Satellite communication plays an increasingly important role for ocean sailors. Sending or receiving email or text messages or keeping your blog. In addition, down loading GRIB files or routing information becomes a piece of cake. Read More…

Zoals jullie weten zijn Joshua en Katia bezig met het avontuur van hun leven; de grootste oceaan ter wereld oversteken. Midden in de Pacific komen ze ineens een superjacht tegen. Een opvarende ervan blijkt zelfs Friese voorouders te hebben. Een ontmoeting volgt. Lees dit prachtige verhaal in de Vaarkrant. Het is zonder twijfel een van Joshua’s leukste blogs.

De stichting Maha Mata helpt in Bhaktapur.

Op dit moment zijn de voorbereidingen in volle gang voor het transport van materiaal tbv 50 shelters naar het zwaar getroffen Bhaktapur. Shelters en transport worden door Maha Mata betaald. De shelters zijn bestemd voor 50 gezinnen met een gehandicapt kind, die het zwaarst getroffen zijn.

Ook helpen? Stort uw bijdrage op rekening NL80 INGB 0000 0081 83 (BIC INGBNL2A ) ten name van stichting Maha Mata Nederland te Heenvliet. Doe dit a.u.b. onder vermelding van aardbeving. http://www.mahamata.nl/

Joshua van Eijndhoven en zijn vriendin Katia steken de Stille Oceaan over in hun jacht Hope. Maar de zaken zitten zwaar tegen. Er is nauwelijks wind en het fruit en de groenten raken op.

Lees hun verhaal in de Vaarkrant!

Thuraya launches the first satellite telephone with built-in GPS, Glonass and BeiDou. A satelliet telephone with a display as large as a smartphone: Thuraya XT PRO
The display is made of hardened Gorilla® glass. With a coverage area of two third of the globe the Thuraya XT-PRO is the most rugged satellite telephone.
Fully IP55 (jet water resistant) and IK05 (shockproof) rated, with extended battery life up to 7 hours talk and a standby Time of over 100 hours. It feature permits emails and web browsing accessible through a laptop PC with broadbands data speeds up to 60.15 Kbps.
Dimensions 128x53x17mm, weighing only 212g.

Delivered from stock exclusively at Xtreme Districts at the introduction price of € 945,- excl BTW/VAT.

Joshua and Katie zijn vertrokken uit Panama richting de stille oceaan. Volg hun blog.

The Himalayan Spring season is beginning, busy times!
It’s not all action, being an expedition leader. There are lot’s off things involved in organizing a climbing expedition. First off all you have to find expedition members, this might take over a year, then we have to get all the necessary Permits. When this is done we can start packing and finally the expedition members arrive and we can go on our way.
This year I will be leading an International group off climbers from 7 different countries to Mount Everest 8848m and Lhotse 8586m. In total we will be 10 members; with an additional 15 staff to support us on the mountain, but also in Base Camp. Our expedition will take around 55 days!

The last couple of weeks I have been busy checking equipment, I have to make sure that all the equipment I need is here and in working conditions. Some things I store here, other things are imported and have to be cleared through customs first. Finally when everything is here we will pitch all tents and pack them in 25kg loads. For a High Altitude expedition like Everest most expedition members will use Oxygen for their ascent. For a croup our size we are talking about 100 Oxygen cylinders! You are talking about hundreds of Kilos of gear!

A very important part of my equipment are my Sat Coms. This is our connection to the outside world and gives us updates about important things like weather. I find that Thuraya satellite equipment is most suitable for the Himalayas, because their Satellite is stationary and relatively at a high position. This makes it easy to shoot over big obstacles, like Mountains. I will have a communication tent at Base Camp where I run a full office. It has a laptop, Thuraya IP  data modem and a couple off Goal Zero solar generators .Solar Power is the most reliable energy source for me; fuel driven Generators simply don’t work well on these altitudes, because off the lack of Oxygen. Higher on the mountain I use a Tablet in a special sleeve from Snow Lizard

This sleeve makes my Ipad rugged and adds a considerate amount off battery life. Usually it will last my whole rotation above Base Camp without having to charge the battery once. Together with my Thuraya XT phone it’s the perfect lightweight system to receive small messages and update my website about our progress.

When all the “Hardware” is packed we will started packing the food. We will have to bring food for 55 days: Rice, Potatoes, Pasta, Fruit, meat, veggies and of course special freeze dried food for higher on the mountain. On top off this we need a considerable amount of fuel for cooking! All this food is packed in 60l airtight barrels that weigh around 25kg each. We have dozens of these barrel all marked with numbers and a pack list, so we can keep track where everything is. Also during the expedition we will get resupplies, mostly veggies and meat.

Roughly we have 3 tons of gear & Food packed now in 120, 25kg loads. Each load should weigh 25kg, because a porter will carry one load and if Yaks or other pack animals are available they can take 2: one on each side. First all the loads have to be flown by Air to Lukla airport at around 2800m, from here everything will go by food or pack animal in 7 days to Base Camp.
Basically Base Camp is one a big pile of rocks, so our staff will be busy making tent platforms for days before our team will arrive. Actually most of our staff is already in Base Camp, but the expedition members will not arrive for an other two weeks!

Please stay tuned for more news: you can follow our progress on www.arnoldcosterexpeditions.com

Greetings, Arnod Coster

Wereldzeiler Joshua van Eijndhoven was de afgelopen dagen even niet aan het wereldzeilen. Terwijl zijn vriendin Katia en hun boot Hope in Panama achterbleef, nam hij het vliegtuig naar Nederland voor een aantal afspraken. Hij bezocht ondermeer de Hiswa Read More…

When I venture into the wild, one of the main reasons I want to communicate is to share my experiences with the ones I love. Of course sending e-mails or texting are nice but a picture tells more than a thousand words. I am very satisfied with my Iridium Go as I use it for blogging, Facebook updates and Twitter updates including pictures. This week some insight on the do’s and don’ts for using the Iridium Go. Read More…

Ian Walker, skipper of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing in the 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race, spoke exclusively to Xtreme Districts ambassador Louay Habib.

Ian Walker, skipper of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing spoke exclusively to Cobham SATCOM about their focus on boat speed, which has been the telling factor in the race so far. Read More…