[R] memory and swap space in ncdf

[Manuel Gutierrez]

I've a linux system with 2Gb of memory which  is not
enough for reading a 446Mb netcdf file using ncdf:
library(ncdf)
ncold <- open.ncdf("gridone.grd")
Error: cannot allocate vector of size 1822753 Kb

When I look at the free memory in my system I can see
that none of the Swap space is being used by R.
I am a newbie in linux and R, I've read the Memory
help pages but still have some questions:
can I use the swap space in R to solve my problem of
lack of memory?
if not, are there any ways to read the data apart from
buying more RAM?
Thanks,
M