Conference Calls from the Boat Using Skype

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We’re anchored a mile from a beachfront restaurant to the west of Georgetown in the Bahamas. Amongst the services offered (in addition to cold beer) is WiFi. $15 for the week – not bad by cruising standards.

As it is the beginning of the slow season and there are not a lot of users right now, the connection is robust. And with our hi-gain WiFi antenna and “access point” we are able to enjoy the benefits of being connected to the world while anchoring away from the crowd (thank you for installing the system, Troy Bethel!).

One of the biggest benefits of this solid WiFi connection is the new (to us) Skype phone system for calling over the Internet. We are just getting up to speed with this 21st century marvel.

Today, after digesting the latest metalwork drawings on the FPB 64 from New Zealand (the 3Mb file arriving by WiFi) we had a two-hour phone conference with Dave DeVilliers and Ed Firth who are doing the detailing. Both our drawings and theirs were open on the computer, and we could refer back and forth as various details were discussed. Exactly as would have happened if we were standing at the desk in our land office. The big difference is that we are out here, actually using the product as it was intended to be used.

This is the only way to run a business!


Posted by Steve Dashew  (May 11, 2008)



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