phones if you are spending more than a few weeks in a country local sims are probably the best, though we always keep a spare phone on a UK sim.

Wifi is a variable feast almost unkown in places like Arcachon or Gijon but many marinas can point you to a cafe nearby, though some of the small ones can't, hence the need for a back up especially as the likes of passage weather are more comforthing than the local equivalent of the shipping forecast

 

[RobbieW]

VPN

Someone pointed out earlier the dangers of free WiFi services. Getting a VPN service is one way of working around that exposure, with the side benefit of appearing to be somwhere youre not - useful for BBC TV content

ActiveCaptain did a series of articles on VPN services and some recommendations late in 2010.

 

[rickym]

Blimey chief, have you seen the price of a pactor modem though!!! Buys a lot of satellite air time!!!!!!!

my thoughts exactly!

 

[HunterWanderer]

I found the pactor modem great but you do need a HF callsign. Take the amateur radio exams and then use winlink to send and recieve emails and grib weather files free for life.
You can always sell the modem when you get back if you can bare to part with it. I can't.

 

[rickym]

Thanks for the replies, always useful to get others views.

To go HF Tx/Rx we first have to buy the kit, ouch! Install it properly (a radio engineer at the club still struggled with his and he is a 'Ham' as well), then get a HF ticket ( a real gauge!). Just so I can join a HF net?

With my current setup while on the ocean I can listen, receive weatherfax etc, send txt's and talk via satphone, update blog via txt, e-mail may be a bit more problamatic but not unsolvable (if I want to).

Closer to shore and alongside/anchor we have all the shoreside comms, mobile, dongle, WiFi etc.

Maybe a few tweaks before we go but I think we are fairly happy with our set up.

 

[Conachair]

Thanks for the replies, always useful to get others views.

To go HF Tx/Rx we first have to buy the kit, ouch! Install it properly (a radio engineer at the club still struggled with his and he is a 'Ham' as well), then get a HF ticket ( a real gauge!). Just so I can join a HF net?

With my current setup while on the ocean I can listen, receive weatherfax etc, send txt's and talk via satphone, update blog via txt, e-mail may be a bit more problamatic but not unsolvable (if I want to).

Closer to shore and alongside/anchor we have all the shoreside comms, mobile, dongle, WiFi etc.

Maybe a few tweaks before we go but I think we are fairly happy with our set up.

Re setting up the iridium for data, there was a small prog I think from mailasail which did all that for you, can't find it now but if they've got rid of it from their site I have a copy somewhere.

If you're not spending forever offshore or cruising indefinitely then you're probably right to go with satphone. i'm going the ham route next time. Should get my foundation call sign today! 2 more exams to go for the marine mobile one.

I let the satphone sim card run out as the monthly line rental was too much, if you're coming back from US then getting another one should be easy, I ended up borrowing one from the good ship Stingo for the atlantic crossing back.

See you out there

 

[rickym]

That kinda mirrors our thoughts. The trip is planned for 3 years, longest trips will be the Atlantic legs. Everything else willl be a matter of days (it's all just a matter of days but you know what I mean!) A passage of several days doesn't require longe range comms.

Good luck with the HF exams. We definitely won't keep up the line rental on the Satphone, as you say it is far too expensive, just buy a SIM for each crossing.

Roll on the spring!

 

[Neil_Y]

Too much maybe

We never felt out of touch just using internet cafe's to send emails.

Never had a phone or any outgoing coms from the boat apart from vhf.

For ocean crossings we just had ssb receiver for weather which worked great, and an epirb if we were planning on being rescued. What was good was sending message back to UK via passing ships, it surprised a few people with the email address of the shipping company based in Hong kong.

If you're mid atlantic I guess the only real benefit of a coms link would be if there were a medical emergency where you wanted to talk to a doctor, then it could be quite useful, otherwise you don't want to here all the home news do you? I'd do it the same again.

 

[ffiill]

SSB tranceiver-"wonder how that boat is getting along who set off three days ago"-I will just ring them-whoops no number/they havnt a satphone.
Great thing about SSB is you can communicate with other like minded individuals without having had to meet them and get their phone numbers if they have one.
For an SSB receiver go for Nasa Target ssb-you can pick one up for about £50 on e bay-download weatherfax synoptic charts to your PC using a suitable free interface/one that comes with receiver-new about £150.
Equally you can get a Ham tranceiver EG.Yaesu 840 for probably about £250 on e bay plus tuner and bits and pieces.
For Wifi try something like the Ubiquiti bullet-aerial attached wifi signal amplifier-basic model with suitable aerial can be had for about £60.

 

[rickym]

Neil Y

I tend to agree with you. The distaff side are much better at keeping in touch. As we already have the Satphone it is just a matter of buying time and minutes. If we sight whales mid atlantic kids think it would be 'cool' to send a txt (from the eldest who is 34!)

Have usual Epirb and VHF and mobile phone and will use Wi Fi and internet cafe's ashore.

 

[SimonJ]

Comms

Agree Kelly's Eye.

However, I would not splash out on everything at once but rather see how things develop.

Did our first Transat trip with SSB receiver only and a VHF (puls EPIRB). Next stage when doing it again a year or so later was to get a HAM radio 'opened up' for SSB operation - cheapest way to get an SSB, buy one in Florida. (Look at past threads for ways of installing this cheaply/efficiently without ground plates & backstay aerials). Our next stage was a Pactor Modem. It was so good to be able to stay in remote anchorages and be in communication without having to worry about moving somewhere to pick up emails. These modems hold their value - having one transformed our cruising enjoyment. Highly recommended - simple and reliable!

SSB are essential to get full pleasure of staying in touch with other cruisers, joining in nets, having good social inter action etc. Effectively used in practice as long range VHF. You can get away without being licensed (and use existing call sign for Pactor email sign up.) Few US folk are licensed - stand fast HAM operators everywhere - quite different!

Everywhere we stayed for more than a week, we bought a local SIM card (easy) except Canada where we had a pre pay phone package as well (cheap) as their system does/did not use phones with SIM cards.

Caribbean Wifi coverage improves all the time. Some free, some not. Range extending aerials are very helpful but US folk tend to use more powerful systems than are legal in Europe so many buy (another) there.
Caribbean and Bahamas mobile phone coverage getting better all the time too. Good enough mobile coverage now on east coast of USA - some parts are surprisingly remote even on ICW.

How do you do book swaps (a common crusing activity) with a KIndle, by the way?

Just remember, as a parting word, the more & complex kit you have the more time you will spend trying to make it work, fixing it, worrying about it, waiting for spares etc. Much better to be enjoying the cruising!

 

[jonic]

Neil Y

I tend to agree with you. The distaff side are much better at keeping in touch. As we already have the Satphone it is just a matter of buying time and minutes. If we sight whales mid atlantic kids think it would be 'cool' to send a txt (from the eldest who is 34!)
.

It's cool.

I nonchalantly phoned my mum on the Sat Phone and said I'm exactly half way with two Minke Whales for company. Call you when I get to Antigua.

Oh happy days

What the xxxx am I doing stuck back here selling yachts for other people to do it in!?!?