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Here is a story about what happened on the Maritime Mobile Net William T. Carter |
It was Friday February 08, and I had just arrived home from the grocery store after work. I was working on laundry and dinner and Sharon took a phone message for me. She said a lady called and wanted to know if you could help her contact a sailboat in the Bahamas. Sharon told me that someone at HRO had given her my name. I have had folks call me to send a radiogram, but I never have sent one to a sailboat. Here is something new to me with this situation. I called Lauren on the phone from the shack and asked her how I could help. Lauren told me that her husband was sailing from Georgetown Bahamas to LongIsland Bahamas. She needed to contact him because it was a family emergency. Lauren went on to tell me that her husbands father had unexpectedly passed away and that they could not proceed with funeral arrangements without him. She explained that from Georgetown he could fly home and even call but that there was nothing in LongIsland. Lauren was staying with his parents in Atlanta. Lauren also explained that she knew Hams could do just about anything and that they some how talk to boats. I guess there is a high expectation placed on all of us, and that we are held in high regard by society as a whole. The Priority Message was, "There is one person on Board, his name is Steven Land. He is asked to call his wife regarding a family emergency. The phone number provided where his wife may be located is as follows..." Lauren was sounding almost desperate, I wasn't sure what to do except ask the folks on the Maritime Mobile Net on 14.300 MHz for help. Realizing that help from the Maritime Mobile Net would be her last hope of contacting him real soon, I decided to keep her on the phone while I made a call to the Net Control Station. I explained to Lauren that I was not sure if they could contact her husband, but that they do contact boats/ships on this net. Lauren explained to me that her husband listens to something called the Herb Weather Net. She explained that her husband had only a VHF radio. After writing down some information I made the call to the Net Control Station while Lauren listened in the background on the phone to every word. I explained that it was a family emergency, gave the name and description of the sailboat. Lauren seemed much more hopeful after hearing the Net Control Station, hearing that they have a special net that they use to contact boats, they put a boat watch out on their Boat Net. Net Control told me to let them know when her husband contacted her as a follow-up, he was hopeful that they would contact him within 24 hours but could not promise anything. He said ..."We have literally hundreds of contacts in the Bahamas, so I am quite hopeful we will quickly make contact." Saturday morning Lauren heard from her husband and called and left me a message on my phone. I called her back and she was so thankful that I could help her in this situation. You would have thought I parted the waters or something to listen to her go on and on. I explained that as Amateurs we are here to serve others and that if ever she need to reach her husband again, to please call me anytime. Again, I offered my condolences in what was a very unfortunate circumstance that had brought us together.
I placed a follow-up call on the Maritime Mobile Net and followed up with an
e-mail. They were very helpful and told me that this makes 5 cases that had
a successful outcome. Last year there were 38 documented cases with a
successful ending.
73
Bill KG4FXG
In a message dated 2/9/2002 8:45:56 PM Eastern Standard Time, william.carter@opc.com writes: Thanks for your help. His spouse called me today very happy that you were able to make this communication happen. I told the MM NCS and am following up with this e-mail. Sorry its late, I was at our State ARES meeting all day. IT is our pleasure Bill. This makes 5 out of 5 cases brought to us this year which had a successful ending. Last year we documented 38 out of 38 ranging from the Azores to the South Pacific. We're quite proud of our track record over the past 3 years. I'm impressed by your activity on CW. I've been an Amateur Extra Class licensee since 1972 and as I was boning up on my code for the exam I managed to certify at 45 wpm. Unfortunately, my fist is rusty as I have not really gone down in the CW portion very often. Last I tried CW, I found a lot of rust in my fist coordination on an iambic keyer, but that was mostly as I tried to sort out in my mind just what I wanted to say. Nonetheless, I was surprised to find that 25 to 30 wpm still comes easily. Tell me where you operate your nets. Maybe I'll listen there and one day will feel confident enough to check in. Best regards, Mike Pilgrim, K5MP PS. I'm quite familiar with ARES although not directly involved. My claim to fame is as assistant net manager for the Hurricane Watch Net, 14325 when a storm threatens any landfall in the Caribbean or US. The following message indicates that S/V October was contacted this morning. We are hopeful the skipper will be able to make the requested phone call to his wife as soon as possible. By copy of this message to KG4fxg, I am requesting a confirmation when that call has been made. I have canceled this boat watch. Thanks to all who brought this to a successful conclusion. Regards,
Mike Pilgrim, K5MP
In a message dated 2/9/2002 9:20:26 AM Eastern Standard Time, wa5ezw@juno.com writes: Received info from k8tf & ke6mt at 14:12Z, that the October was contacted on the waterwaynet this morning. -----Original Message----- From: MJPILGRIM@aol.com [mailto:MJPILGRIM@aol.com] Sent: Friday, February 08, 2002 5:52 PM To: kg4fxg@arrl.net Subject: Re: S/V October......Georgetown to Long Island, Bahamas Bill, I may have the wrong guy, but a few minutes ago someone with a callsign that sounds like yours came to the Maritime Mobile Service Net to request a message be passed for a family emergency to a mariner in the Bahamas... If you aren't the right guy, then please disregard this message. Thanks,
Mike Pilgrim, K5MP
Boca Raton, Fl
In a message dated 2/8/2002 5:46:51 PM Eastern Standard Time, MJPILGRIM writes: Bill, here is the boat watch message I sent out to my world wide boatwatch net. We have literally hundreds of contacts in the Bahamas, so I am quite hopeful we will quickly make contact. You may keep me apprised via e-mail if you learn of any new news. Thanks, Mike Pilgrim, K5MP Boca Raton, Fl In a message dated 2/8/2002 5:41:00 PM Eastern Standard Time, MJPILGRIM writes: Here is another of those requests to assist, with very sketchy information. We are looking for S/V October believed to have departed Georgetown this morning in route to Long Island, Bahamas. The vessel is described only as 30', white in color. We are told that the vessel checks in to the "herb" weather broadcast occasionally. Otherwise, there is no indication of communications available. There is one person on Board, his name is Steven Land. He is asked to call his wife regarding a family emergency. The phone number provided where his wife may be located is 678-584-9230. Please let K5MP know when this message has been passed (via Maritime Mobile Service Net or via return e-mail). Regards, Mike Pilgrim, K5MP |
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