[hemilis]

Barnabas, thank you for stopping and helping those folks out.

[hemilis]

I think Google is a bully. Either play their game or your organic rankings will suffer. That is unless you pay them to increase your rankings. It definitely is good to know, as you say, who your visitors are and what are they interested in. Very helpful to develop attractive and pertinent content. So keeping the analytics and ditching the Google bully is, in my opinion, a great idea.

[hemilis]

Thank you all very much for the inputs. I’m no stranger to snotty Gulf of America weather but that was in my 26.6′ offshore boat. I’m now learning how to keep the bow up in my BayStealth and quarter the big ones. Windfinder and Windy are my best friends. But what about the Jourdan river up to say IH-10 or Bayou Caddy? They would be protected from the wind but holding fish is a different story. Wolf River is straight across the Bay from the Jourdan but I’m told by the locals to be careful navigating there. The man made Trappani reef is that way as well. There is also the causeway to the Pass and the railroad trestle. But as I have learned in Devin’s course materials, it is all about the wind.

[hemilis]

For someone trying to re-learn inshore fishing, this is excellent information. Thank you for sharing. I am actually learning the vernacular: FC=fluorocarbon, Marker 54: is a brand of tackle, not a place; 4 horseman: is a brand of popping cork etc…. I appreciate the lessons.

[hemilis]

Devin, after thinking about it please do get a functioning StarLink setup. The LAFBElite community needs to hear from you no matter what or where you are!!! That’s not pressure or anything!!!

Floating in the ocean somewhere, in the dark of the night, with 5-7′ seas– perish the thought.

[hemilis]

In my off shore boat I had an InReach, EPIRB, three VHF’s one of which handheld and waterproof. All three were capable of Distress Signal Calling. A number of times my radios relayed a DSC call to the Coast Guard. So please if you have a DSC capable radio on your boat, please turn it on for no other reason than to possibly relay a DSC call. Turn the volume down so it doesn’t make a lot of noise. And a satellite phone. Except for DSC relays, I never had to use any of them except for recreational use. I sold my off shore boat and now have a 22.5′ bay boat. I now keep a small personal EPIRB in my pocket when I go out. After the initial purchase price, no subscription. Battery replacement to me isn’t that big of an expense for 5 years worth of use. In a personal emergency offshore, I would stack rank the most desirable to have (for me): my epirb in my pocket. My waterproof handheld vhf with dsc. Maybe the InReach but I found it difficult to use and came with a subscription. The SOS function is easily replaced with a good personal EPRIB that has no monthly. My sat phone, water proof but catching a passing satellite sometimes takes a bit of time. I further suggest a flashing strobe and a small container of dye. Both of which will help the guys in the helo locate you.

[hemilis]

Awesome! I appreciate all of the responses. Copernicus looks very interesting. Thank you.

[hemilis]

I asked Microsoft’s AI product, CoPilot, for an alternative and this is what CoPilot had to say:

NASA Worldview

I do not have enough experience with using satellite imagery to know if this is a good thing or not. Maybe someone could review it and post a response.

[hemilis]

Thanks for the suggested alternatives. The technology that is available today is stunning. And props to Devin for teaching me how to use an image from a satellite hundreds of miles above the earth to plan a fishing trip to the Mississippi sound.

[hemilis]

I use Microsoft’s CoPilot a lot not so much for fishing but for coding help. CoPilot is easily accessible in a Windows 11 device. ChatGPT is another good one. Regardless of what you use, I suggest that you just type in the question that you are wondering about in your own words. Don’t worry about grammar or “tricks”. AI is extremely well trained (smart) and think of it as a conversation and not just a one shot has to be right the first time query. This is a little different from using search engines. The AI engine will start asking you questions to drill down to what you are looking for. There really isn’t any magic other than typing in a response.

[hemilis]

Oh my, thank you!