I’m about to go back down the Intracoastal Waterway from Baltimore to
Marathon. Right now I have a WI=FI card at the marina I am at, but
wonder if there is some type of satallite or reasonable way to
communicate to friends via internet. My Sprint phone is not a viable
method. The ICW is so far away from anything, even the phone doesn’t
work for days at a time at some points. I hope to be at a mooring in
Marathon so this would be of use there as well.
Anybody got any good suggestions. I looked at West Marine and the
Magelan GSC100 Personal Satalliet Communicator but not sure that’s the
answer-kind of pricy.
I’m about to go back down the Intracoastal Waterway from Baltimore
to
Marathon.
(snip)
Satellite email is very expensive. I’m not familiar with facilities
along the ICW north of Ft Lauderdale, but in my travels all along the
ICW from Florida to south Texas I found the local city libraries very
accessible and accommodating for email communication.
I hope to be at a mooring in
Marathon so this would be of use there as well.
(snip)
If Boot Key Harbor is still as nasty and trashy as it was in the
winter of 1999-2000 you won’t be very happy there. I stayed at
Marathon Marina. It is a short walk from there to the library -
about a mile or so. You might call the marina (305 743-6576) to see
if they now have email access right in their facility. The marina in
St Petersburg had ISP connectivity in their office, which worked fine
for my laptop since I was using AOL at the time.
A good single side band radio and SailMail will take care of all your
communication
problems. You will not be dependent upon; marina ISP connections,
the library, the local
cyber cafes or celllular phone signals that come and go. SailMail is
limited on what you can
send and receive, no graphics or large files, but it is fantastic for
email and weather
reports. You can also get good USCG weather files with just the radio
and the proper
software—New Orleans Station has been relocated north.
I use MacSea navigation software, on a Mac using Virtual PC, and the
compressed weather
files are received easily with SailMail. I use SailMail for all my
communication needs. I aslo
have tri-band cell phone that I can use in most countries by
replacing the chip. I only use
the cell phone when I am staying for a long time in one place.
Satellite phones are another
option but I would use one only on long passages—but the prices are
coming down and
are more affordable every day.
I also keep an AOL address, becasue with any land based telephone, I
can dialup a
connection in almost any country.
Peter
I’m about to go back down the Intracoastal Waterway from
Baltimore
to
Marathon.
(snip)
Satellite email is very expensive. I’m not familiar with facilities
along the ICW north of Ft Lauderdale, but in my travels all along
the
ICW from Florida to south Texas I found the local city libraries
very
accessible and accommodating for email communication.
I hope to be at a mooring in
Marathon so this would be of use there as well.
(snip)
If Boot Key Harbor is still as nasty and trashy as it was in the
winter of 1999-2000 you won’t be very happy there. I stayed at
Marathon Marina. It is a short walk from there to the library -
about a mile or so. You might call the marina (305 743-6576) to see
if they now have email access right in their facility. The marina
in
St Petersburg had ISP connectivity in their office, which worked
fine
for my laptop since I was using AOL at the time.
Posted by Sward (swardfullsail@…>)
I intend on being on a mooring if possible in Boot Key. I know it has changed since, of course, they built a condo and took away the DockSide restaurant. I’ll see what happens if I get there. I have a WIFI connection and I think the laundry room has some access-not sure.
Swardjerry_magic1 <jerry_magic1@…> wrote:
— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “swardfullsail” <swardfullsail@y…> wrote:> I’m about to go back down the Intracoastal Waterway from Baltimore to > Marathon. (snip)Satellite email is very expensive. I’m not familiar with facilities along the ICW north of Ft Lauderdale, but in my travels all along the ICW from Florida to south Texas I found the local city libraries very accessible and accommodating for email communication. > I hope to be at a mooring in > Marathon so this would be of use there as well.(snip)If Boot Key Harbor is still as nasty and trashy as it was in the winter of 1999-2000 you won’t be very happy there. I stayed at Marathon Marina. It is a short walk from there to the library - about a mile or so. You might call the marina (305 743-6576) to
see if they now have email access right in their facility. The marina in St Petersburg had ISP connectivity in their office, which worked fine for my laptop since I was using AOL at the time.
Posted by Sward (swardfullsail@…>)
Where/how have you mounted your single sideband?svdownstream <SVDownstream@…> wrote:
A good single side band radio and SailMail will take care of all yourcommunication problems. You will not be dependent upon; marina ISP connections,the library, the local cyber cafes or celllular phone signals that come and go. SailMail islimited on what you can send and receive, no graphics or large files, but it is fantastic foremail and weather reports. You can also get good USCG weather files with just the radioand the proper software—New Orleans Station has been relocated north.I use MacSea navigation software, on a Mac using Virtual PC, and thecompressed weather files are received easily with SailMail. I use SailMail for all mycommunication needs. I aslo have tri-band cell phone that I can use in most countries byreplacing the chip. I only use the cell phone when I am staying
for a long time in one place.Satellite phones are another option but I would use one only on long passages—but the prices arecoming down and are more affordable every day.I also keep an AOL address, becasue with any land based telephone, Ican dialup a connection in almost any country.Peter— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “jerry_magic1”<jerry_magic1@y…> wrote:> — In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “swardfullsail” > <swardfullsail@y…> wrote:> > I’m about to go back down the Intracoastal Waterway fromBaltimore > to > > Marathon. > (snip)> > Satellite email is very expensive. I’m not familiar with facilities > along the ICW north of Ft Lauderdale, but in my travels all alongthe > ICW from Florida to south Texas I found the local city librariesvery > accessible and accommodating for email communication.
I hope to be at a mooring in > > Marathon so this would be of use there as well.> (snip)> > If Boot Key Harbor is still as nasty and trashy as it was in the > winter of 1999-2000 you won’t be very happy there. I stayed at > Marathon Marina. It is a short walk from there to the library - > about a mile or so. You might call the marina (305 743-6576) to see > if they now have email access right in their facility. The marinain > St Petersburg had ISP connectivity in their office, which workedfine > for my laptop since I was using AOL at the time.