Cruising World - June 2018

BOATS & GEAR

june/july 2018

cruisingworld.com

92

I

’m lucky to have a wife

who is incredibly sympa-

thetic to my sailing and

writing habits, but I knew

I was pushing it when I an-

nounced a last-minute editorial

assignment that would take

me from my Seattle home to

the northern tip of Vancouver

Island and back, just as we

were closing on our first house.

The itinerary involved ample

wilderness punctuated by

sporadic cellular or Wi-Fi cov-

erage, and the boat didn’t carry

a satellite-communications

system, giving my wife a great

opportunity to became well

acquainted with our real estate

agent and the finer points of

home buying. Fortunately, a

new breed of low-bandwidth

satellite-communication

options now exists that can

deliver the latest weather fore-

casts and news from ashore.

Satellite communications

first began to appear regularly

on recreational sailboats in

the early 1980s, starting with

C-band frequencies (6 MHz)

and progressing to Ku-band (12

to 14 MHz) and Ka-band (26.5

to 40 gigahertz) frequencies.

While effective and reliable,

these systems require expen-

sive gyrostabilized antennas

that can be hard to fit aboard

modest cruising boats, not to

mention the cost of data plans

that are prohibitive to all but

the well-heeled yachtsman.

A decade later, in the late

’90s, satellite phones arrived

to give mariners a much

smaller, less expensive com-

munications option; however,

these devices can still generate

eye-watering bills, depending

on how much data is con-

sumed. Today’s sailors, though,

are able to tap into a number

of devices that provide much

lower- (and slower) bandwidth

satellite connectivity to access

the information and commu-

nications they need without

crushing their cruising kitty.

Here’s a look at the types of

technology out there, how

they work and the benefits

they provide.

One of the newest

low-bandwidth players is

mazu by SkyMate. Mazu is an

app-based weather and email

system that uses mazu’s fixed-

mount mSeries black-box

module, hockey-puck-style

antenna and keypad to deliver

connectivity via Iridium’s

global Short Burst Data

(SBD) satellite service. On

board, the SkyMate gear is

networked with an iPad that’s

running mazu’s Marine app

(free). Mazu users can send

and receive email and text

messages globally. When avail-

able, National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration

weather alerts and Nexrad

graphic weather are also ac-

cessible. Users can also access

NOAA raster charts and Navi-

onics vector cartography (this

PENNIES for YOUR

THOUGHTS

Harnessing low-bandwidth satellite systems for affordable offshore weather and

communications is possible, thanks to several new devices.

ELECTRONICS BY DAVID SCHMIDT

Ground Control’s MCD-

4800, sometimes known as

the “Football,” is a portable,

self-contained unit offering

nearly worldwide coverage.

COREEN SCHMIDT