Also you can connect from many placed with just a cell phone as I'm doing
now. In the last few weeks I've connected from Texas, Virginia, Missouri,
California, Washington, Louisiana and now Alabama. Try T-Mobile or one of
the other good services with this feature. Do not use Cingular. Also if
you go outside the USA a lot (this part for USA folks of course) get the
"world phone" feature which allows you to switch to the local cell phone
system by changing frequency. There are roaming charges however.

M.



"FamilySailor" wrote in message
...
Okay, I may be stupid (that is relative), but under the "Where be ye" post
I
was under the impression, some sailors here are cruising and have no port.
Is it possible to read the posts and reply to sailing.asa while cruising.
I
thought you had to be online to access news groups. If there is some new
technology, please educate me. If so I gotta get connected!

Sea Yawl,
John "26 Again"

Okay, I may be stupid (that is relative), but under the "Where be ye" post I
was under the impression, some sailors here are cruising and have no port.
Is it possible to read the posts and reply to sailing.asa while cruising. I
thought you had to be online to access news groups. If there is some new
technology, please educate me. If so I gotta get connected!

Sea Yawl,
John "26 Again"

It's called "google", if you have any account you can post messages from
just about anywhere in the world, generally most folks wait till they get
ashore and post from an internet cafe. A while back we tried using
Globalstar and Iridium to do e-mail from the Atlantic but didn't have much
luck, the satellites only stay in the window for about 15 minutes. Glancing
at the authors of the posts in that particular thread I think 98% of them
are posting from terra firma.
John Cairns
"FamilySailor" wrote in message
...
Okay, I may be stupid (that is relative), but under the "Where be ye" post
I
was under the impression, some sailors here are cruising and have no port.
Is it possible to read the posts and reply to sailing.asa while cruising.
I
thought you had to be online to access news groups. If there is some new
technology, please educate me. If so I gotta get connected!

Sea Yawl,
John "26 Again"

If you're talking about posting underway, there are several
programs that would probably let you do it via SSB.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"FamilySailor" wrote in message
...
Okay, I may be stupid (that is relative), but under the "Where be ye" post
I
was under the impression, some sailors here are cruising and have no port.
Is it possible to read the posts and reply to sailing.asa while cruising.
I
thought you had to be online to access news groups. If there is some new
technology, please educate me. If so I gotta get connected!

Sea Yawl,
John "26 Again"

If you're talking about posting underway, there are several
programs that would probably let you do it via SSB.

I have investigated several SSB options, but they seem slow and based on
such old technology. I know they have email, but was not sure if they would
work for News group posting like here. I was hoping there was some new
technology available that would allow me to download all the new messages in
this group, say...... while the 1st mate is on her wheel watch while we are
in the middle Of the Gulf of Mexico heading to Cancun for the winter. And
keep family and friends posted and maybe even see satellite images and
forecasts. Maybe by the time we are ready and able to cruise they will have
the technology ready for me.

FamilySailor wrote:
If you're talking about posting underway, there are several
programs that would probably let you do it via SSB.


I have investigated several SSB options, but they seem slow and based on
such old technology. I know they have email, but was not sure if they would
work for News group posting like here. I was hoping there was some new
technology available that would allow me to download all the new messages in
this group, say...... while the 1st mate is on her wheel watch while we are
in the middle Of the Gulf of Mexico heading to Cancun for the winter. And
keep family and friends posted and maybe even see satellite images and
forecasts. Maybe by the time we are ready and able to cruise they will have
the technology ready for me.

in your Reinel 26'?


"FamilySailor" wrote in message
...
If you're talking about posting underway, there are several
programs that would probably let you do it via SSB.

I have investigated several SSB options, but they seem slow and based on
such old technology. I know they have email, but was not sure if they
would
work for News group posting like here. I was hoping there was some new
technology available that would allow me to download all the new messages
in
this group, say...... while the 1st mate is on her wheel watch while we
are
in the middle Of the Gulf of Mexico heading to Cancun for the winter. And
keep family and friends posted and maybe even see satellite images and
forecasts. Maybe by the time we are ready and able to cruise they will
have
the technology ready for me.

With a SSB radio and a Pactor III you can get weatherfax, text weather
reports, and satellite images from NMG, New Orleans. Sailmail provides
email ($250/yr fee) or Airmail (free)for hams with a general or better
ticket. With Airmail, you can also send position reports so people can
see where your boat is located ( http//:winlink.org ). Both are limited
to an average of 10 min/day. Pactor III is about 3kb. A one page email
is about 10k characters. Netnews forums have far to much garbage to
download by SSB. Us it to communicate with only those you share your
email address with. Use internet cafes for netnews when in port.
krj
s/v Isle Escape


FamilySailor wrote:

If you're talking about posting underway, there are several
programs that would probably let you do it via SSB.


I have investigated several SSB options, but they seem slow and based on
such old technology. I know they have email, but was not sure if they would
work for News group posting like here. I was hoping there was some new
technology available that would allow me to download all the new messages in
this group, say...... while the 1st mate is on her wheel watch while we are
in the middle Of the Gulf of Mexico heading to Cancun for the winter. And
keep family and friends posted and maybe even see satellite images and
forecasts. Maybe by the time we are ready and able to cruise they will have
the technology ready for me.

Decided against the Reinel. I would go in my South Coast 26'A (
http://24.175.244.109/sailing/26again/ ) maybe, but really just want to do a
little coastal sailing with her. Although SC 26'A have sailed across the
Gulf many times from Galveston. Bigger boat for retirement is the plan. I
would take the SC 26'A to Florida via trailer and sail to the Bahama's on a
good weather window and maybe through the Keys. Having a 1,400 lb
retractable keel will get you off an unexpected sandbar in about 60 seconds,
just hit a button and raise it a foot or two.

Happy Sails
John "26 Again"

I guess the technology is not there or too expansive if it is. I know they
have palm pilots that surf the net, but off shore they are probabily out of
the cell network or what ever they use.