I went for for Lime. Lime advertise a good deal on roaming charges with other Lime carriers in the Caribbean (St. Vincent is the one I want for our trip up the islands).

Neither seem to have much accurate information online regarding 3G and it seems that this is because it a relatively new thing for the island.

I bought my SIM from the Lime in Spiceland mall (Digicell are right next door). Not a well oiled process but we got there. You need ID and an address thought there are no checks on the address’s validity.

I bought a pre pay SIM for EC28.75, that comes with EC10 credit. I then (once I’d added EC35 as a top up) bought the 1 month valid, 500mb data pack. ( just dial *146*500#).

Simply 500mb of data pre paid for a month. The card is destined for an unlocked 3G dongle and currently sits in my HTC phone no problem…

APN setting for Lime Grenada

Once you have the APN set for the phone, with an APN name of “ppinternet” (no username or pasword) you can connect for mobile networks in android speak or interment to you and me.

3G in Grenada

Problem is while it connects its not at 3G speeds, but at Edge – think 56K modem.

Arse.

Tried it at Spiceland Mall and at the apartment near St.George and no 3G.

I’ll update the post once I find out more but at 56k like speeds this is going to take a long time to devour the 500MB.

Update

This turned out to be a good investment.

Speed stayed the same and although I didn’t know how to check data usage I had no problem either connecting or with data for the twenty days I had it. It wasn’t the fastest but worked well for email, BBC, RSS updates and grib files. I also roamed to St.Vincent with the same sim and deal and again no problem. I only had 0.01 cent credits so the roaming must have been covered by the deal (which I thought it would but it wasn’t crystal clear in the literature).

Chopstix Chinese takeaway

To note, if your in Spiceland Mall check out the food stalls, the Chinese does a great combo meal of chicken and pork with stir friend rice (EC33) and the grill place next door covers the Caribbean choices well ( though I had the falafel meal deal).

Yacht Pelican

Getting to Mourne Rouge beach

I can image its a fair hike on foot over from Grand Anse beach itself. Its possible heading up via Flamboyant beach side terrace. Over the hill and down into the bay.

Driving by road its not clear which route to take as there are no signs.

Directions to BBC, Morne Rouge beach

Head past the Spiceland Mall, take a left as the road ends up past the police station. Then take a right and follow the road round. Once your up over the hill take a left down a rough paved road.

Once on that road look out for another left hand then down a dirt road by a house which has some huge metal objects outside, they look like large pots.

Follow the road down, on the left is a grave, the road goes down to the right and leads to a relatively clear area for parking.

Morne Rouge facilities

There isn’t much, which is probably a good thing.

Through the gap we found a security guard (which I guess is for the beach) and a guy renting out the sun chairs for EC10 each a day. No hawkers to be found, no hassle at all. The guard – literally – didn’t move the the four hours we were there.

Very nice beach, blue water, calm with a bit of sea life. A couple of boats on their moorings but no other transient craft. Looks like a nice bay to anchor for a cat as its shallow. A great thing about this beach is there is lots of shade from the trees. We had a couple of showers so it was handy to have the chairs and towels under cover.

There where no more that 12 westerns on the beach, plus a few locals spear fishing, and boat fishing. There is quite a bit of building happening mostly villa building, progress looks and judging by the infrequent hammering, sounds slow.

Eating on Morne Rouge beach

There looks like two or three places to eat on the beach itself. We went to the bar at the end (Sur la Mer) and ordered a takeaway (eating in looked good as well). We had two huge and excellent chicken Roti’s (EC20 each), three French fries EC12), three waters and and ice cream pot for just over EC100, friendly place.

Yacht Pelican

Takeaway option

Above the Andall supermarket is a takeaway place which is good for all sorts of pre cooked food like baked chicken, BBQ chicken, stewed Turkey etc all come with a choice of sides I.e. rice and peas, carrots, macaroni slices.

Good value at around EC18 a plate depending on your selection (meat dishes EC8, sides EC2, and in between).

Grenada Airport ATM

Talking money there is an ATM at Grenada airport, easy reach from the exit from arrivals. Just take a right and walk about 100 yards and you will find an ATM dispensing EC dollars.

Andall supermarket prices

Hunts tomato sauce 14oz EC5.25
Carib beer 6 pack EC17.25
Carib beer single EC 1.70
Due last Gern hot pepper sauce EC4.40
6 eggs, half a dozen EC5.35
Anchor cheddar cheese 250g EC9.25
Maryland chocolate chip cookies 175g EC4.90
Bruns tuna in oil EC3.30
I can’t believe its not butter 250g EC5.50
Dutch lady semi skimmed uht milk, 1 lt EC4.40
Rica juice fruit punch 1lt  EC5.35
Pure heaven apple juice 1lt EC5.25
Tomatoes at EC4.50 a lb
Milanesa Spaghetti 400g EC4.95
Brunswick sardines EC3.15
Lettuce local EC3.29

A better option for shopping (range of items) is the Real Value supermarket at Spice Land Mall, Mourne Rouge (just behind Grand Anse beach).

Prices from the Real Value Supermarket

Westerhall super light Rum, 750cl EC20.85
Luis Felipe Cabernet Sauvignon Red wine EC24.40
Blue water (still water 1.5lt) EC3.80
Carib beer 6 pack EC16.25

Real Value opening hours are 0800-2100, Monday to Thursday, 0800-2200 on Friday and Saturday and 0900-1900 on Sundays.

Yacht Pelican

(the adaptor is in the plastic box)

Setting up the R36 and AWUS036H

This isn’t plug and play but there agree as few steps that will make this easier.

Follow the guide from Alfa  (but read on to save some heart ache).

No led light on the AWUS036H doesn’t mean the device is broken. Unless the right drivers are installed you will not see the activity light on. The supplied drivers didn’t work on my windows 7 PC but once I downloaded the latest the drivers from Alfa.com.tw it burst into life. Its worth checking – for your sanity – that the adaptor is working before you proceed. Remember your PC probably has a WiFi adaptor already so know how to disable the onboard adaptor as necessary.

You have to update the firmware on the R36 router for it to work with the AWUS036H adaptor, if you don’t the light will not come on and it will not connect (even though it works with a PC).

Make a note of the firmware version your starting with so you can check the update has actually applied (I’m sure mine went backwards from a 1.30 version once updated).

Although the guide recommends using the IE browser for the firmware update its more than a recommendation, its essential. Also don’t use WiFi if you can avoid it, use an Ethernet cable between the PC and router. I couldn’t get it to update over WiFi.

Once you have the latest firmware for the router, have  connected via the Ethernet port and are using IE keep an eye on the browser. I had to hit return on one of the pages during the firmware upgrade when it appeared to have stalled, it then continued OK.

You can grab the Windows 7 drivers etc, and R36 firmware from Alfa.com.tw. Unfortunately the site has been down a couple of times, don’t give up it comes back online.

Once setup remember your connecting to a WiFi signal so may need to supply a password. Each time you find a new access point you’ll have to create a profile via the admin paged for the signal – just like on your Nexus or iPad. Separately you can set a password for access to the router, otherwise you might find others connect to your access point. Unauthorised access would be a particular problem it you connect the R36 to your 3G dongle and are paying for data…

12v Power for the Alfa R36 and AWUS036H

As I’m going to use the unit on board I needed to find a way to power the router (the 36r router can power the WiFi adaptor via the USB connection) I need the right power jack. Rather than cutting g of the supplied mains plug I went in search of a replacement.

The socket is 2.1mm so from eBay I bought a ’1.5m DC Power Extension Lead 2.1mm DC Socket to Plug’. I then cut of the smaller adaptor and attached a cigarette lighter adaptor socket (fused). The centre’s of the plug and cigarette adaptor carry the positive, the negative is on the outside of both. To find which wire connected through to the plug I used a cheap multimeter on resistance setting. This simply let’s you place the probe point on the wire and when you find the right combination of wire and socket (centre or outside) the meter displays the resistance.

I soldered the wires together and insulated with tape.

Picking up and sharing distant WiFi signals

Job done, works well in the car via my tablet, in this case a Nexus 7. The R36 and AWUS036H combination let’s us share a distant WiFi signal between multiple devices (phones, tablets etc) without the need for a PC. It really is ideal for boasting WiFi signals on the road or onboard our yacht.

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The pictures were captured at 1 frame a minute intervals – with some editing out.

The Camera was lashed to the foremast.

Using VirtualDub to build a time-lapse Video

I used VirtualDub on the PC to build the video (from the hundred or so stills) then created the AVI with the downloaded DivX Codec (at 2 fps), nice and easy aswell as being free.

VirtualDub will grab all related files (after you select the start image – selecting “Image sequence” as the “Open Video File” type) from a directory on windows as long as the filenames fit the required format.

This didn’t work straight away given the Bushnell file name convention, with just the single start picture being selected. To fix it I just did a select all on the images, rename, adding a 1 to the file name and Windows did the rest, renaming the remaining files in sequence so VirtualDub could recognise the sequence.

Yacht Pelican

Ahead of our Charter I wanted to get the Navionics Caribbean and South America app running on my Nexus 7. Having a GPS and an ace screen on the Nexus it makes a great backup GPS and Plotter. Although I already have the Garmin Blue charts for the Caribbean (running on a handheld) it’s always good to pick up the latest copy of the charts.

First challenge is that for some reason Google doesn’t recognise Jersey as being part of the UK (as a Crown Dependency) and while my phone used to be recognised, it no longer is. I used to be able to buy apps on the phone and no longer can – well at least not directly.

There is a simple work around for this using a VPN.

Using a VPN to access the Google Play Store

My Nexus 7 is rooted so I have installed the ToR client to act as a VPN (others exist that don’t require Root Viatun 4 VPN for example as a 3 day / 1 GB free trial). In fact I’ve since tried Viatun and it is much quicker than the ToR client (no need for Root) and lets you easily select an exit country, paid for subscriptions seem very reasonable (1 month for $1 and 12 months for $9.50).

Either way once on the ToR client, simply connect and browse to Google play, at this point all paid for apps are displayed (as long as the ToR exit point is in Google Play supported country or just use Viatun).

I am then able to buy the app via the Play Store.

Installing Navionics on the Nexus 7

Second problem is that the Nexus 7 isn’t support by these Navionics apps (they want you to buy the much more expensive HD version). So I can’t send the app to my Nexus 7 (if though I’m on it…) so I sent the app to my Android phone which is shown as a compatible device in the Play Store for the Caribbean Navionics app.

The app then starts installing on my phone. Once installed I use App Backup and Restore (as the app isn’t protected, if it where you’ll probably need a rooted phone and an app like Root Uninstaller) to back up the .apk file. Next more the app over to my Nexus 7 via dropbox or my NAS and install.

Navionics Carib & S. America installs cleanly. I have now downloaded the maps for Grenada, Carriacou, Union Island, Bequia, the Tobago Cays and Mustique. Screen shot below.

The GPS works as does the zoom as you can see from the shot of Prickly Bay in Grenada where we will pick up the Jenneau 37.1 for 17 nights from Horizon Yacht Charters.

3G in the Caribbean

I’ve also been researching 3G data access. I have an unlocked 3G dongle which has worked well in the UK and Portugal and just requires a local sim and the right APN settings.

All the islands have 3G either through Digicel or Lime. Lime seem to have the best roaming deal which is important as we will be going through two countries (Grenada and St. Vincent). A bit more investigation and I’ll see which carrier to go with.

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The seller was selling Raymarine covers but had a couple of enquiries for Simrad versions.

I supplied some measurements and he has gone to work.

Not much money and a nice fit which will give the unit a little more protection from the worst of the weather.

Yacht Pelican

This one wasn’t in bad condition as the port side pad but as I had bought a spare and the base sits over the main fuse panel and my newly installed AIS transponder and Solar panel regulator I thought I better replace it to ward of any water ingress.

Lifting the old pad wasn’t too hard, it was bolted through and I can get to the nuts easily enough (for a boat). The bolts which pass through the winch base are quite long so it still need a little leverage to avoid bending the bolts and having to replace them. Out came the Stanley Wonder Bar which I’ve found really useful on board. Its been in my tool kit for a couple of years and hasn’t rusted. Its short but with a good bend which I find ideal for a little leverage and stops me bending screw drivers etc. The Wonder bar also has a wide leading edge so limits damage to the object being lifted.

I also deployed the rubber mallet which is heavy enough to add weight(and persuasion) but not as brutal as the lump hammer!

To fix the pad to the deck and winch to the pad I used some of the Butyl gunk which seems to have worked well on the stanchion bases.

Drilling the pad

Drilling the holes through the new pad while trying to make use of the old holes was a little bit tricky. This time I have learnt from my experience with the port side winch and traced out the location of pad, an edge and the hole locations. Taking that tracing I drilled a couple of pilot holes though and managed to get them to line up nicely.

Lewmar 16 sheet winch fixed to the pad and bolted through.

Yacht Pelican

Passages are often made up of not much intersped with activity so time lapse seems to be a good idea. You might have seen time lapse of a Panama canal transit (often shot from a cruise ship), lots of activity but over 2 days.

Check this example, shot from a catamaran which has now circumnavigated!

I spent some time checking out what is available.

Initially I checked on the cameras I already have but my Panasonic FT-3 doesn’t support time lapse, good news is that the later model FT-4 does. Problem is I like the idea of keeping my digital camera in my pocket and the battery life really isn’t up to the job for time lapse photography.

Next I took a look at the Go Pro range of digital video recorders. These do support time lapse and lots of people have produced some great results. Thing is they are expensive and the battery life, while ok, isn’t that great. Also as a camera it doesn’t even come with an LCD display, it’s an option.

Once you price in a way of getting more power to it, maybe a Skelton housing and LCD display is well into £200 to £300.

My wish list is:

• Clearly it needs to be water proof (without the need for extra housings)
• long battery life
• Large memory capacity (no 2GB card limit)
• Built for the job (not just an extra function)
• Ideally a screen to look at

Good news is that you can buy time lapse cameras for building and wildlife work. The US seems to lead the market especially in photography and video of wildlife. Now it’s more a shoot and eat wildlife need rather than cute hedge hogs in the garden. These cameras are called Trail cameras and one of the leading suppliers has called their range Trophy Cam, I’m sure you get the idea.

I wanted to look at sub £20 camera so the four models I look at where:

• Acorn 5210a
• Bushnell TrophyCam 8MP HD Camera
• TLC 100 and 200

I discounted the TLC range early on. Although it looks simple and to spec the newer model 200 requires its own external housing which I don’t like. So I was left with the Acorn and US Bushnell. Both of these also support night photography which should be interesting. Rather than using a flash which would either scare the animals of night blind the crew! They use a infra red night vision, cool.

In the end I’ve gone with the Bushnell HD model primarily because it will do GPS tagging of the photos which I think will be a great advantage on-board. Other than that they seem fairly similar in spec, with a maximum of 8 AA batteries. Both manufacturers recommend using Lithium rather than Alkaline which should last longer.

I’m waiting on the postman so when the Bushnell arrives I’ll give it a go and update the post.

Yacht Pelican

I want to keep whatever I choose on the furler to keep handling easy so have discounted a drifter at this point. Other Wharram tiki 38 owners (which is a great reference for me) do fly a drifter with a lot of success like warren on natural high.

A Bigger Genoa

Once I start thinking about a bigger jib or Genoa I have to consider if there will be any impact on the sheeting points. At the moment I have two travellers, each with a block lashed on screwed into the cross beam just in front of the pod either side of a fore to aft support.

To lengthen the foot of the sail could mean moving the tracking or coming up with another sheeting position. That move back could mean going onto the pod roof which would get in the way of the foremast boom and solar panels.

I’ve contacted Jekells the sail maker for advice. They built all the sails for my tiki for a previous owner and many other Wharrams including the soft wing sails and cruising chute.

Distance from track to tack 4.35m

They have been very helpful, going back to their records and raised a point about avoiding creating too much back wind on the foresail so don’t recommend going too big.

The the luff is 8.75m and the existing foot is 363cms or 11ft 11ins max, measured from the edge of each end. Max foot recommended by Jeckells is 14ft 4ins or 436cms. Think I’ll go a bit smaller just to keep that track in place.

I’ve also taken a look at Seateach who have a range of off the shelf sails. Unfortunately the don’t have a long enough luff for me.

Colligo Synthetic Rigging

While I was there I noticed their emergency stay system from Colligo marine. Built around the strength of dyneema line and some really nicely engineered terminals I’m going to take a look. You can build a stay with 1:6 purchase for example to tension via a terminal block and chain plate distributors which seems like a great way to rig a Wharram.

At the very least its given some ideas on tensioning my guard rails and has helped put to bed the the risk of UV damage.

Yacht Pelican