wrote in message
...
On Wed, 1 Aug 2007 15:48:32 -0400, "Wilbur Hubbard"
wrote:


"Rusty" blank wrote in message
m...
I think it's time to get an Iridium satellite phone. We're gong to
have
way
too much time away from cell sites.

Any suggestions as to a cruiser-friendly source of hardware and
airtime?

Thanks,
Rusty


It's my observation that people who have to have a phone so they can
blabbermouth 24/7 while out cruising should just stay home. If you
need
to be plugged in to the communications grid 24/7 you're not cut out
for
cruising - just stay home and leave the waterways open for real
cruisers, please. Today's men are turning into girly men. Bunch of
sissies. Spend the money on a EPIRB instead. Cruise and try shutting
your mouth for a week or a month. You might learn something for the
first time in your life.

Wilbur Hubbard


Wilbur,

While I realize that weather is of little interest to you on your
trailer-sailer anchored in your snug little Bayou but to people out
there on the water it is one of their primary concerns and there are
three basic ways to get weather reports once you're out of sight of
land (1) H.F. radio, (2) Iridium phone or (3) satellite (immersat, for
example).

I've done cost comparisons and going from nothing to a complete
installation is cheaper using Iridium so more and more cruisers are
opting for Iridium as weather reports through Iridium can be received
24 hours a day while H.F. is greatly dependent upon daily propagation
variations.

As you say, " try shutting your mouth for a week or a month. You might
learn something for the first time in your life."


Correction, there is a fourth and more reliable way of getting weather
reports. That's knowing how to look at the glass and the sky and being
able to interpret what they tell you for your part of the world. How do
you think sailors got around before your exclusive reliance on
technology?

Your little do-it-like-a-lubber screed simply reinforces my opinion that
you're no sailor.
But, then again, anybody who has good opportunity to do coastal cruising
in your part of the world, (considered premiere cruising grounds) but
instead sits in a marina on the Internet probably won't ever understand
that.

Wilbur Hubbard