Reach out and touch someone
How can you tell that we may be here a while? One clue is that we bought a phone. We went quite a length of time in the Caribbean without a phone but after our buddy George in Grenada gave us one, we have enjoyed having the ability to reach out on those rare times that it has been necessary. Unfortunately, even though our phone is with Digicel, we were unable to get it to work here because it operates on a different frequency than the BVI phones. We had the same challenges in Trinidad. So, we invested the 40 bucks to buy a pay-as-you-go phone that will work here. Now we just need to find some reason to use it.
Our trip to the Digicel office was not solely to find a phone though. Since the time that we purchased our unlocked iPad, we knew that, with the addition of a data SIM card, it would help us to stay connected. I am happy to report that it works perfectly. In fact, I am using the cellular connection on the iPad to make this post right now. Having that extra option to stay in touch makes me enjoy the remote anchorages all the more.
Speaking of remote anchorages, we left one this morning to return to busy Roadtown. The survey on our friend’s boat is tomorrow morning and we’re staging here to be ready to join in the fun. Wish us all luck!
I think the key is “quad band” GSM. The seem to work anywhere.
True. Can you buy an unlocked quad band phone for 30 bucks though?
Nope. You can get one here for $14! 😉
At that price, best buy a few. Phones seem to be attracted to water.
I must say, that I understand the times they are a changing, but this sentence is a complete oxymoron to me…
(Having that extra option to stay in touch makes me enjoy the remote anchorages all the more.)
I wonder how long it will take me to WANT to be that connected, if in fact I ever do. Of course, I’m glad you guys are for selfish reasons.
hehe… I agree.
Best wishes and luck on that Survey tomorrow! Forget phones please, LOL, so 20th century. LOL.
Phone, iPod touch, iPad… we are thoroughly connected!
You have a Cat? I don’t remember see’n a cat in past blogs….
Yup. Her name is Samantha. Searching for Samantha on the blog will probably net better results than searching for cat.
Does your iPad have GPS or connectivity to GPS so that it becomes a back up chartplotter?
Lots of debate / discussion on sailnet.com about iPhones / ipads vs Androids as the new navigation solutions.
Yes, it does.
With a SIM card, can’t you use the iPad as a phone? (i.e. why buy a separate phone?)
I don’t think so, other than using Skype to make a call. Apple is smarter than that.
You might consider Google Voice. It is free to get an account and you can pick a phone number in many area codes. For example pick a New York local number if most of your family is there, no long distance charges (remember them?). Calls going to google voice are forwarded to whatever phone or multiple phones you choose.Your number stays the same as you move throughout the world and use different phones. Voicemail left on your number can be sent as an email or text too. And you can call from google when on wifi, but there may be a small charge for that like Skype.
We don’t currently use that but we do use Skype. Of course, no internet based system can compare to the ease of use of having a real phone.