Starlink

One other frustration I left out in that last upload was the lost VHF Handheld radio. (Resolved by purchasing a new one back in Powell River.) LOL. Actually, I can laugh about the stuff now that is resolved. The scenery and nature around really does calm my stressors. I wanted to say a bit about Starlink. I really did not want to purchase the product, mostly for political reasons. But like some others, I have become very dependent upon the internet. Especially with travel into places that cell coverage still does not exist. And being gone from home for two to three months in areas that don't have complete cell coverage. Several issues still require attachment to the rest of the world. The examples for me would be the city property assessment and the tax returns, along with paying bills that I don't want to set up on autopay. Before purchasing Starlink I had posted some questions on a couple Facebook groups wondering if 100GB would be enough and how it would work along the British Columbia Coast. Several said 100GB/month would not be enough. Well, they are so far wrong. I find I am averaging only 1 or 2 GB a day when I use it. I'm also finding that cell coverage does exist more often than I thought it would. But as expected, in many of our anchorages it does not exist. This is when Starlink is worth it's cost. I'm not streaming or spending much time on social media, although I still am able to upload my blogs, check email, etc. It's also nice for checking weather and knowing if I can crab or fish in the area's I am cruising through. (There is also a requirement to keep a cache log for the BC government, and I can access that through a phone app.) I don't mean for this to be an advertisement or endorsement for Starlink. Just that if anyone else is thinking about getting it, and wondering if the cheaper 100gb plan will suffice, my answer is yes. I also found that the Starlink Mini worked sitting on my forward shelf under the roof, and I ended up getting a mount to hold it underneath my V-Berth hatch, which is perfect, as it is out of the way, and I can still use the hatch. I use the power cord and AC-adapter that came with it, and power it with the boat's inverter I installed earlier. It uses about 3 amps while working. (That's the amperage used off the 12vt batteries that the inverter runs off of.)Read more