Matthew and I are small business owners in very different industries yet each of our careers is critically dependent upon sustained cellular signals and strong wireless internet connectivity. Because of this, we’ve developed a few strategies to keep our connections relatively seamless while cruising. In addition, I’ve been making real-world connectivity notes, harbor by harbor, and will continue to update my grid as we cruise along.
Yes, Keep Multiple Carriers
Tempted to simplify your cellular life into one comprehensive family plan to meet your texting, data, and voice call needs, all in one fell swoop? After all, it truly is cost-effective these days with such tantalizing options as freebie extra lines, unlimited data sharing, tethering, unified coverage for US-Mexico-Canada, and whatnot. After evaluating and re-evaluating that siren call (pun intended) annually for the past several years, my advice remains this: don’t consolidate to a single carrier if you’re planning to cruising northward out of the Puget Sound through BC waters to SE Alaska. Here’s why…
Cruising realities are that some harbors have excellent signal for one carrier while, in the same location aboard the same boat, the signal for a different carrier may be nonexistent, despite all those cell towers serving more than one master. Matthew (an Android guy) and I (an Apple girl) have run into this situation often, despite the ever-evolving mergers, acquisitions, and coverage plan offerings of the main stream cellular carriers.
Prevost Harbor, Stuart Island in the San Juans
In one extreme example in 2015, while we were anchored in Prevost Harbor on Stuart Island, a mere stone’s throw from the Canadian border in the San Juans, the otherwise-solid AT&T signal on my iPhone suddenly flipped to the Rogers network with 2 of 5 bars for cell signal mid-harbor and no data connection. Matthew’s T-mobile flipped on his Android phone to the Telus network with similar cell strength but his data connection remained our work life-line. Meanwhile, our little Verizon wireless internet hotspot dropped out of commission all together. In these moments, the extra hassle and dollars from dealing with multiple carriers in order to continue business as usual was worth every penny to avoid the fire drill of hauling up the anchor to reestablish our connectivity in a new anchorage.
In 2019, while our plans have changed and improved in various ways compared to 2015, the persisting differences in our carriers’ connectivity make the extra expense of maintaining two carriers a smart idea for our professional lives. By the time we retire a decade or two from now and care not for such reliable connectivity, I imagine the world will be even more effortlessly connected and we will ironically work just as hard to find places to relax off the grid…
Establish a Rhythm for Getting Underway
Weather, wind, and tide should be the cornerstones of the go/no-go decision to get underway, but, if Mother Nature indicates “go for it!”, having a general rhythm compatible with your professional life also helps. For example, because my business generally operates Monday through Friday, with heaviest client need between 9am-5pm EST, I find it helpful to shift my working hours to match EST (ie, 6am-2pm PST) and restrict boat movement to after 2pm PST with the summertime daylight. Weekends then offer more freedom to explore remote coves and anchorages off the grid without the anxiety of having to find a signal in the wilderness. This strategy, coupled with a solid plan for re-establishing connectivity on Sunday night, makes cruising and working a pleasurable balance.
Sat Phones
Because of the likely remoteness of some portions of our SE Alaska float plan, we decided to along bring a satellite phone this trip. This should provide another option for critical communication when we’re far from the luxuries of a cell tower. Matthew has been keeping his eye on sat phone technologies in general for blue water boaters and predicts this will be a reasonable option for mariners in the near future. For now, it’s worth it to us to have this extra layer of communication security in combination with our Spot Beacon and EPIRB. Neither of us are planning to use the sat phone to run our businesses of course, but it’s nice to know we can make a strategic call or two without breaking the banking or involving the coast guard.
Don’t Forget About Options Ashore
When all else fails, sometimes you just need a well-connected coffee shop (on so many levels…) to keep you going. If you happen to be in a somewhat populated area, chances are there is an internet option ashore for you. I sheepishly admit to a moment of panicky amnesia on this very point back in 2011 along the Sunshine Coast of BC. Matthew and I had spent a delightfully sun-soaked weekend exploring Lasqueti Island and, with the work week closing in, we made the very responsible and deliberate decision to anchor in Pender Harbour on Sunday night where seven BBX internet signals were advertised on its service map. Although we had not yet explored Pender Harbour, I felt confident that we would have plenty of options for internet signal to support the WebEx presentation I was scheduled to lead the next morning for a big client on the east coast. We settled our catamaran into a perfect spot by sundown on Sunday, checked our connection, and all seemed good to go. Well, the dawn brought unexpected chaos. An hour before my presentation, our internet connection (then hosted by BBX alone) was down and no amount of cruising around the harbor could find a better signal! Turns out, the single router supporting all seven BBX points sitting atop the local watering hole was offline and no estimate was available on when it would be working again. I freaked.
Fortunately, Matthew was in a much more tranquil frame of mind (as usual) and calmly suggested I dinghy ashore to the internet cafe from whence he had retrieved our fancy-pants coffees just hours earlier. That worked like a charm (whew.) and my clients were none the wiser. This was certainly not an ideal scenario, but a viable option to keep in mind to avoid your own Pender Harbour-style implosion.