Day 316, Year 1: Internet Connection is Lost
Date: Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Weather: On and Off Rain All Day
Location: Pago Pago Harbor, Tutuila Island, American Samoa
Our biggest struggle right now is getting e-mails to send and receive. Because we are in a harbor with mountains on all sides, it is difficult to send and receive on our HAM radio e-mail system. It seems like our only window is 7:00 to 9:00 in the evening, and we are often not home at that time. Figuring out radio wave propagation is really tricky and we are just beginning to understand. High speed internet we understand, but the signal here comes and goes. So some days we have a great connection and then we can go two or three days with no connection. I guess we just need to learn to take advantage of the good times and chill until the good times return. So if our communications are a few days delayed, don’t despair.
I spent my day sanding and varnishing, doing laundry onboard, and writing a few e-mails. Mark went to town early with Penny and Greg from Long Tall Sally. They needed to find a radio repair shop and Mark needed to go to the hospital to pick up copies of my x-rays. Both needed to check in with Origon at Samoa Telecommunications to figure out our internet connections problems. Mark then spent a great deal of time with Penny trying to download some software. Mark and I spent our evening with Glenda and Derek on Scotty. They are from Adelaide, Australia, and we really enjoyed our time getting to know them.
Tomorrow is a “clean the waterline” day and then we are off to Tisa’s Barefoot Bar for swimming, snorkeling, and then a traditional Samoan dinner. Penny and Greg from Long Tall Sally and George and Barbara from Gdansk will join us. Our friend Evelyn is also coming, so it should be a great evening.
I want to thank Bill of S/V Compania for his constant vigilance over my broken leg. His recommendations as a physican/physical therapist have been greatly appreciated. And the neatest thing is that we only know him through his contacting us on our website. Today, he and his wife are headed for Florida. Their boat, Compania, is going back in the water this week and by mid-November they will leave for the Rio Dulce. Even though we have never met, we are very excited for them and hope to track their journey via the internet.
