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.

A friend of mine had to fit a Yellowbrick for the last AZAB. I was able to follow his progress on the tracker map, and update him on the positions of the boats around him. I could also see a GRIB style wind overlay, and could advise him of what weather was about to reach him. I wish someone could do that for me, sometimes - but not often enough to want to do all that 's necessary to download GRIBs myself in mid- ocean. I don 't need to talk to anyone from mid-ocean, either, so an Iridium phone is overkill, and not the right device for me.