Communication troubles
Day: 107 — Position: N17 34.0’ E153 28.8’
Odometer since Waikiki: about 2,984M
Distance to Saipan: 476M
Sea surface temperature: 81.9F - 27.7C
OCEAN ROWING RECORDS AS RUNNING TOTALS
Solo career total in days: 1,032 (New World Record)
Overall career total in days: 1,116 (New World Record)
Solo career total in miles by Waikiki: 22,173M now about 24,932M (New World Record)
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Overall career total in miles by Waikiki: 25,153M now about 27,912M
* Ralph Tuijn (NL) leads this with 35,635M
** Circumference of the Earth along the equator is 21,600M long
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I have no internet access on my rowboat at this time. I was using a Cobham Explorer 510 satellite modem for broadband connection. As of Monday the 17th, the Explorer Connect App on my iPhone started misbehaving. It would open then fail on launch, hiding in the background. When I swiped, I could see a blank app window without its familiar interface and when I selected it, it would hide again. The only thing I could do was to swipe up to close the broken app. A soft reset of the iPhone did not solve the problem. I suspect that the app was corrupted somehow. We have been trying to get through to tech support at Cobham, it has been five days and so far no response! Pretty lame!!!
Those of you dot-watching on my tracking page accessible in the menu above (or click here: https://www.erdeneruc.com/tracking), probably noticed my abrupt southwesterly turn of course. I am now heading to Saipan where I will attempt to drop anchor just outside the harbor on the west side of the island. Then I should have cellular coverage to establish an Internet connection to access the App Store to reinstall the Explorer Connect App. That should hopefully restore my broadband capability on the rowboat. Communication is crucial out here.
It looks like our marine electrical systems magician Brian Johnson (BRJ Solutions) found a replacement wired handset for my mounted VHF radio. Saipan will be great to receive that as well. If you remember, I crushed the plug at the end of the handset wire earlier when I fell against the instrument panel. So my mounted VHF radio has only been useful for listening. Fortunately I also have a handheld VHF radio in case I have to broadcast a radio call.
With an abundance of caution, and if at all possible, I will also seek a COVID booster shot on Saipan. Crossing fingers that they will offer it.
My Iridium Go satellite modem completely failed a month ago which was my first comms casualty. That used to allow me limited internet access to receive detailed weather forecasts and long form messaging. Now it is as useful as a paper weight. Could I also have a replacement Iridium Go shipped to Saipan? You bet I may try!
Fortunately, I have my reliable ZOLEO device which uses the Iridium satellite network to carry text messages. I use a smartphone app for that as well, which I hope will not be corrupted as did the Explorer Connect App. ZOLEO allows me to send and receive SMS messages with mobile phones up to about 160 characters, text messages to/from email addresses up to about 230 and again text messages with ZOLEO App users up to 1037. So my shore team now uses the app to take full advantage. With the ZOLEO solution, my communication has not been so disastrous.
In addition, I have an inReach device which allows me the ability to post short text on Twitter by myself. That device also allows messaging with mobile phones and emails. I cannot see replies or in anyway engage my Twitter followers without proper internet access. Since I cannot send images, I no longer have the ability to post on Instagram either, which I was using to cross-post on Facebook. I now will have to ask Nancy to post text-only content on Facebook if at all.
If you were not following my Twitter and Instagram accounts, they are both @erdeneruc. Links are at the bottom of the page for your convenience. Please share those accounts and this blog with your connections. Ikaros & Partners, our PR team in Turkey should continue to post on Instagram; I will resume my participation once I restore internet access on my rowboat. At this time, by using ZOLEO, I will primarily send Nancy blog updates for posting.
Erden