Several recent rescues and catastrophes at sea have raised the question of what is the best means of communicating when crossing oceans. Some sailors are moving away from SSB/HF and toward Sat phone and texting services like IridiumGo and Yellow Brick Tracker. With the changes in technology and the advent of DSC and GMDSS, it raises the question of what are the best practices in communications at sea. If you have experience with the various pluses and minuses of the different technologies available, please weigh in with your observations here. We will at some time attempt to formulate a point of view based on the collective experience of our members.


There is an excellent thread on the value of SSB and the shortcomings of Sat Phone on the Forum here:
http://www.oceancruisingclub.org/index.php/occ-forum/electrics-electronics-and-radio/1288-ssb-radio-and-ssb-nets#2077

There is also a good thread on the IridiumGo here:
http://www.oceancruisingclub.org/index.php/occ-forum/wifi-modems-satellite/1068-iridium-go-for-125-mo-and-unlimited-data#2164

An excellent review of SSB/DSC here on Frank Singleton 's page based on an exhaustive review by Allan Riches of Brunei Bay Radio:
http://weather.mailasail.com/Franks-Weather/Long-Range-Communications

And the main page for GMDSS is here also compiled by Allan Riches:
http://weather.gmdss.org/

Vice Commodore, OCC