Mike and Pat, Email afloat requires a little more thought and planning than ashore. However, about 80% of cruisers currently use E-mail on their journeys. The two most popular methods are Lap Top and Pocketmail. Other variations include Desk Top computers with cel phones and SSB and Palm. Also some boaters use local libraries to send and receive Email. With the Lap Top computer you must of course have a modem. Some marinas now provide dedicated phone lines for boaters to hook up their lap top and send and receive E-mail. Where marinas do not have a dedicated phone line, they do provide the use of a phone line "temporarily" to hook up and send and receive E-mail. In most cases access to the Internet is very limited and nearly impossible to get on. Therefore, you want to consider an Email service like Juno where all you do is send and receive Email and do not have to pay anything. Another option that is now becoming very popular is the Pocketmail. A small handheld device ($150) provides acoustical pickup to any phone. You pay for the service on a monthly basis. Check it out at www.pocketmail.com. One reason for its popularity is that you can dinghy in to any town or village with a pay phone and usually in less than a minute send and receive your Email via a "800" number. No need to beg a dockmaster to use a phone line. One disadvantage of Pocketmail is that you can not send or receive attachments. (On the other hand now that I think of it that may be an advantage - no chance for a virus via pocketmail and no long jokes from your sister forwarded for the 100th time). Bob Skipper Bob Publications Web page: Http://SkipperBob.home.att.net