I 'ver just seen the Yellowbrick advertisement in the latest FF, so I looked at their website. It seems to have come of age. No longer a Big Yellow Brick, but a small, rugged device with minimal power consumption, and a sensible purchase price, monthly fee and usage structure. It would give me what I 'm looking for - the ability to keep the folks back home aware of my position, and to send and receive SMS-style messages, when out of range of 3G.
I 'm tempted.
Is anyone using one?
David.

Simon,
I 'll try for Hilo. I like it there. 6 knots is a bit optimistic! I 'll be on the wind until 10S, doing 4 to 5 knots in 10 knots of wind.
Your example counted 51 characters, including spaces. Keep under 50, and we 'll be fine. All I really need is changes of wind direction over 10 degrees, but the thundery disturbances that come through, upsetting everything, may not register on a prediction program. Doesn 't matter, all I need to see is the big changes, that would necessitate a change of strategy. If the weather seems to be in steady state, the only reason for sending a message is for the purpose of comparing it against what I actually get. Anyway, let 's try a 48hr outlook for a start.
David.