The FCC registration site is quite confusing and there doesn’t seem to be an overview of what is required, so I will attempt to clarify what is required for the most common cruiser scenarios. You may not need everything here, or you may need more, but I will cover what is required for the normal […]
Nav/Comm
Connect a Laptop to HF Radio
Once offshore the internet is inaccessible by a laptop without assistance. To connect a laptop to HF Radio you will need a packet-data modem such as the Pactor to connect to your radio, then some additional hardware to connect your Pactor to the laptop. With this system you can connect to the internet for basic things like sending and receiving email and receiving […]
How to Put Together an Effective Log Book
You are required to keep a Ship’s Log at sea, but there are lots of ideas about what exactly is required or useful in a log book. Finding a flexible, affordable, weather resistant solution is also not easy. We’ve found some solutions that you might find helpful. The first boat we bought had a huge leather-bound […]
Coastal Explorer: Navigation Software for PC
Coastal Explorer from Rosepoint Navigation is a robust software navigation program that is intuitive to use. Although not free, at $400 it is a reasonable alternative to expensive proprietary navigation displays. It is for PCs only (or Macs running in PC mode) and there is a 30 day free demo download if you want to try it for yourself […]
No Internet? Use a Radio! Email Access via HF Radio
Before I got involved in a cruising boat I thought of radio being a voice transmission device. You know, you talk on it, you hear other people talk on it. When pressed I had to admit, yes, I know that they used Morse Code on the radio, too. I mean I’ve seen war movies from […]
Getting Weather Reports Offshore; GRIB files and faxes
We’re all familiar with listening to spoken weather forecasts on the VHF radio. But VHF has a line-of-sight reception and even an antenna on top of your mast can’t pick up a station more than 10 or 20 miles away. So what do you do offshore? First you probably need to get weather data packets […]
