COMMUNICATIONS AT SEA

Fred Eidt, SV Kamia Chora

When we started sailing offshore in 2021/2022 the only real options we had for offshore communications and tracking at that time were satellite phones, Iridium Go, Garmin InReach and Marine Single Side Band (SSB) radio.  Starlink was just starting to come online at the time and wasn’t really a consideration.  All the options available had very slow data rates if any data capability, and only Satellite phones, Iridium Go and Marine SSB offered voice calls.  

Fast forward to fall of 2023 and I’d say half the Caribbean Rally fleet, ourselves included, had installed Starlink for full high-speed internet offshore.  While spotty at times it was still awesome to have that level of connectivity.  We used Starlink with Iridium Go as a backup during that rally.  At the time Marine SSB was still an acceptable system for Rally comms.  I recently discovered that the Salty Dawgs no longer accept Marine SSB as an acceptable form of offshore comms during a rally.  For me this is an understandable but unfortunate decision.    

So why then did I just finish purchasing and installing an obsolete system like SSB in Kamia Chora? 

Kamia Chora is our ‘new to us’ 1983 Transpac 49 ketch.  When we first stepped aboard last year, I noticed that she had an insulated back stay indicating that at some point in the past, she had been equipped with a Marine SSB.  This observation planted the seed.  Over the past couple of years, I have grown more and more concerned with our growing dependance on GPS specifically, and satellite technology in general.  The growing number of instances of spoofing or jamming taking place around the world has raised my level of concern on what could happen should satellites become unreachable?  To quote Murphy’s law “What can go wrong will”.

Our approach to equipping our boats has always been to identify single points of failure, and to have at least one back up in place.  My thought process in this case was to look into what options existed to offset the possible (while improbable) loss of satellite connectivity.  I found that the only existing non-satellite technology available was Marine SSB.  As a side note we have always carried paper charts, but have seldom ever used them.  Our onboard procedures include manually recording our position at the start of each watch so in the unlikely event of navigation failure, we would be able to build a dead reckoning plot using the paper charts.  Following this logic, having a Marine SSB would allow us to get weather updates, provide position reports and allow us to make emergency calls in similar circumstances.  

The next catalyst for the project came to be when I was in the IW Provisioning Store in Oriental, NC and saw they had a new, in the box I-Com 802 SSB radio for sale.  Interestingly, most of the technicians I spoke with had experience removing SSB radios but only a couple would admit to ever having installed one.  I was fortunate to find Peter and Chris from Seacoast Marine in Oriental, to help us out with the installation.  I frankly wouldn’t have been able to do it without them. 

So, what have I gotten myself into?  Well now we have a surprisingly comprehensive suite of communication equipment.  For long range comms we have Starlink, Zoleo, EPIRB and SSB.  For short range we have two fixed VHF radios, a handheld VHF and AIS.  With so much technology available will I ever use the SSB?  Remember the adage “Use it or lose it”?  The most likely use I see for the SSB will be to listen to Chris Parker’s Radio weather forecasts on passage or in remote anchorages.  I will also need to spend time researching and understanding the theory behind the radio and experimenting with the various bandwidths, so to be able to make smart educated decisions should the time come when I need to use it in anger.  Perhaps I’ll come to think of it as a hobby of sorts.  

Anyway, enough of that for now - I need to go install my new cassette player!  

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