Single Side Band radio

SSB or Single Side Band and ham radio are still a reliable and well established method of offshore communication.

Ham radio does require obtaining a special license and passing an exam. SSB does not require any type of exam. They both allow communication from virtually anywhere in the world depending pn atmospheric propagation conditions. If you have business or personal affairs which require people communicate with you immediately these limiations in service availability could present a problem.

Transmission requires extensive power (20 amps at 12 volts) but usually this is for relatively short periods of time. By the time all is said and done an installation will cost $3,000 to $4,000 when the special antenna and antenna tuner are added in. Communication doesn't cost anything per minute like a satelite phone so it is free talking. You can set up email through a special modem and using a service like SailMail, but it does require a higher level of expertise to setup and keep running as compared to data transmission through a satellite phone system like Globalstar or Iridium.