OK, at the risk of hijacking the thread, this seems like a good place to make a confession. A few weeks ago, we were anchored out in the islands. I felt like streaming an episode of "Scrubs" on my laptop. I occasionally use my mobile phone as a wifi hotspot, connecting my laptop to it. This works really nicely when I have a decent signal.
But, where we were, the signal was just sketchy enough that we could sort of stream video, but only a few seconds at a time, between periods of buffering.
I came up with a clever idea. I put my phone in a waterproof dry-bag, clipped it onto the spinnaker halyard, and hoisted it up the mast. Still well within wi-fi range of my laptop, but now much higher to get a better signal. Worked brilliantly. We watched our program, then decided to turn in for the night. I went up to retrieve my phone and ...
In my defense, when thinking up this idea, I originally planned to tie a small line to the bag so I could pull the phone back down. However, in execution, I failed to do that. As it turns out, 40 feet of halyard is heavier than my mobile phone - a fact I had plenty of time to contemplate as I stood on the deck looking up and trying to figure out how to retrieve my phone.
I hear people asking, "Why not just ascend the mast?" I did indeed the equipment needed, and we were already safely anchored out. And, I've been up the mast on other boats plenty of times. But, we just bought this boat. The halyards are ... fine ... but we don't know their history. In fact, same with winches. I didn't bed them, so I don't know how well they are attached. No specific reason to doubt them, but not something I would bet my life on.
The next morning, we did manage to retrieve the phone without ascending the mast. Describing how we did it would be lengthy and it probably wouldn't help anyone. And, it is definitely off-topic.
Bottom line: This actually IS a good idea. It works quite well. It won't give you a strong signal where you have none, but it can give you just a little more, if that's all you need. But, do attach a retrieval line. And, if you forget to, at least make sure you don't have an audience. To do over again, I would retrieve the phone in the dead of night where the darkness masks my shame.
But, where we were, the signal was just sketchy enough that we could sort of stream video, but only a few seconds at a time, between periods of buffering.
I came up with a clever idea. I put my phone in a waterproof dry-bag, clipped it onto the spinnaker halyard, and hoisted it up the mast. Still well within wi-fi range of my laptop, but now much higher to get a better signal. Worked brilliantly. We watched our program, then decided to turn in for the night. I went up to retrieve my phone and ...
In my defense, when thinking up this idea, I originally planned to tie a small line to the bag so I could pull the phone back down. However, in execution, I failed to do that. As it turns out, 40 feet of halyard is heavier than my mobile phone - a fact I had plenty of time to contemplate as I stood on the deck looking up and trying to figure out how to retrieve my phone.
I hear people asking, "Why not just ascend the mast?" I did indeed the equipment needed, and we were already safely anchored out. And, I've been up the mast on other boats plenty of times. But, we just bought this boat. The halyards are ... fine ... but we don't know their history. In fact, same with winches. I didn't bed them, so I don't know how well they are attached. No specific reason to doubt them, but not something I would bet my life on.
The next morning, we did manage to retrieve the phone without ascending the mast. Describing how we did it would be lengthy and it probably wouldn't help anyone. And, it is definitely off-topic.
Bottom line: This actually IS a good idea. It works quite well. It won't give you a strong signal where you have none, but it can give you just a little more, if that's all you need. But, do attach a retrieval line. And, if you forget to, at least make sure you don't have an audience. To do over again, I would retrieve the phone in the dead of night where the darkness masks my shame.