The day-to-day of life on a boat is very different than life on land. One such example is entertainment. Of the folks we know, most either read or watch some sort of “video” content in the evenings. Be it regular over-the-air TV, cable TV, satellite TV, or streaming Amazon Prime, Netflix, etc. We are no different, but our choices are different. Land-based homes (cruisers refer to them as “dirt homes”) have physical connections coming to the house – telephone lines, cable lines, etc. – wonderful avenues of electronic data.
Boats don’t… it is just that simple. Cut the cord? Heck we ain’t got a cord to cut!
Television on a boat can be had two ways: through a fancy satellite TV dish thing that can track the signal regardless of the movement of the boat OR a cellular hotspot providing internet access. Any of you folks that use your phone for everything have probably run into the limitations of “unlimited” phone data plans. Additionally, cell signal doesn’t carry very far offshore. The original owners of our boat did a terrific job in outfitting her with great systems. In our case, yes, one of those fancy satellite dish things with a dome to protect the working parts from the weather. The selling couple assured us ours worked with DirecTV. After much consideration and accepting that Todd’s lifelong frustrations with AT&T would continue, we thought we were all set. Unfortunately, fancy satellite TV dish things on a boat have an expiration date, technological obsolescence. Ours was dead and logically located where? At the very top of the boat. Solution? Tear the entire boat apart to install a new one. Boats might appear to have walls in which to hide things like wires, similar to a house, but no, remember it’s a boat. Ceiling panels and hidey holes behind cabinetry, seating, appliances and drawers are the norm.
Meanwhile, back inside the salon and galley, for several days, the boat was a project zone, not for the faint of heart.
Success! Whatrwewatching?
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