Friday, October 7, 2005

30 days until we weigh anchor

Michael discovered that we don't need a separate ISP to use the satellite phone for e-mail and internet. That is good news. We will have a PC on board for the purpose of e-mail and getting weather information. The idea is to download our e-mails, get off the phone, write our e-mails, and then dial up and send them all at once. The cost is 99 cents a minute, so we are going to try to be conservative. We are subscribing to a compression service known as Ocens Mail. We should all be able to get and send e-mails. BTW, the phone number for the boat is 254-387-1370. Landlubbers - this is for emergency use only. Keep your voice mail messages short, please. I haven't found a phone that can stay on the hook while being subjected to the motion of the boat, so we will probably store it except when we need to call out. Jay had some
information about cellular service if you want to use your cell phone when we are in range.

I plan to stay in touch with most people through the Blog. They can see where we are and read our pithy comments. Michael has already joined. I urge Ann and Jay to join through the invitation sent out last week. That way you can post to the Blog via an e-mail, and your friends/family can get information about us without you having to write to each person. The Winslow life raft arrived yesterday. Michael and I will install it this weekend. Not sure it can go on top of the bulkhead because we need to bolt it through the deck, not just use screws, and I can't figure out how to access the under part of the hatch. We may need to put it forward of the mast. Note that the life raft is in a Pelican suitcase with a separate grab bag, and it can be removed and brought to the cockpit without deploying it. We will also play around with the PC and the telephone to get an understanding of how to use it all. We are supposed to have gale force winds, so we might even try out the new sails if it is not raining too hard. We will measure and put sheets on the sails. Michael and I are also pulling the dinghy and engine, so it will be a busy day. Another goal is to match all the extra light bulbs with the navigation lights to make sure we have the right extras, and to start a preliminary supply list.

Donna