Back before Iridium satellite communications became cheap enough for most of the cruising community, folks generally communicated using single sideband radio (SSB) which is a high frequency radio communications system that operates between 2 and 30 megahertz (MHz). There are specific frequencies used by government agencies around the world who might be able to respond to a distress call. There are a variety of frequencies assigned for ship to ship voice traffic, and there are even channels where one can receive verbal weather forecasts or such things as BBC or Voice of America news.
The World ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) has officially been canceled for this year, but participating vessels have been arriving in French Polynesia recently. They operate a morning and evening net for vessels to provide a short situation report, including location, conditions at sea, any human or mechanical problems they’re dealing with, etc. In French Polynesia we have a very similar SSB net referred to as the PolyMagNet. We operate twice daily, 1800 and 0400 UTC. That’s around 0800 and 1800 local Tahiti time. In addition to looking for vessels underway we take check-ins from vessels in various anchorages, getting reports on local weather conditions, what they’ve been doing all day, etc.
Verbal communication builds a sense of community. With the current COVID-19 pandemic there’s something reassuring about direct verbal communications with another individual that WhatsApp or Iridium Go messaging simply can’t compete with. Yes it’s my opinion and yes I’m 61 years old and didn’t grow up texting my friends. We called one another on the telephone and yakked. The human connection experienced by hearing someone’s voice with the warmth, intonation, emotion - that’s something that separates analog voice communications from short digital texts or emails. Sitting down to participate in the morning net with a cup of coffee or the evening net with an adult beverage just feels a bit more like visiting your friends in a coffee shop or meeting up at a bar after work. I’ll take that over email or texting any day. Many of us have never met except on the radio, but when we eventually do meet and put a face to the voice it’s feels like a friendship has already been established.
SSB equipment is bulkier than Iridium Go, uses more power, is more complex to install and maintain, and new kit costs a lot more than Iridium Go, but I bet eBay has smoking deals on excellent used gear. We’ve got both as we are willing to pay for more redundancy in communication methods. SSB email weather and email data service is a heck of a lot cheaper to get as well, so over about a 3-year period one could amortize the cost of SSB equipment against the subscription cost of something like Predictwind.
We get weather forecast products through Predictwind and SSB each day. We communicate via email with friends and family using Iridium Go or SAILMAIL on a daily basis. It’s an integrated approach, one we wouldn’t give up. The Iridium device gives us the ability to make a telephone call to someone anywhere in the world just to check in or to get advice on a medical emergency.
Perhaps because of the expense or the slightly more challenging operational procedures SSB use seems to be waning, at least by the younger “digital generation” of local area cruisers in Mexico, and there seem to be plenty of boats out here in French Polynesia that either aren’t equipped with or don’t exploit onboard SSB gear.
Our SSB radio also allows communications on HAM frequencies which stimulated me to get a HAM General radio license. The knowledge I gained from qualifying for that license is pretty darn useful on the boat, and the license created more opportunity to access folks around the world. Not a bad geeky kind of hobby to have.
We hope SSB nets don’t die out. They offer a great way to build a community and support one another. Right now that’s particularly important.
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