In 1969 the British held the first single handed, nonstop, around the world sailing race. Bernard Moitessier on Joshua was the clear leader on the leg from Cape Horn back to England. Somewhere in mid-Atlantic he decided that he couldn't handle the tumultuous welcome awaiting him at the finish line, so he turned his back to fame and glory and sailed to Cape of Good Hope and a quiet return to the South Pacific.

Besides being a superb sailor, this Frenchman, born in Vietnam, was also a provocative writer about his philosophy of a simple, natural life. His favorite means of communication at sea was to write out messages, roll them up in a 35mm film canister, hail a passing freighter, and shoot the canister aboard with a slingshot.

Boaters have come a long way in the past 35 years when it comes to communication. What's even more striking is the rate at which change is accelerating in this area. As I type this article at a Starbucks cafe and prepare to transmit it via WiFi, I imagine a whole new-new-thing technology is being designed, rolled out, and marketed.

For the past four years my favorite communications gadget has been PocketMail. A $100 gizmo and a $10-per-month service plan offer a host of e-mail communication services for my wandering lifestyle. PocketMail works through payphones, home or office phones, cell phones, satellite phones, or any Internet access at libraries or cafes. Here is how it works.

PocketMail Features
The gizmo itself is a small, easy-to-carry device similar to a pocket organizer with a 40-character by eight-line screen and a small two-finger keyboard (bigger than a thumb-based or cell phone keyboard and faster than Palm Pilot handwriting). My faithful unit is an early Sharp TM-20 model that is no longer made. The newer units are called Composers and sold directly by PocketMail <www.pocketmail.com>. The Composer has a bigger memory, more files, and works with many cell phones in addition to payphones. The company also sells a Back-Flip unit that attaches to a handheld PDA.

The main electronic features include an in box and out box, an address book for e-mail as well as other contact information, a storage area for notes and lists, and a calendar for scheduling and noting appointments and anniversaries. The address list, calendar and notes are easily transferred to a PC via a serial 9-pin cable and accompanying software. This makes it possible to backup and restore information to and from a PC.

Typically, one or more messages are composed and stored in the out box. Then a toll-free call is placed to PocketMail and the unit, is held over the telephone handset to match-up the transmitter and receiver pieces. A button is pushed, and miraculously e-mail messages are transmitted and received. The process is somewhat slow at a Stone-Age rate of 2400 baud - equivalent to about three to five normal-size e-mails per minute. For most of my short messaging, and with plenty of time to kill, it's not annoying.

Incoming message length can be set to cut off those interminably long jokes or, if one really needs those jokes, the service can be set to chop incoming message into several smaller messages. Messages can also be replied to or forwarded automatically.

PocketMail has an excellent spam filter with various levels available. There was a time when I received a flood of spam, but now weeks go by without an unwanted message.

It's easy to keep the unit readily available, especially when I think of one more thing for the to-do list or I find myself at a marina book exchange looking up my list of books-to-read. I keep the unit in my "purse" and frequently find myself reading or answering e-mail in a restaurant, on a park bench, or stuck on an airplane. Payphones are everywhere. It is possible to use the unit with cell phones, airline phones, or Globalstar satellite phones, but the cost of airtime quickly mounts with the slow transmission rate.

The unit's battery life is measured in years, not hours. I have used my unit for four years and replaced the twin AA batteries only three times. If I used the back-lit screen option more often, battery life would be reduced. Normally the unlit screen is easy to read even in dimly lit restaurants.

When I have access to the Internet, PocketMail offers a free Web-based e-mail service similar to Hotmail or Yahoo. Individualized mailboxes are maintained, and the same messages received on the PocketMail unit also appear on the Web mailbox. The Web-based service offers a more convenient way to see long messages or attachments. It is also possible to store a personal address list associated with a mailbox.

PocketMail offers a journal service for creating your own Web address and posting journal entries much like the increasingly popular "blogs." This is a good feature for those interested in posting travel logs to a wider audience than cc: copies on e-mail messages.

In addition to toll-free numbers in the United States and Canada, Pocket-Mail has many free access numbers abroad as well as a number that can be used for a normal international calling fee.

Some PocketMail Limitations

• The payphone will probably disappear with time as cell phones become more popular.
• Many outdoor payphones are beaten up so badly that they no longer work well with the acoustically sensitive PocketMail device.
• It is not possible to create messages on a PC and transfer them to a Pocket-Mail device.
• It is not possible to update the address.book on a PC and restore this information to the PocketMail TM-20 device. (It is possible to do this with the newer Composer unit, however.)
• It is not possible to transfer the address book stored on the PocketMail device to the Web-based mailbox.
• For the language-challenged, there is no spell checker in the handheld device or the Web-based service.
• The Web-based service provides no sent-message, out-box, or any other personal folders aside from the inbox.
• The Web-based service cannot be used with MS Outlook Express to create messages offline and then transmit them via an outgoing SMPT mail server address.

Other Communications Systems
Over the years there has been remarkable progress in communications technology and services. It's startling to realize how far we have come since Moitessier's slingshot. Still, no system is perfect. It usually takes an array of systems and services to meet all situations. My own expanding, boat-oriented communications arsenal, beyond Pocket-Mail, consists, of the following:

Cell phone - An obvious choice for boaters wishing to remove one more umbilical line to shore. Around urban development, the service is good for several miles offshore. More and more boaters are using cell phones rather than VHP radio when communicating with marinas and other shore-side services. However, the VHP is still an excellent emergency calling device, especially those newer units with the GMDSS emergency protocol. (That's a whole other complicated topic.)

WiFi - A wireless Internet service that provides a host of services at a cost ranging from free to tens of dollars per month. My favorite hotspot location is any Starbuck's cafe where T-Online <www.t-mobile.com> offers Internet service at $6 per hour or $10 per day or $30 per'month plus $1-50 for a small cup of coffee. Recently a company called Beacon WiFi <www.beaconwifi.com> has started service in many East Coast marinas. For $30 per month, they offer unlimited Internet connection service. They also sell a device to monitor boat systems such as battery voltage from a remote location over the Internet.

Inmarsat-C - My ancient but bulletproof satellite e-mail system when far from shore. Its quite expensive at a penny per character but unrivaled for connectivity, except for those who must talk over satellite phones like Iridium. I have used Inmarsat-C from the far reaches of the Indian and South Atlantic oceans without a problem. The hardware is made by Trimble and service can be purchased through Comsat <www.c-comsat.com> in the United States or Stratos <www.stratosglobal.com> in Canada.

Shortwave radio - Quickly becoming buggy-whip technology, especially since the AT&T High Seas Operator service ceased to exist. It is still an effective and free means of communication for hams and those using the maritime SSB frequencies between boats. Lately there has been a revival of the shortwave radio with new modems that allow for free or paid e-mail service on select frequencies, for example <www.sailmail.com>.

Snail mail - I am a traditionalist and a fan of the U.S. Postal Service, especially coupled with a mail-forwarding service like St. Brendan's Isle <www.boatmail.net>. In addition to ordinary 37-cent letters, I also use their little known M-Bag service to ship books and manuscripts abroad. This is even slower than snail speed. It usually takes one or two months to get from Florida to Germany, You really have to be old fashioned to appreciate this service.

Admittedly, this is a retro article in the face of newer technology such as the Treo, Blackberry, WAP-enabled cell phones, and on and on. Every Thursday I read the New York Times "Circuits" section.and discover the latest communications gadget. Unfortunately, many are expensive, highly specialized, complex, failure prone, or have coverage only in major metropolitan areas. For me, the gadget or service has to mature, beyond version 1.0 and be widely accepted to be useful.

Stay tuned. There is much more to come beyond the slingshot, postage stamp and payphone.