[Paul Elliott]

Nick,

No doubt you have found the solution that makes the most sense for you. I've not had as good luck with Airmail, but I have to admit that I've not used it much lately, except to occasionally make sure that I can still make it work should I need to.

I'm not a cruiser, so my annual data needs are limited to a couple months of summer sailing. I am just suggesting that anyone considering the costs of the different options look at the numbers. I'm not suggesting that there is one correct answer, by the way. Example:

SSB/Pactor
SSB Radio: $1200 (this is for the Icom 700 Pro. you can spend more)
Antenna Tuner: $500 (really nice to have, but you can do without)
Pactor modem: $1400 (slightly less if you don't get the radio-control capability)

This adds up to $3100, and we still need an antenna. This can be almost free, or can require a new backstay plus insulators. And don't forget your ground system. Bottom line: you can spend a little less or a lot more.

Iridium
Handset and "data kit": $1850
External antenna and cable: $400
Total equipment: $2250

If you pay someone to install the equipment, the SSB install will probably be more labor-intensive.

Now you have your subscriptions and airtime costs:

Winlink (amateur radio): Free, and free.
Sailmail: $250/year, free (but airtime usage should be kept below 90 minutes per week.)
Satphone: $240/year (XGate), $700 for 500 minutes, $4888 for 5000 minutes.

With these numbers (which are approximate) you can make your decision. For small amounts of annual use, the satphone isn't a bad choice. If you use a lot of airtime, SSB starts looking really good.

Of course there are many non-financial factors you will want to consider, but that's a topic for separate discussion. Cost is only one of the factors you should be considering. How much you weight it is up to you.

By the way, you can get gribs and compressed wxfax graphics via Saildocs, and you don't even have to be a Sailmail member.