We’ve been taking advantage of the adverse winds on our course further south, by laying over in Georgetown and doing projects on Dragonfly. The shake-down, mentioned earlier, continues and a number of things have demanded attention over the normal chores and remaining projects. But Al has managed to finish installing a second set of shrouds to a point about 60’ up the mast. BTW Dragonfly’s mast stands 81’ above the water and he looks like a dwarf from the deck when he’s at the top of the mast.
One advantage we have here in Georgetown is that we’ve purchased a BaTelCo SIM card for the iPad like we did last winter in Thailand. Price was exactly the same at $15 for the card and $30 a month for unlimited 3G access (pity we can’t get that in the States). I also learned that the latest iOS allows for tethering (creating a local hotspot from one device so others can access the internet), so we are all able to get online from the boat.
That being said, in theory technically it works super, in practicality it bogs down and even goes down at certain times of the day. Downloads are the biggest slowdown, but web sites, email (without attachments), and text messages work great. McKenney has tried numerous times to Skype and Facetime but the system can’t handle voice let alone video.
As we move down the chain of islands that comprise the Bahamas we may have continued internet access but nothing is guaranteed. We’re taking photos daily but getting them uploaded seems to take too much time, so we won’t be including as many from these locales.
Joe has gotten all his projects done and is ready to go. Both Dragonfly and DejaVu have a complete new suit of battens, giving their sails a fresh look and hopefully more drive.
Regarding the instrument panel fire: we are slowly working our way thru the entire board, checking each connection, replacing connectors, running down wires and organizing, trying to determine the cause of the glowing ground.
Looking at our Condo webcam the Animas River appears to be super low and not a hint of winter weather.
