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The Grand Poobah on Starlink for Baja Ha-Ha Participants

The Baja Ha-Ha’s Grand Poobah shares some interesting feedback on using Starlink while sailing offshore.

All I can do is thank God for Starlink. It’s allowed all of us on the boat to do important work and seek out repair information as well as communicate with family and friends. Views may differ, but I find it a tremendous value.

I just bought the Gen 3 in Mexico for about $200 US. I could have bought the new Mini, which is much smaller and lighter, has a built-in router, and uses much less power. So much less power that people have run them on power blocks and even batteries for drill motors. But it costs $600.

Starlink on deck
People find lots of good reasons to get Starlink, but the most common foundational reason is to keep an eye on the weather.
© 2024 Richard Spindler

I don’t know if it’s our house batteries being in need of replacement the minute we get to San Diego, but unlike our Gen 2 Starlink, we couldn’t get the Gen 3 to work off our inverter. I don’t think this would have been a problem with the Mini, as it uses up to one-fourth less power than the normal models.

The only way we could get the Gen 3 to work was with it wired directly to our Honda 2000e portable genset. Then it worked fine.

When in eco mode, that little Honda is a fuel-efficient little bugger. It can run for 19 hours on one dose of fuel.

The bottom line is that if your boat doesn’t have a ton of power, maybe the more expensive Mini is for you. After putting in new batteries, I’m going to make the decision of whether to get a Mini.

No matter what Starlink you get, make sure you sign up for Mobile Priority or else it won’t work more than 10 miles offshore. And don’t wait until you get offshore to set up the toggle option so you can enable Priority when you need it. If you don’t, it’s difficult if not impossible to sign up for that option while offshore.

Starlink on the Farallon 29 Quark
Doug Saxe on his Farallon 29 Quark shows his Starlink mounted on the stern quarter on our June 2023 cover.
© 2024 Doug Saxe

The worst thing about Starlink is all their different plans and different pricing, which are confusing, and which they change all the time.

With our Mexican Starlink, we are paying about $200 a month for 50GB of Mobile Priority. If we run out, we can and did opt out and get all the additional GB we wanted at a rate of $2/GB. For some reason it is, or was, only $1/GB extra for the Mini.

But do your own research because Starlink, bless Elon’s heart, changes things all the time.

As noted in Friday’s ‘LL on the Baja Ha-Ha, Apple’s iMessage via satellite will not work in Mexican waters. More on Heading South here. 

Sailing

2 Comments

  1. John Arndt 4 weeks ago

    What rate plans are current Starlink cruisers on? Are you experiencing any rate changes? Let us know here.

  2. Joshua Wheeler 3 weeks ago

    I believe Captain Cook would have had Starlink if it were available. Of course, he wouldn’t have needed to engage in his voyages if it were. It is a very seaman-like tool. On the other hand, I toured the Pacific in 2023-24 and got by without it, as generations have before me. I was ecstatically happy to get away from the trappings of land life. The internet being one of them. Starlink allows you to drag all that along with you.

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