In August 2026 Starlink killed Global Roam and put a 30-day clock on roaming. Three weeks later, after the cruising fleet made a proper noise about it, they launched Personal Maritime: US$185 a month, unlimited data inside 12 nm of any coast, no clock, for private boats up to 60 ft. Good news, with a catch. From 27 September every gig beyond 12 nm costs US$6, on the new plan and on Roam alike. So the sum changed, and so did this pack. We built it in August to beat the 30-day clock and sold it for US$29. Starlink has now solved most of that problem itself, and we're not going to sell you a fix for something that's been fixed. The rebuilt Playbook is free. Put your email in below and it's yours.

We wrote the free explainers on what changed, the workarounds and the Personal Maritime plan. Those give you the picture. The Playbook turns it into your plan: a plan picker, the application checklist, and worksheets that take your actual route, your actual crew and your actual account, and get you a season where the dish never goes dark and the passage data bill never surprises you.

What's in the playbook

  • The Plan PickerFour questions about your boat and your season, one plan out: Roam, Personal Maritime, Priority months, or a mix. Drawn as a tree you can follow with a finger. No more re-reading forum threads at midnight.
  • Getting onto Personal MaritimeThe support-ticket application step by step: the papers, what to put in the ticket, the two questions to ask in writing, and the one rule (keep Roam live until it's confirmed). Plus the localisation checklist for boats staying on Roam.
  • The Season SequencerLay your season over the 12 nm line, leg by leg, and see which passages cost money and roughly how much. With a 30-day version for Roam boats.
  • The Ocean Data Cost SheetLight, normal and heavy crews priced per passage, the 11 GB rule that decides between Ocean Mode and a Priority month, and the pre-departure list that keeps the number down.
  • The Cut-off Day RunbookThrottled or cut, inside or outside 12 nm, what to do in order. Written to be printed and used with no internet, which is sort of the point.
  • The Backup Comms ChecklistThe Iridium-and-paper layer every offshore boat needed anyway. What's essential, what's just for show, and what we actually carry.

Free · for your email address · updates included

An 18-page illustrated PDF, version 2: fill-in worksheets, a drawn plan picker, a season timeline, a passage cost chart and a two-column cut-off runbook built to be printed and used with no internet. When Starlink changes the rules again, we'll email you the revised version. They changed them twice in the month we wrote it.

You'll join the crew's occasional email list: passages, islands, and the next Starlink update. Unsubscribe any time.

Why it's free

Because the problem it was built to solve mostly went away. In August, keeping a dish alive through a Pacific season was a genuine puzzle with real money riding on it, and a $29 pack that kept solving it every time Starlink moved was fair value. Personal Maritime turned the puzzle into a support ticket and a sum. What's left is still worth having: the plan picker, the application checklist, the passage data maths and the runbooks. It's just not worth charging you for, and we'd rather you had it and trusted us than paid for it and wondered why. If you bought version 1, you already have version 2 in your download link, and if you'd like your $29 back now that it's free, email us and it's done.

Questions we get asked

Is this about breaking Starlink's rules?

No, the opposite. Every strategy in the Playbook uses Starlink's own plans, products and account options the way they're meant to be used. Nobody needs to cheat. The options are just confusing, the stakes are high, and the good info is scattered across a hundred forum threads. We've done the sorting for you.

What happens when Starlink changes everything again?

They will. They did it twice in a month in 2026, and this is already the second version of the pack because of it. When the rules move again we re-test the levers, revise the worksheets and email the list the new version. That's the whole reason we ask for an email address.

I'm not in the Pacific — is it still relevant?

Yes. Personal Maritime, the 12 nm line, the 30-day clock and the localisation process all work the same in the Caribbean, the Med or Southeast Asia. Our examples are Pacific because that's where we sail, but the method goes anywhere.

I bought version 1. What happens now?

Your download link already serves version 2, rebuilt around Personal Maritime. And since the pack is now free, email us and we'll refund your $29, no questions asked. We're cruisers, and our name around the anchorage is worth a fair bit more than that to us.

Keep reading free: what changed in August 2026, the four levers explained, the Personal Maritime plan and the $6 a gig catch, and connecting PredictWind through Starlink. Buying a boat as well as a dish? There's a Buyer's Pack for that one too.