Just another passage
Later today, when most cruisers will be sitting down to enjoy their sundowners, Rebecca and I will be raising anchor to begin making our way towards Trinidad. It’s been almost three years since we made this passage and we’re looking forward to seeing our Trini friends again when we arrive.
Unfortunately, the wind is forecast to be a bit more south than we would like. Why not wait for better weather? Because we’ve managed to get ourselves tied up with the bane of all sailors, a schedule. Yes, we need to make it to Trinidad, get our projects completed, and then make it back to Grenada to welcome our daughter and granddaughter who are coming to visit!
Note: I know for a fact that with the high amount of commercial traffic that is common on this passage, we’re really going to miss the excellent Standard Horizon Matrix VHF radio with AIS that we have installed on ZTC. Sadly, neither of the chandleries here have one in stock. If they did, I’d buy one today and install it before we leave.
Good luck on your passage south!
Are you all going down south to take care of the rudder post problem?
That and other things, yes.
Captain Obvious here, couldn’t you have one sent to your daughter to bring down?
Safe travels!
The radio? Definitely. I want one NOW though!
Yes the radio. Amazon has them… 🙂
Duh!
Have a safe trip, see you when you get back. Also, hoping your haul out projects go smoothly and without stress.
Thanks. We hope so too!
Mike,
Thank’s for the info on VHF radio, We just contracted, haul-out / surveyed a new to us boat and have been putting together a looooong to-do/ budget list and this post made me realize i need to go back through your blog because you have already done all the research and “testing” real life use on items i need to purchase. Auto-pilot/ chartplotter/ gps is what has me pulling my hair out tho! You guys have a safe passage and again thank you for info and inspiration.
You’re welcome. I know this radio works well, and the AIS data can be lead to a chart plotter (our Garmin 546). I hope I can also send it to OpenCPN.
I just checked with Amazon and they have this radio on for 319.77 USD (10,000 cnd!). Sounds like a deal to me. Safe travels.
You checked with Amazon? Like you clicked the link I made in the post?
Yes, I clicked on the link. I am not familiar enough with the radio to research it on my own so I clicked the link and it came up. But as you say this I just checked and the price is 777 now. I would think your link could have been an older one? I have copied the description for you:
STANDARD HORIZON Standard Horizon Matrix Fixed Mount VHF w/AIS & GPS – Class D DSC – 30W – Black / GX2200B /CDN$ 777.78
A different model at a lower price:
Standard STD-GX2000-B 25-Watt Fixed Mount Matrix VHF Radio with AIS Display and Loudhailer (Black) 6 new from CDN$ 360.04
When I click the link I see $347.76 US. If that equals 777.78 Canadian, I may be more broke than I thought! 🙂
I feel your pain Mike, today the Canadian dollar just hit an 11 year low!
🙁