Paul Arden | Tuesday, 23 January 2024
When I first started Sexyloops, mobile internet speed was 7.8Kb/s. I used to upload front pages from the top of a hill, because it drained the car battery flat and I would bump start the car back down again. The tagline in those days was “Sexyloops – coming from a hilltop near you!”
I now have faster Internet on the Battleship than I do at “home.”
I had to think quite hard before installing satellite internet. One of the attractions to my outdoor fly fishing life is getting offline. For a long time I got online either once or twice per week. And for you kids out there, who don’t know what it’s like to be offline: it is freedom!
However, since my online Zoom flycasting coaching really took off last year, I’ve had fairly poor fishing. There is simply too much travel time on the lake to the best fishing zones. And to be honest, parking the boat in one of three 4G locations, with the most “remote” of these being only 10km from the public jetty, is not really how I want to be living. It’s “almost in the jungle but not quite.”
Starlink became available in Malaysia last July. It’s a no-brainer. Slightly more complicated in my case, because I need two more solar panels, another deep cycle battery (200Ah), yet another solar charge controller and an inverter to operate it. It has cost me £750 to set everything up and it costs 150USD/monthly for the unlimited mobile plan.
That’s not particularly cheap according to Lars, but it’s life changing according to Paul. It opens up the lake again properly and I can camp where I want to fish and not be restricted to 4G internet locations. Most of the lake I fish has no phone/cell coverage at all.
It also means that I can take on a few more flycasting students. But available places are now extremely limited, because come US Springtime, I’m going to be flat out busy. Rates are now $800 for 10 lessons. My students keep telling me that I need to put my rates up. Which is unusual, but I do listen to them!
Ultimately I’m going to end up charging quite a lot more I think. I’ve looked into online triathlon coaching and their rates start at twice what I’m charging. And very shortly I’m going to be maxed out. I don’t want to price people out but I think that the most I can personally handle in one year is only 50 students.
I’m looking at some options here going forwards. It’s not inconceivable that I coach other coaches to deliver a Sexyloops lesson or two.
It’s funny, I know where I want to take certain things – Sexyloops, guiding, fishing – but on this I haven’t decided yet. There is only so much work that I want to do in life!! I am not here to work; I am here to to fish :)))
I have to say though; it’s very tempting. In year 2000, when I was travelling around Thailand, I had an idea that I thought would transform fly casting and fishing coaching. And I’ve realised, for some time now, that this particular doorway has now opened where I can actually make that happen.
It seems that life, or at least my life, is not about making decisions. Instead it’s about having ideas/thoughts/dreams and then 25 years later, when I’ve got my sights set on something else, it suddenly appears and says “let’s go!”
Bizarre. I just wish I had more hours in a day. Or alternatively 15 lifetimes. No hang on, an infinite number of lifetimes. There has to be fishing in other worlds too, right?
(Preparing for a night time launch. The new starship vaporiser lamp has detected a stump and is preparing to neutralise)
Anyway, I have a couple of guests here for the next three days. I have to tie a couple of flies, fix the throttle extension on my 30 Yamaha, and cook a feast of potatoes.
This is a returning guest who has been here many times before. So it’s not guiding but instead renting the Ronan and camping in the Battleship. We stay in touch with walkie-talkies and I get to fish too. Fantastic! And with the 3 day Spring Clean I’ve just done, it actually looks liveable and not just lived-in.
Have a great week!
Cheers, Paul
"Sexyloops - coming from a star system near you". 