Nick Jaffe just cleared customs in Coffs Harbour after a 2 year solo sail from Europe. Apart from being an accomplished sailor, Nick also worked out how to make the Internet work for him along the way.
And not just by getting regular weather reports via a Satellite…
Check out his Website, Blog, his Flickr photostream, his Video and his Tweets. And of course, there is a tracking page.Well done, Nick!
I guess it had to be a 27 year old to show us how it’s done…
by David McKay
Andrea and I sailed our 48 foot steel Van de Stadt yacht "Diomedea" amongst the islands of the South Pacific during the winter of 2008. After leaving Sydney to cross the Tasman Sea in April, Diomedea arrived in Opua, Bay of Islands where we met John and Lyn Martin, directors of the Island Cruising Association. We had joined the ICA so that we could participate in a rally from New Zealand to Tonga in May.
We were provided with a wealth of information and support prior to departure from Opua, including seminars on weather, safety, passage making, boat preparation and so forth. Membership of ICA also provided significant discounts on chandlery and other purchases. Our clearance out of NZ was made very easy and quick. Duty free food, alcohol and fuel purchases were facilitated.
by David McKay
[Feb 2009 -This is an updated version of of the item originally published in November 2008]
Andrea and I have just completed a six month cruise through the south west Pacific Ocean in "Diomedea", our 48 foot steel Van de Stadt. We sailed from Sydney to New Zealand and then onto Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia as part of the Island Cruising Association Pacific Circuit rally. We returned to Australia. During that time we were able to use a variety of communication mediums to keep in touch with those nearby and those far away.
Radio and Satphone
We maintained a blog, which was created using either email or internet. About 99% of the time it was done by email as internet access was very infrequent.
Email entries can be done anywhere and anytime so long as you have either HF/SSB radio with Pactor modem and computer, or, as we did, Iridium satellite phone and computer. One can upload text easily via email but pictures are much slower and more expensive on the satphone. We found the Iridium to be excellent. 
The observant among visitors to this site will have seen the email subscription option in the right hand column. 
Good to see Snark VII set off from Hyeres on the French Riviera to the U.K. Mark is using his Blackberry to log position reports while he is near the coast. Follow their progress here or of course by entering "Snark vii" into the search box on the front page.
