Monday 04 August

Monday 04 August
Lat 38*-43'N, Long 034*-43'W
This email system that is on the boat is based on the old fashioned short wave radio. There is the radio, a black box and laptop computer. The computer and black box converts the radio's analog signal to digital, and can transmit text messages. I make short wave contact to a shore station, then the digital message is sent, and the shore station sends it to the internet where it is delivered to the email address. Way out here I only have one shore station, in Halafax, but it has a strong signal.
There are many steps to the process, commputer, black box, antenna, shore station, etc. Any one of these can fail and communication is lost. Last night I tried to send a message to Normandie and the system did not work. This morning and this afternoon it did not work. But the system is more than email. It is also the system that brings weatherfax and wind GRIBs. I needed to determine if it was really broken. I poked and prodded, twiddled knobs and re plugged all the connections. Then I remembered a switch on the back of the black box. I tuned it off, then back on, and now it seems to be working OK.
But the system stop working at any time. If you don't get any messages and wonder, check the DeLorme inReach and SPOT locations. That will tell you that we are OK.
Beautiful evening, stars coming out, west wind pushing us on at about 5 kn ots. Very nice. Adnaan is on watch, I am going down for four hours sleep.
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II