The idea behind our communication concept is safety, reliability and simplicity.

For safety reason, the main communication devices have individual antennas and power supplies with redundancy, capable of standing alone as safety and distress communication.

Some examples on redundancy:

• The main VHF works on the onboard 12V system, the handheld VHF's have their own NiMH and Li-batteries, while the SSB has its own and exclusive 24V system onboard only dedicated for this vital safety equipment.
• The SSB can both run on the 24V as well as on the onboard 230V system.
• The main VHF has the mast-top antenna as its prime antenna, while the MAS-1 antenna on the radar pole - normally used as the DSC antenna - also acts as an emergency antenna for the VHF.
• Both the main VHF at the Nav-Station, as well as the secondary waterproof handset in the cockpit, have DSC emergency buttons connected to the on board GPS.
• The same applies to the GMDSS approved SSB, which also has its DSC-emergency button connected to the on board GPS.
• Safety and Distress messages can be sent not only by EPIRB and DSC, but also by Inmarsat C, which is a very reliable system.
• Via Inmarsat C we also receive navigational warnings, as well as weather information, in parallel to the NAVTEX system. NAVTEX works approx 300 nm from shore while Inmarsat C is global (70 deg N and S).

Main E-mail facility is Iridium for longer (text-) messages and small attachments. Secondary E-mail possibility is the simple, easy to use Inmarsat C system. For compression, filtration (only some attachments, such as GRIB-files go through) and SMTP-Port25 blocking (see below), we use Mailasail.

Close to shore we use GSM with GPRS, while onshore, we use our Macintosh with WiFi-capability (Wireless LAN or HotSpots), which is becoming increasingly popular in and around marinas.

A further E-mail facility could be esablished via short-wave: together with a PTC II by SCS, the SSB can also be used for E-mail if used together with Winlink 2000 or some similar E-mail provider. Here, E-mail can even be sent and received for free, if you have a HAM radio certificate. We have not yet installed a PCT II modem, but have only heard positive references from sailors using this free E-mail system.

Port25-Blocking

Some e-mail providers have a so called "Port 25 blocking". As long as the Internet provider and the E-mail provider are the same, it works, but if not, you will have problems sending e-mail. You can still receive emails, but not send any, since the SMTP-server stated in your e-mail programme (e.g. Microsoft Outlook) is being blocked.

The easiest way to solve this is by using Mailasail, see www.mailasail.com. They have a ready work-around, giving you a own e-mail account with filtration as well as a sofisticated data compressing software. If you plan to use Iridium, Globalstar, Thuraya or any other satellite system, I would consider using a compression software, which, at the same time, also provides an own SMTP-server, such as Mailasail.

If you do not use such a third party company, you need to make your own work-around, in other words using an SMTP-server that allows you to use it by authentication (username & passward). There are several SMTP-servers available that allow you to access it through authentication. We have had good experience by using the SMTP-server "mail.messagingengine.com" by Fastmail. By becoming a member of Fastmail (one-time cost: USD 14.95), you receive a user-name and a password to access their SMTP-server. See www.fastmail.fm.

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