Capt. Craig Jones took M/Y Carry-On , an 86-foot Burger, and her owner on a two-week Bahamas cruise in April, gathering the skinny on WiFi and other vital services in the islands. Here’s the low-down, from one captain’s perspective. (To see Capt. Jones’ photos in their awesome Bahamian color, visit
www.the-triton.com and click on our “newest photo galleries”)
It begins, of course, with my memory of last summer. Atlantis was $10/day; Sampson Cay was free but iffy; Staniel Cay was free and strong; Highbourne Cay charged a fee but it didn’t work with my Mac. Had to use the office PC. Wonder if it’s sorted out.
Before leaving, Boca Resort offered WiFi for free on the property and docks. Ft. Lauderdale yards Roscioli Yachting Center and Bradford Marine have Yachtspots.com and charge on a daily, weekly or per-use basis, or monthly/annually. Signal depends on location in yard/shed and what is alongside you. Same at Ocean Reef Club for the Burger Rendezvous; all that alloy next to me ate up my bandwidth!
How do others boost WiFi to their boats? There are both active (boosted) and passive (simple antenna with a plug or to a router) systems.
Wednesday, Sampson Cay
If you ever had to custom design weather for the Bahamas , then we are experiencing it this week. Flat calm, next to no breeze. This is so unlike April.
Highborne’s WiFi was out, but it’s supposed to be up this week.
Wardrick Wells was busy but we managed to get a mooring in the south mooring field; not a manmade light in site. We ran round to the park office this afternoon to make sure we get in next week.
Great run down to Sampson this afternoon. Food stocks at the island store are very low and this just after the mailboat was in. The islands are packed with yachts of every shape and size. ﾠ
Highlander has sort of shadowed us since Nassau . The Highland Fling (their chopper) flew in and has stayed aboard since Sunday. Some real big ones seem to have scooted into some real tight places. Some guys have obviously had time to explore the anchorages and find those special hideaways. Oh, for the time alone on the boat to do that.
Everyone’s working their asses off. Good for the industry but a shame crew don’t have time to appreciate their surroundings, learn more about the local waters, find great beaches for owners and clients, etc.
Out to Big Major’s, then into Staniel. The breeze picked up but it’s still amazing for this time of year.
WiFi at Wardrick Wells: Not sure if they charge or not as I did not get ashore with my Powerbook to try it.
WiFi at Sampson is free and pretty strong on the west dock. Those to the east side seem to come up to the dock office to log in.
Staniel? Will know later today and report findings.
Saturday, Staniel Cay
Free WiFi but only at the dock office/bar/dining area. I am looking at it but not a glimmer of a signal. At least it is free, as was Sampson.
The electric power off the dock at Sampson was perfect. Power here at Staniel is about normal. We are on the genset for 18 hours a day. Bummer.
Monday noon, back at Sampson
Here’s the crew of M/Y Coy-Koi , an 85-footer. From left, Mate Seaton, Chef Stacey and Capt. Michael.
Fresh water is 50 cents a gallon! I am making all I can and when/where I can.
Staniel Cay’s WiFi signal used to reach the docks but I think they make more bar and food money by having the signal close to the bar. At least it is free, and fairly reliable. Bandwidth in most places appears to be good.
I’ve found bandwidth at Wardrick Wells and Highborne to be low with long downloads or sending large files taking a long time. I tried using my Apple iSight camera out of Atlantis ($10/day) but not enough bandwidth. Tried the audio only part; still not enough.
The next day
WiFi at Sampson is out today; may be weather related. Major winds and rain, miserable. Holed up here, waiting for the weather.
Some good crews around here but none of us have time to visit. Shame. Is it the same in the Med ﾖ no time, all work and no play?
The next week, back in Atlantis
By: Capt. Craig Jones
Source: www.the-triton.com
