Hi Doug: I would prioritize as follows:

1-Use Winlink (ham) for most e-mail, weather downloads, and related.

2- Have a good system for compacting your photos–like Adobe Photoshop tools for making images ready for the web which will allow you to send small images with Winlink.

3-For Internet Cafe usage and larger files to send home (or recieve from home) the trade off comes down to time vs. monthly costs. If you can afford the monthly fees of the Inernet only providers–usually $10 or so a month, you will get faster access than with the free services like Hotmail. Even quicker are the large services like AOL, Earthlink, etc. provided they have free access from the areas you will be cruising. If they charge–some used to do this–when you are away from home and using foreign phone lines for direct access, then the free Internet systems are better. Steve

Hi Ed–I’m replying from BEOWULF, enroute between the BVI and Panama (using Globalstar). I think for long term/distance cruising I’d choose SSB as it can function as a fax, for e-mail with SailMail or Winlink, and connects you to other boats on a passage and/or the various maritime ham nets. Closer to home, Globalstar, at the current price of as low as $450 and a buck/minute makes a lot of sense and is easier to use. Re: sailing instruments, not sure which are best these days. We’ve always fitted B and G to the boats we’ve built because we needed the performance processor which came with their system for design evaluation. Absent that issue, I’d go with the least expensive system which had a reputation for reliability, and which had a NEMA 183 output. Steve

Hi Mark: We used a Globalstar phone last spring and it was great. Fast connection times and we were able to download .grb files, with the 4.5 day weather forecasts in a two minute session. Globalstar coverage is somewhat limited, but they do cover most of Mexico and the Caribbean. We’ve got both a Globalstar and Iridium phone to test in November, and results will be up on SetSail. For more data on Iridium check out the reports by Brian Savage and Colleen Ryan. Regards–Steve Dashew

For articles from other SetSail contributors on Communications at Sea, click here.

Been following the same developments here. I know there are a bunch of handsets laying around and I’ll bet they offer them a lot cheaper at some point. Also, rates are now supposed to be $1.50/minute from anywhere. However, we did not find the service very satisfactory a year and a half ago when we tried it, so we are planning to wait and see how things shake out.–Steve

Hi Candace: The Globalstar survivability issue is a problem–they have better service than Iridium but I doubt they will find enough clients to remain solvent with the original capital base–however, the phones can be had for around $600–and for time-to-time usage, it is probably worthwhile. However, I doubt they have coverage from the E. Atlantic Islands to the Caribb and I would prefer to have two systems of communication.–Steve

Another Reader had this to say:

Steve, Linda Your case for Globalstar is a good one but you might have pointed out that the company’s financial position is very shaky and it may well go belly up. Also Globalstar’s coverage is far from global–vast areas of ocean are not covered. Iridium, on the other hand, has been rescued (by the Pentagon) and will be viable for at least three years. It has complete global coverage. The data rate is a quarter than of Globalstar at the moment but Iridium hope to have it up to Globalstar’s rate by the end of the year. Costs are comparable. $20 a month and $1.50 a min for Iridium $24.95 and $1.49 a minute for Globalstar. You can get an old model refurbished Iridium phone for less than $600–the new models are about $1400 I think. Drop-out problems are less with the new phones. Not only do these phones compare more than favorably with Inmarsat but they also compare favorable with Pinoak et al. There is a chance I will have to take my Sadler 34 from Boston to Falmouth in September. I will be taking my Iridium with me. Great site. Andrew M

Hi Bernard: Our own experience is that you do not need a marinized computer on the boat. Our first computer, many years ago, was a Radio Shack TRS 80. We then went to a DEC Rainbow, then a HP MSDOS machine, have had Apple G4s on board, and more recently a variety of portables (HP, Gateway, Sony). All of these have been normal land-based machines and we have not had any problems. Regards, Steve Dashew

Hi Alexander: Easy answer. With aluminum construction you have a good built-in lightning system and antenna ground. While on our fiberglass boats we go to a lot of work to provide special lightning grounds below the mast(s), with metal we allow the entire hull to do the job.

Same for antenna grounds for SSB (or any electronics). The hull is an excellent ground plane (for fiberglass we laminate in a copper screen). But, you need to use a large capacitor in all of the electronic ground wires, to maintain your isolation from the batteries. The capacitor allows RF energy, which you are grounding, to pass, but prevents DC current from getting to the hull. More details on this are in our Offshore Cruising Encyclopedia. Regards – Steve

Hi Frank: I have no experience with SGC’s current equipment, so I cannot render an opinion. What I can tell you is based on the way they mishandled the service on our SGC, and then refused any responsibility for what they had done wrong, I would never use any of their equipment again. You might check www.sailmail.com for up to date suggestions on radios which seem to work well for e-mail. Steve

Hi Downing: Any amateur radio supply store, or magazine, will have dipole antenna or the bits to make up one. Length varies with the frequency. For example, for 20 meter band you need a 32′ antenna. Details are in our Offshore Cruising Ency. Steve

Hi George: Your ham only information is not correct. The higher marine frequencies, like 12, and 16 megs will give you good range. However, these are limited in how many channels you have to use and there are a lot of vessels using them–so ham is better in that you have an entire range of frequencies within which you can look for a clear spot. Although it is not legal, a lot of cruisers use ham radios for both ham and marine SSB frequencies. Steve