XGate or SailMail Email through sat phone

[SV Demeter]

We have an iridium 9555 sat phone which we intend to use exclusively on passages and I have figured out how to get the weather info from it using viewfax for no additional charges beyond the air time on the phone. Im now considering the ability to send and recieve very limited email via the sat phone and trying to decide if it is even worth it to me? The two methods Im currently looking at for effeciently getting email through the sat phone are x-gate and sailmail. Sailmail looks to be $250 per year and x-gate is $240 per year plus a $59 activation fee. Im trying to decide if its really worth spending the $250 or more per year for the ability to get compressed email when on passage, when I dont really expect to be on passage that often. Am I missing some benefits or other more affordable means of getting basic emails through the sat phone? PLease educate me.

[sv Shearwater]

We used that phone with XGate and the Optimizer for our trip across the Atlantic this summer. It worked amazingly well. We were able to get wx, gribs, and send/receive emails everyday. I don't know various speeds of different options, but I'd get the fastest option you can. Airtime charges will offset up front cost in a hurry.

[SV Demeter]

Originally Posted by sv Shearwater

We used that phone with XGate and the Optimizer for our trip across the Atlantic this summer. It worked amazingly well. We were able to get wx, gribs, and send/receive emails everyday. I don't know various speeds of different options, but I'd get the fastest option you can. Airtime charges will offset up front cost in a hurry.

Thanks Shearwater. With viewfax (free) and the 9555 I can get all the wx and gribs I want in a compressed format that was originally set up for SSB. With SSB/Pactor's narrow bandwith viewfax makes it pretty efficient for iridium. Would not be worth it for me to pay for the weatehr component.

Im trying to decide on whether its worth it for me to spend the $250+ per year to compress emails when on a passage? We arent crossing an ocean but are doing the passage from Annapolis to the BVI and then a few passages within the eastern caribbean. At this point Im thinking I can live without email since I can send and recieve txt on the sat phone and I can get the weather info Im concerned with. Im just was wondering if there was something I was maybe missing that would make it more attractive?

Sailmail looks like it would cost $250 per year and x-gate is $240 per year pls a $60 activation fee so $300 for year 1, do I have this right?