Update

[Hurricane]

Yet to find out what is provided but my experience is that WiFi coverage is good - hence a good antenna.
We are planning on going to the new MDL marina at Sant Carles - where WiFi is definately on the cards.
The marina development looks a little behind on schedule but that has never worried us - we KNOW that the Spanish are a bit slow having had a villa in the area before so we may well go further east in the Med sooner but there is a lot of water to go under the bridge before then.
I'm expecting a Biscay crossing later this year and will report on this adventure as it unfolds.

Mike

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Hi Mike

Nice update - and thanks for the kind words about our P42.

Nice to see you and Frontier on Friday - two more weeks to go!!

Cheers
Jimmy

(PS you have PM)

 

[RogerRat]

The boat looks like she's really getting there Mike, the navionics are incredible, always amazes me how they find little places to stuff the boxes. I guessed WiFi too but I had heard Rick mention something about it recently. We're really looking forward to seeing 'both' the new Princesses, not long now.

[ QUOTE ]
So I expect that we will be having a party to celebrate - of course open to members of the forum - no dancing on the tables though (Roger???).

[/ QUOTE ]

From what Jez suggested, we could try you new dinette table as a diving board as we're not allowed to dance on it. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
I could even bring my brightly polished swim deck ladder! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Alistairr]

Your boat looks great Jimmy, Is that a rear facing camera you have there too?

Cheers

Al.

 

[Alistairr]

Great report Mike, I love the pics, but won't pretend to understand all the tech info, sounds complicated.

Really enjoy these types of posts though.

Cheers

Al.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Hi Al

Well spotted! Although it's not quite rear-facing, it's aimed downwards to get the corners of the bathing platform. It was originally going to be a Raymarine camera, but has ended up being the wider-angle Iris instead - a much neater installation.

Cheers
Jimmy

 

[Alistairr]

Yes, is does look quite neat indeed. Downward facing to the rear corners is what i meant. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I see Hurricaine has one too.

Cheers

Al.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

[ QUOTE ]
I see Hurricaine has one too.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think he does - I think he's still deciding what cam choices to make, if any. (Although given that he's got pretty much the entire Raymarine product range installed on his boat already, it's seems almost churlish not to have a couple of cameras as well!) /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Cheers
Jimmy

 

[Hurricane]

Thanks Jimmy /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Actually, I will probably go without to begin with.

The delivery who brought the boat up from Plymouth recons that you get one of the crew to stand in the cockpit and then you make sure you can see their face when you are looking through the flybridge stairs. I believe that you can tell how close the manouver is by looking at the expression on their face.

I think I'll have to practice that one!!!

Mike

 

[Nick_Pam]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Navtex?

[/ QUOTE ]

I have given this some thought but we are taking the boat to the Med and I believe that the Navtex coverage is poor so no, the Aerial isnt for Navtex - if thats what you were offering.

[/ QUOTE ]

My Navtex in Empuriabrava picks up Niton, let alone Algiers; Meteo France & Meteo ES....worth the £600 for an ICS 6+....you can network that too, or just buy the engine.

 

[Hurricane]

Thanks

Thats the first good report on Navtex in the Med

Are there any other satisfied Navtex users in the Med out there?

 

[jfm]

Thanks for all the pix/info Hurricane, fab installation.

I'm a satisfied med user of Navtex. Yeah it prints out lots of junk but it takes a microsecond to scan read it and see the stuff that matters. Plus, as mentioned on here before, I'm a firm believer in the paper tickertape log print function, which i use all the time when on passage. Major saftety device imho.

I agree that there is no need to get excited about redundancy. This kit is generally reliable and a handheld battery plotter plus a GPS usb mouse for your laptop (with charts installed on laptop) gives you 2x backups for starters. My worry would not be loss of GPS so much as loss of radar, eg middle of night and scanner fails, yikes. I have thought about fitting a small cheapie raymarine 2nd scanner in one of the round containers. If the main open scanner dies, unplug it (in the saloon in your case) and plug in the back up scanner. But will prob wait till next boat for that!

On my (2004) Raymarine installation with 4x screens and open scanner radar etc etc the only kit that has failed is the GPS mounted on the radar mast. As you know, it's not just an antenna, it's the GPS engine too. When it fails, it brings much of the system down, yet it's a £125 cheap bit of kit. So now I have two, and can change over from one to the other

I dont think wifi is the way to go. just imho, but too short range imho so you can't use it in the nice anchorages (whic is where you want to be, not in the marina). Imho 3g is the best solution. There is near full Med coverage and broadband speeds 10miles offshore. Fit an Ericsson W25 and you then have local wifi on the boat (or you can cable-connect your laptop if you prefer) plus a fully functional office phone and fax machine if you want. http://www.discountphonesystems.co.uk/acatalog/Ericsson_3G_Wireless_Router.html Ok roaming charges can be high but there are some good contracts - I use Vodafone at £90/month for unlimited UK airtime and 100Mb/month roaming, and that's fine. and if you have a busy month then it's an extra few quid but no big deal

Thnaks for the report and pics, keep em coming please!

PS it looks from the pix you have not yet fitted radar reflector. I'd suggest fit it INSIDE the leg of the radar arch so it's invisible. They are ugly things and since GRP is transaprent to radar, not reflective, they work prefectly well inside a GRP enclosure. That's what I (eccentrically) did, anyway

 

[Magnum]

I've not had much luck with Navtex in the med, but loved it in the UK. M3 doesn't have Navtex but I'd like her to, if I could find a good reliable discreet and paperless device that would interface with my G-Series kit.

Agree with you re: 3G. It's miles better in every way than 3rd party Wi-Fi.

 

[MapisM]

[ QUOTE ]
Imho 3g is the best solution...
I use Vodafone at £90/month for unlimited UK airtime and 100Mb/month roaming, and that's fine.

[/ QUOTE ]Precisely what I already suggested, except that there are much cheaper solutions.
In Italy Three offers a €20/month practically unlimited (5gb/week) connectivity which includes the HSDPA modem, and the coverage is pretty good.
I guess that if you're cruising around a bit (i.e.France+Italy) it could be worth having two "local" SIM cards.
All these TLC companies are nowadays global, but obviously they try to keep the "roaming" concept/pricing as long as they can...

 

[Hurricane]

Thanks for the comments on Navtex - meybe it needs revisiting - after we actually get the boat.

[ QUOTE ]
PS it looks from the pix you have not yet fitted radar reflector. I'd suggest fit it INSIDE the leg of the radar arch so it's invisible. They are ugly things and since GRP is transaprent to radar, not reflective, they work prefectly well inside a GRP enclosure. That's what I (eccentrically) did, anyway


[/ QUOTE ]
Allready in hand - I kept the Echomax EM230 from the old boat when we sold her - I'm planning fitting the reflector on a deck bracket - in fact I only just ordered it.
The plan is to put the reflector and canister liferaft next to each other under the flybridge crane - not planning a hydrostatic release so it shouldnt interfere with the crane.

 

[jfm]

There are loads of cheap domestic tariff deals including £10/month in the Uk with "3" but AFAIK no-one offers a fixed €€€ rate with bulk (say 100Mb/month) of roaming, apart from the vodafone deal I have and others like it. Happy to be corrected of course.

Obviopusly on a boat you need roaming. If you dont get a big roaming allowance you can get a shocking bill becuase the tariffs tend to be something like £5Mb roaming, so a £500 monthly bill is quite possible

Imho having used it all 2007 you need 100Mb of monthly roaming volume, assuming you spend lots of time on the boat and get daily weahter, office and personal email, and the odd bit of browsing, forum bashing, etc.

Happy to hear of any better roaming tariffs though...

PS multiple local SIM cards is a good solution but in Frnace you can't get one without a local address and bank account (at least, that's what the local Orange shop told me) becuase they tend to be 12 month contract. I expect it maight be same elsewhere, in which case local 3g SIMs are not the answer yet. Bring on PAYG 3g SIM cards!

 

[Hurricane]

OK so WiFi isnt that good - I have to agree that I've always had problems within the house but when we were at MDL's Mercury, we had quite a good "in marina" service. We are planning on berthing at the new MDL marina in Spain where they have already said that they will be installing WiFi and I was hoping that with a good antenna we would be able to anchor up in the lagoon (about a mile and a half from the marina) and still get a signal - with the kit I've bought it might just be possible.

We are also hoping to get the boat into Torquay for a few weeks before we set off for the Med and (again) an MDL WiFi connection is available to test things out.

I am also expecting to add a 3G service later but one step at a time.

 

[jfm]

Why paperless? The paper jobs print your lat/long course and speed every 15mins on ticker tape. If your electronics go down that is just what you want. You can get the paper charts out and finish your passage. Realistically you're not going to keep a 15minute paper decklog, and anywhy why do something manually when a machine can do it easier/better?

On 3G I am finding the coverage worldwide fantastic. I hardly ever can't get a signal (except far Cornwall!). All of Corsica had it last summer for example, not just the SofF and Italian coasts

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

I believe the UK Voda terms have improved a little recently - the last time I looked into this it was £60pm for 5gb UK + 200mb Euro roaming.

Cheers
Jimmy

 

[MapisM]

Frankly I didn't check the roaming cost of the "3" tariff which I mentioned before, 'cause at the moment I'm not using it abroad. Costwise, if you're regularly cruising in different Countries, a domestic SIM for each of them is the way to go imho.
Swapping the SIM takes just a few seconds, and you don't need to do that every other minute, anyway.
I accept that it's more comfortable not to bother about it at all, though.