Other Stuff

Lessons Learned

1. When approaching a bridge, an easy way to get lined up is to get the supports on both sides of the cut to be perfectly symmetrical.  You don't want to enter at an angle. 
2. ICW vs. river nav aids.  You are constantly going in and out of the waterway when heading north or south.  When you are IN the ICW, the nav aids are marked with a small gold rectangle/triangle.  This identifies the marks as ICW marks.  In the ICW, you always leave the green marks to the east.  So, when heading north (as we are), you leave the greens on the right.  However, when you are on a navigable rivers, it is always Red Right Returning.  We
3.  just went through an area just south of Georgetown SC where, without changing course more than about 30 degrees, we went from an ICW cut into the Waccamaw River and we went from green on the right to red on the right. Where buoy's are on both the river and the waterway concurrently, you may have a green (river buoy) where the same buoy is a red ICW buoy.  In this case, the buoy color will be green but it will have a gold triangle on it representing the conical shape red.
4. For slotted screw (like those on the Islander raw water pump cover), first install (and tighten) a nut on the screw. Then use a nut driver to remove the screw. Makes removal and reinstallation much easier.
5. Hang clothes to dry by installing a clothes line athwart ships. Run the line through the sleeves of T shirts so they don't blow away.  If it starts to rain, quickly remove the line and put it all in a bucket for quick reinstallation following the rain.
6. Use the boat hook to pull down the main when lowering the sail.
7. Concept of Island Time - everything takes two or 3 times longer than normal.
8. Use the three point rule for balance when riding the "mechanical bull".  Use both hands and feet to brace yourself when moving about.
9. Accuweather app - uses Gps to see your location for local weather (Dewey).
10. Have a backup radio - 3 failed on the trip.  However, the current and previous "failures" may have been more of a power supply issue than a radio issue.
11. Pintita sails 45 degrees off the wind downwind and 60 degrees off the wind upwind.
12. Don't EVER get towed backward. The rudder on a sailboat is so large, being towed backwards makes the use of a break or hand steering basically impossible and can cause severe damage to major steering components.
13. Don't try to repair a steering quadrant.  Replace.
14. Carefully inspect all steering cables and mechanisms - especially for passages.
15. Phil's phone is an LG-E980.  I like it.
16. A "Sea Buoy" is the first buoy you come to when entering an inlet.
17. NOAA charts are updated much more frequently than Garmin charts and more frequently than C-map charts.  The R-2 buoy marking the major shoal at the inlet to Hilton Head was shown on the NOAA charts but was shown only as Active Captain markers on the Garmin and C-Map charts.
18. Use a dime, penny, or a yellow sticky to keep track of your current location on paper charts.
19. When motoring past an inlet on the ICW (and there are lots of them below Morehead City), stay far away from the ocean side of the ICW.  The ocean (green) side is where the current deposits lots of shoal material, making it easy to run aground.
20. Put your hand on the packing nut with the engine running and in gear (steady state) to see if the packing is adjusted correctly.  It should be cool to the touch. If it is hot, the packing needs to be loosened.
21. Don't let yourself be tied to a schedule. There are too many things that can cause delays (like weather, breakdowns, etc.).
22. In heavy seas, when motoring or motor sailing and the jib furled, tighten the genoa sheets to keep the forestay from swinging wildly.
23. Avoid the Eastern Cut of the ICW below Norfolk.  Too much commercial traffic, not at all scenic, and several open sounds. 

Maps and Charts

Below is a map showing the big picture of MY leg of the trip from St. Thomas, to Puerto Rico, up through the Turks and Caicos and then the Bahama Islands and back to the US and finally back home to Baltimore.

Click on the map above or this link to open Google Maps showing the same area. You can use this to navigate around and zoom in and out.

It's been a little disappointing to me that we don't have more time to cruise.  Captain Phil purchased a lot of charts and cruising guides that I'd just love to spend more time reading and analyzing.  I enjoy this about as much as I enjoying the act of going places.

First, we have spiral bound chart books. Each book has about 30 pages and are about 30" x 24" in size.  The books slide into a plastic cover for protection.  These are excellent charts - very detailed, in color, etc.  I believe the publisher is NV-Charts.  They were published in 2012 so they are as current as paper charts get.  We are using these to plot our dead reconing courses and GPS positions.  We have about 6 of these and each covers about 400 square miles.  There is one for the upper Bahamas, another for central, and another for south and southeast.

Second, we have smaller Harbor and Anchoring Pilot chart books also published by NV-Charts.  Besides having detailed charts for popular inlets and anchoring, they are loaded with good information about the local areas.  These are about 75 pages and are 9" x 13" in size.

When you purchase the above charts, you get a CD for each that I have loaded onto the Pintita's new HP computer.  This makes big picture planning a little easier.

Third, Captain Phil has purcased the latest Cruising Guides for the areas he has been.  We have about 5 of them.  An example is the Dozier's 2014 Waterway Guide for the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos.  It is a spiral bound, 400+ page book that is packed with descriptions of favorite anchorages, marinas, restaurants, marine supply sources, etc. 

Weather

Before beginning the trip, Captain Phil subscribed to a weather routing service by Chris Parker.  Anyone who cruises the southern Atlantic and Caribbean has heard of Chris Parker and thousands subscribe to his service.  He analyzes many different weather services and publishes a daily.  Of course, this requires cell coverage that we don't have a lot of the time.  Part of Phil's service enables him to call Chris on the Satellite phone for weather updates or for details on the area we are in or are headed for next.

None of the US NOAA weather channels that we get via VHF radio back home work down here (in the southern Bahamas and T&C).

 

Communications and Data

To me, communicating with my loved ones is big priority on a trip like this.  However, doing so is also a major challenge. Of course, it is many, many times better than it was 20 years ago. In fact, there are so many options today that part of the challenge is knowing which to use and when.  Below are some of the considerations that I ponder each time I think of making a call or sending an email.

There are 4 general areas of consideration:

1. Devices
2.  Services
3. Data tasks
4. Communications tasks

Devices

1. Phones - most of the crew has smart phones that connect to cell towers for data and phone service. Both data and voice calls depend on the cell towers to work.
2. Laptops - the skipper and most of the crew have laptops.  Some crew have had tablets that use wifi.
3. Satellite phone - see below.
4. AT&T hot spot.  Before the trip, Phil purchased a really neat little device that looks like a small cell phone. It has its own touch screen that shows the bandwidth you have remaining and what you have used.  I believe the service is 10G per month.  This is a lot as long as those tying into it aren't downloading audio and video.  Since it only works when we are within cell tower range, when it is working, the data on our phones are working too.  It's value is primarily when using the laptops (that don't have a data connection).  So, for example, I've used it to upload most of my blogs but I wait till we have marina wifi to upload my blog photos and videos.  Phil uses it to download emails to his laptop and I have done the same, at times.  Each time you use it, you must get it out, turn it on, wait for it to power up and find a signal, use it and then turn it off etc.
5. VHF - handheld and hard wired - the handheld operates at 1 and 5 watts and is usually only good for distances up to 2 or 3 miles.  It's good for talking to ships, tugs, and other vessels within sight and bridges/locks we are approaching. The hard wired VHF (below) is 1 watt and 25 watts with the antenna on top of the mast.  At 25 watts, it's range is around 20 miles (line of sight).  Besides talking to others with a VHF radio, we can get NOAA weather (only in the US).  For much of the trip outside of the US, the VHF wasn't of much value (because of a lack of traffic and distance).

Services

1. Cell Towers - In the islands, cell towers are few and far between.  In the US (on the ICW), cell towers are also very far apart.  We have had several stretches with no coverage for almost two consecutive days.  Of course, it is best around populated areas.  It is a LOT different than driving down the highway.  As at home, cell services includes both voice and data. All of the crew members I came in contact with had data as part of their cell service. Some a crew had phones that also acted as hot spots (mine doesn't).  Besides his cell phone (having both voice and data), Phil had purchased a separate contract for a Hot spot (AT&T) device with it's own data contract (10 gigs per month, I believe).  He shared this with the crew (very generous of him).
2. Wifi at marinas - Most marinas have wifi.  Most are secure (requiring a password).  The password is usually only supplied when you ask for it. The quality varies a lot based on the quality and strength of their system and the distance from you to the nearest antenna.  At times, you have to walk to the office and often you need to sit topsides on the boat for it to work.  It is somewhat of a rare pleasure to be able to sit inside the boat and enjoy wifi.

Data Tasks
      
This (data) includes email, internet, facebook, uploading and downloading to blogs, etc.

1. Emails - If it's been 2 or 3 days since I've been able to send/receive emails, I'll use the hotspot with my phone or laptop (not both).  If we are going to be at a marina, I'll wait for the wifi.  If that isn't working, I'll go ahead and use the hotspot.  I'm not good with typing on my phone.  My phone's voice to text works great but it makes me uncomfortable dictating into my phone with other crew members sitting around the table.  So, emailing is somewhat of a challenge. What works well is to do email on my laptop and then send and receive the next time we are at a marina.
2. Blog - The text takes up very little bandwidth so I'll use the hotspot, if we are within cell coverage.  For photos and videos, I'll wait till we are at a marina that has wifi.
3. Facebook - I only check that when we are at a marina.
4. Texting - I seldom use this since it is not included with my phone service.  My (and Dan's) texting is with Google Voice so I must be connected to the internet to use it - this means having wifi or being connected to the hotspot (or via my phone's data service).  Most of the crew do texting via their phone service.
5. Internet - few of us are using our devices to look at news or surf the net.  We are just way too busy keeping the boat running, making miles, doing boat work, cleaning, navigating, cooking, sleeping, etc.   We have done some google searches for spare parts we have needed along the way.  We have placed two separate orders for sail slides from Sailrite and had them shipped to an oncoming crew member.

 Voice communications

1. Cell phones - of course, this is the easiest and everyone has one.  In the Caribbean and Bahamas, they work about 10% of the time.  South of Norfolk, they work about 50 to 60% of the time.  Above there, maybe 80%.
2. Sat Phone - this is another really cool (but costly) device that Phil got of the trip.  It works anywhere by satellite.  Phil calls Susan almost every morning on the sat phone.  But now that cell coverage is better, he is relying on his cell phone more.  It has been nice to know it is available for those times when I've told Joan we would be to our next destination in 2 days and it ends up being 3 or more and I want to call and let her know we are still afloat and moving.  It works very well.  Besides the phone, there is a fee for the minutes. 
3. Google Talk - This in on the PC. It requires that both parties have the Google Talk software on their PCs and a mic and speakers.  It works great but requires a fairly good wifi service.  I've used it several times with Joan and my Dad.
4. Google Voice - I have this (free) software on my PC. It is like calling with Skype except that it is free and allows you to call to anyone's phone.  It requires a very good wifi service.  Most wifi will result in the voices cutting out, making its use somewhat frustrating, if not impossible.

 General Comments and Lessons Learned

1. Much to my surprise, wifi coverage at marinas in the Caribbean is better than wifi at marinas in the US.  At many of the marinas outside the US, we could easily connect from inside the boat - even from the T-heads.  But in the US, we were constantly having to go to the marina offices, stand outside in the cold/rain, hold the phones and laptops up in the air, to get wifi.  The US marinas also had a big variety in procedures for connecting - some being a real pain.  My only explanation for this is that networks in the islands may be much newer and ones in the States are getting antiquated and in need of upgrades or replacement.
2. Having connected successfully to 30 or 40 different networks in 2 months, I learned a fair number of tricks.  Sometimes, I'd spend 10 or 20 minutes and just give up but I was usually able to get connected.  I also learned about some of the limitations and workings of the devices I have.  My conclusion is that there is a lot of progress that still needs to be made in the technology of networking.