Laptop Trials and Tribulations
Where Next?
Bob Williams
Tue 16 Sep 2025 11:14
Wind: NE, F4 moderate breeze
Sea: rippled Swell: negligible
Weather: clear, mild
Yesterday, as promised, I bought a shiny new laptop. Once safely back on board (having negotiated a ladder on the jetty some five meters high to make my way with arms full of expensive and vulnerable electronics into Sylph's not so stable little dinghy ) I immediately set to work getting the new equipment adapted to being fit for its intended purpose as part of Sylph's communications and navigation kit. I downloaded and updated various bits of software, deleted superfluous Microsoft rubbish, and generally adapted the laptop for its new nautical habitat. By early evening I was ready to connect it to the satellite phone and try out one of its main functions, namely long range email communications. I connected the phone via its USB cable and went to click on the dial-up connection . but where was it? Oh, no! More research . the new laptop apparently did not support a dial-up connection. After a lot more digging around through manuals and online help, I was stumped. I turned in for the night feeling old, depressed with the thought that modern technology was leaving me behind.
In the morning, after a fitful sleep worrying about my small problems, I phoned a tech savvy younger friend who at least would be able to offer me a sympathetic ear and perhaps could offer guidance to what I might do next. This turned out to be a good move. While Chris had no immediate solution, he connected me with an IT friend who guided me through the set-up process. In the end it turned out that my problem was very simple. Microsoft in their infinite wisdom had reconfigured the 'Setup' menu so that making a dial-up connection required clicking through several non-intuitive (at least to me) menu items. However, once that was done, the connection process was much the same as with the previous iteration of the Windows operating system. Needless to say, come this afternoon I was much happier with the world, older than yesterday but not so left behind.
The forecast for tomorrow remains as previously reported: N'lies until late afternoon when the wind shifts into the South for about 24 hours. The plan therefore remains to leave as soon as the North wind eases sufficiently for us to start making our way against it without too much discomfort, with a view to making an offing for when the wind shifts into the South, and thus to be able to make the most of the brief period of favourable winds. With a little luck, and probably a bit of motoring, I hope to be able to make Southport before the wind swings back into the North and freshens with gusto.
All is well.