Hi. Curious for thoughts from fellow OCC’ers…

I have a small (31’) bluewater boat and have sailed from home in Florida to Maine to the Caribbean and am planning on future voyages south and north, and hopefully a transatlantic attempt in the next year or so. I use IridiumGo and PredictWind and am quite happy with it’s stability and the weather, email, text messages, and voice I send and receive with it. I don’t have an SSB radio though. When I acquired the boat the PO had must have been planning to put one in, the boat has a dynaplate installed and insulators on the backstay.

In 2022 do others think an SSB is still a necessity? If I didn’t have the satellite comm, I would definitely say yes. However, I don’t feel like getting into the installation hassle, complexity and expense of a new SSB radio if I’m not going to use it. I’m not a chatty type so can’t see myself loving SSB nets.

Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks!

Hi. Thanks everyone for the informative replies. I’ve reviewed all and decided to bite the hull et and install an iCom M803. I’ll “passage” more comfortably knowing I have a long range communications backup. Thanks again.

+x

 

Dan Coate - 5 Feb 2022

Hi. Thanks everyone for the informative replies. I’ve reviewed all and decided to bite the hull et and install an iCom M803. I’ll “passage” more comfortably knowing I have a long range communications backup. Thanks again.

Hi Dan,
Sounds like aa plan. It has been very nice for us on passage to set up a sked with other vessels: it punctuates the day. And do not get too crazed about installation. It is not rocket science no matter what some pundits say. The ICOM 803 is a quality piece of kit and you will find lots of cruisers with the unit who will help you up the learning curve.
My best, Dick