On Fri, 21 Mar 2008 11:27:41 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

Airmail is US $250/yr these days. A ham license is a nice thing in
and of itself. The wx and safety features can be good but mostly I
enjoy the connections it makes between people.

Airmail (with a ham license) is still quite free, use it all the time.
I believe you are thinking of Sailmail which operates as sort of a
co-operative on commercial frequencies.

http://www.sailmail.com/