
Granted, it took some sweat to switch out the units & do the repairs, but the oncoming new guests were never the wiser.

The unit was overnighted by air from California to Alaska… it awaited the Captain as we pulled into harbor. Several calls were made (to & fro) to tool replacements… sizing questions… measurements…a trek in finding the right man, with the right talent (with the time on his hands) to fix the problem. That is a situation no Captain or boarding guest takes pleasure in greeting.

The tooling of a new pulley, housing, and bow re-enforcement would take approximately four days, which was two days beyond our re-docking and the entry of a new group which had chartered the boat. The only solution was to saw the chain, place a bouy on it, & hope for recovery on the next trip out. The tremendous force placed upon the pulley strained the heavy chain… so strained that it busted and snapped the pulley at the bow… also damaged the bow. Somehow, it had wrenched itself in the depths below & no amount of strain, backing up, or re-positioning, could loosen the grip. Yes, we pulled up shrimp the next day… but what wouldn’t come up was the anchor. The captain lowered the anchor via remote switches & we set our sights on harvesting shrimp. It happened that we anchored in a “no one will ever find it” cove for the night. But the most immediately rewarding benefit of the phone was provided by life’s circumstances. Regardless of movement or speed, there was no hesitation in the service, nor did we (at any time) say “Hello! Hello! Can you hear me?” as is commonplace with cell phones.

The clarity of the phone was outstanding. We brought our Globalstar phone and from anywhere, at anytime, the phone was used for a variety of purposes (mostly for daily business decisions, family contact, etc). We set off for Alaska, the Juneau area, & boarded an 85′ charter boat. And that’s exactly where we headed–> remote, remote, remote. The captain has decades of experience in Alaskan waters and can navigate even the most remote areas.
