The Disconnection of Connected Cruisers
For some time now, cell coverage has kept coastal navigators connected with phone and internet, right up until the signal runs out a few miles offshore. But until relatively recently, offshore sailing remained a disconnected affair. That came with real risks, gladly accepted by those who sailed far not only for adventure, but for refuge in that sanctuary where crew and boat worked with skill and presence toward new and distant shores. In our third year of cruising the Pacific, we’ve come to wonder what satellite internet is doing to that sanctuary — to the cruising community, and to the people we visit in some of the most isolated corners of our world.
The idea that new technology comes with unpredictable side effects is nothing new. Our boat used to be a floating island, a place to step away from it all and reconnect with our own values: the farther from shore, the better. In recent years, satellite internet, with Starlink as the sole provider in this arena, has built a bridge for the noise of everyday life to reach us wherever we go. It’s also given many people the confidence to turn cruising dreams into reality: Couples mid-career are heading out with kids and pets in tow, and young couples with little sailing experience, filled with curiosity and hope, are spending their savings and youthful energy fixing up old boats and pointing them at the horizon.
Some of that confidence comes from how much easier the mechanics of sailing have become. GPS solved the 500-year-old question of “Where exactly am I?” No more solving the riddles of celestial navigation, a fine and worthwhile art in its own right, but one with a steep learning curve. SSB, SailMail, satellite phones and EPIRBs used to be the price of entry for offshore weather and communication, and their foreign-sounding names kept plenty of would-be sailors at arm’s length. Dedication to the skill of sailing offshore, and a robust inner call to adventure, were must-haves.
Internet on board was really the last piece of technology in this incremental process, the final hurdle holding many people back from taking the leap.
