I've bought what I hope is an important safety and communications device for Robin. It will be mailed today in Maine, and when it arrives, I'll know whether it was a good investment.
It is a single sideband radio. With it, one can communicate at sea anyplace in the world. This particular one was bought by our friend, Rusty Duym, for this year's edition of the Bermuda One-Two race. Rusty was hoping to upgrade his Cal 30 Williwaw.
Rusty died last winter suddenly, and his brother, Tom, took on the job of disposing of Rusty's sailing gear. We were lucky to get Rusty's radio, and it will be a nice reminder onboard Robin of a decent person.
The particular unit is an Icom 718. We paid about one-fifth the brand new price. I'll have to hire someone with electronics knowledge to install it. I wasn't planning on such a major upgrade, but I decided it would be foolish to pass up the chance to make Robin safer.
With a future additional expense, this radio will enable us to send and receive email from any location, certainly an invaluable asset.