Excerpts from the latest Scuttlebutt issue.

Greetings from N1GYX

When preparing to write this column a number of thoughts come quickly to mind. So, in no particular order, as they are all important:

• I wish to extend a BIG thanks to the many volunteers that help to make this the best net on the air. Net Controls, North and South Relays, Weather readers, Fleet Captains are the ones we hear. But do not forget our behind the scenes folks like our Secretary/Treasurer Jeanie, N4WFM and our Webmaster Bill Boyle, N4UMS as examples.

• Lona Bell, KN4RB has already reserved the Wickham Park facilities again this year for our picnic on Nov 9. Mark your calendars and plan to attend. Details elsewhere in this issue of Scuttlebutt.

• Welcome aboard to Peter Colket, K3PKC our new Scuttlebutt editor, and his first edition.

• As the summer approaches and many of our members move north, please help us out by volunteering to be a north relay so we can include all our listening members in our daily net activities.

• Speaking of Summer, and I know that I have heard this too many times, " it is Hurricane Season". Hopefully none of us will be involved in a direct hit this year; however we can all help those that may be come affected. Be prepared to help with health and welfare, traffic and general assistance to members and other hams in those impacted areas.

• Jeanie, N4WFM and I have been looking over the database of members. We noticed that over the last few years the total membership is dropping after years of steady growth. We appeal to all our members to encourage the use of our net and please try to interest others in our activities as well as Ham Radio in general.

Returning from New Orleans on my Grand Banks 36 Boundless, my friend Herb McKenzie asked what sort of adventure we should plan for my 70th birthday. I said I had never sailed to Bermuda, and had always wanted to do that. We investigated several ways to do it:

Use the Grand Banks. Rejected as not suitable for that long a run offshore. Charter a sailboat. We advertised, but did not find a good one. Go with a sail training company out of Fort Lauderdale. Rejected, we did not want to be crew.

Buy a sailboat, then sell it after we were done. Selected.

We settled on a 1978 CSY 44, and after a professional survey, we purchased it in Deltaville, Virginia, in late January. As we were backing away from the dock into dark waters covered with a thin sheet of ice, we encountered a shoal. The weight of the CSY 44 backing into the shoal was sufficient to split the rudder, requiring a $3200 repair.

The day the rudder repair was completed, we set our alarms for 0600 in order to get an early start. We arrived to find the dock covered in about an inch of new snow. Proceeding with great care, watching our laptop running Navtrek software and fed by a GPS, we proceeded out into Chesapeake Bay. We at least had complete confidence in our navigation.

We put the sails up, but the wind direction was such that we were motorsailing. After about an hour, we noticed steam coming out of the engine. The problem, we discovered, was that the bearings on the engine cooling water circulation pump had failed. The winds having dropped to almost nothing, we called for a tow. The Narrows Marina near Wolftrap was able to find and install a new cooling water circulation pump, so we set off again.

The engine died as we rounded Thimble Shoals and began our approach to Portsmouth. We had sails up, and could control the boat. However, it was a very windy day, recording gusts to 85 mph, and there was a lot of big ship traffic (including an aircraft carrier which requested permission to pass!). We were reluctant to bring the boat into Tidewater Marina in that wind under sails alone, so we called for another tow.

The marina decided we needed a rebuilt high-pressure fuel distribution pump and new glow plugs, which cost us a little less than $2000. After this repair was completed, we had an uneventful trip (the best kind) the rest of the way to our home marina outside Savannah, arriving 13 February.

Our program of upgrades included installation of a 4 kw diesel generator, one air conditioning system for the main and forward cabins, one air conditioning system for the aft cabin, and an autopilot. We borrowed the SSB radio with email modem and the navigation equipment (two GPS, laptop computer, and Navtrek software) from my Grand Banks. We had the sails checked by a sailmaker, painted the bottom, and advertised for two additional crewmembers. After provisioning, we departed Savannah in early May.

The first three days out of Savannah were great, and we covered 450 miles before the wind died. We had planned our fuel to motor for 24 hours plus the amount needed for our final approach, but we were having trouble making sense of the oil dipstick readings. We seemed to be using too much oil, but finally determined that the dipstick was hard to read correctly. Anyway, we were afraid to motor as much as we planned, so the passage took an extra day.

Bermuda was delightful. We toured on motorbikes, and played a round of golf at MidOcean.

Departing Bermuda, the winds were not very favorable, and we made relatively slow progress. Then things began to come apart. Of the two crewmembers we had hired, one of them ate everything in sight, and the other drank everything alcoholic. While the second one was on watch, a big rip appeared in the mainsail (we suspected an accidental broach). We started the engine, and notified the Coast Guard that if we ran short on fuel we might need assistance. They put us on a four-hour check-in schedule.

The main engine ran for about 10 hours, then quit. We were unable to get it re-started, and were sailing only on storm sails. While we were in no immediate danger, we were running short on food (remember crewmember #1?) and the only landfall we could make with the storm sails alone was England. We did not have enough food to get us to England, and we were drifting towards Thimble Shoals. We were no longer able to get a response on the SSB from the Coast Guard. So we activated the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB). The Coast Guard found a freighter in the area who reached us on the VHF. He relayed our condition to the Coast Guard, who then cancelled the Falcon jet they had planned to send from Miami. They did arrange for a US Navy cruiser to come to our approximate location and standby until a Coast Guard cutter could get to us. A 110 foot long Coast Guard cutter arrived around 1600, and took us under tow. (It's hard to stay dry on a 44 foot sailboat when being towed at 7 knots!) The 110 footer turned us over to a 65 footer, who then turned us over to a 44 footer. We made it into Morehead City after twenty-four hours of towing. Then we endured a Coast Guard "courtesy inspection."

The diesel mechanic in Morehead City took about ten minutes to find a piece of fuel piping cross-threaded into a fitting, and thus leaking air. With the fitting replaced and threaded properly, we were on our way. We paid off the two crew, and my friend Herb and I made it the rest of the way to Savannah without difficulty.

Drake Wilson, KO4IV

(Thanks, Drake, for sharing the adventure! That was a heckuva shakedown cruise for a new old boat!)

We're in the summer propagation cycle now: generally good skip punctuated with occasional QRN from thunderstorms.

The CW net has been going along quite well with an average of 18 check-ins on a normal day. On June 14 two /MM stations, KD4OYX and K3KKA, checked into the CW net.

Four CW net members attended the Dayton Hamvention. Chuck, ND7K drove up from Marathon via Kansas, and I drove up from West Tennessee, meeting Chuck at Dayton. Others at Dayton were Lloyd K3ESE and Joe K8MP.

Sam, N4UAU, is on a long scooter trip from his home near Gainesville, FL to Colorado and back. Hope the weather holds out for his trip.

Bob Cooley, WA4MQW, is building an Elecraft KX1 QRP rig for use on his boat. The KX1 will make a very good emergency backup rig. It is very small and will run from dry cells in case no other power is available. K3ESE checked into the net a few times running his Elecraft K2 from his 12v drill battery. Now that's emergency power!

The CW net meets on 7050.0 kHz every morning at 0700 Eastern time and runs for about 45 minutes. Friday is straight key day and Sunday is QRQ day. On most other days, the net runs at about 20-23 WPM but NCS will always slow down if requested or needed.

The following members or their families have received cards or flowers from the Sunshine Fund during the past three months.

April 2006

   KD4OB  John Patton: Hospitalized

   K4TCV  Dr. Jim Hirschman: Illness

   N4VPN  Agnes Whatley: Hospitalized

May 2006

   N4DFJ  Phil Kniskern: Illness

The Sunshine fund is not funded through your dues, but is supported by donations collected over the year. Our fund is in need of additional support and if you feel it in your heart to donate, it would be appreciated.

If you are aware of a club member you think has need of some Sunshine, please contact me via phone or e-mail (the information is in the current roster) or sunshine@waterwayradio.net. This especially holds true if someone is in the hospital. I would appreciate you letting me know when you receive flowers so I can confirm they were received.
Jean Freeman KC4BGQ

Health Tips from the Doc

Boaters, both long term and short, should pay some heed to the safety of the foods they consume aboard. Bad smells and soggy lettuce may be unpleasant but actual food poisoning with staph' and salmonella can be much more serious. Other contaminants can come aboard in the food we take on in third world ports.

Since salmonella and staphylococcus are the most common problem. Let's deal with them presently. Salmonella is a family of bacteria which, when they infect us, cause irritable intestines, cramps and diarrhea, with varying severity. Almost all chicken, turkey and similar fowl come to market with a degree of salmonella bacteria contamination. It may be light or it may be heavy but it is potentially there.

With salmonella, the intestinal upset may hit suddenly after a few hours or a couple of days, other times it may take longer to incubate in the body but may cause weeks of lingering abdominal upset, fever and even death. One of these is the typhoid (Salmonella typhosa).

A close relative to the Salmonella is cholera. In these cholera patients the diarrhea is profuse and life threatening. Fortunately cholera is not nearly as common as salmonella, and if you plan to visit a cholera area I recommend the cholera shots beforehand.

Now, how do we prevent salmonella attacks ?

Start with food that is as clean as possible, and always having clean hands when preparing the meal is a good idea, but the cooking is the most important. All, I repeat, ALL these salmonella germs are killed by thorough cooking, and the dead germs do us no harm. The same is true for cholera. (Hint……salads sure aren't cooked…..hence, can be dangerous if an infected cook has dirty hands. )

I recall going once to investigate an epidemic of food poisoning at Rum Key, Bahamas. Twenty-five of the thirty guests at a diving resort were afflicted by a severe attack of fever, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting. It turned out they all had salmonella food poisoning caused by infected frozen turkey meat imported from Iowa! Simple thorough cooking might have prevented the epidemic, but the turkeys had been defrosted, each in turn, for several hours in a water bath. This water had gradually been turned into a warm salmonella growth bath from which the cook fetched the defrosted birds.

Most salmonella food poisoning is miserable but self limiting. In a few days it goes away, but occasionally it lingers. If you, or your crew members have the illness, Pepto-Bismol ® and/or Imodium are helpful. Remember to keep drinking fluid to replenish what you lose in the stool. Sometimes, but not always, selected antibiotics are helpful. Discuss this with your doctor.

Staphylococcus food poisoning produces similar intestinal attacks in the sailor but the particulars of how it does this are different. The staph', as we call it, is a germ that is resident in some of our noses, and on the skin. It is especially abundant in skin boils and infected wounds. These staph' germs are seeded onto our food and in small numbers cause no harm. In warm moist foods, left un-refrigerated, they multiply and produce a toxin, a chemical, that causes, in a short few hours, a dramatic attack of nausea, vomiting and a frequently secondary diarrhea.

These staph' food poisonings are true misery, but while temporarily incapacitating, they, too, are self limiting, especially if the victim is in good health to start with. The treatment is what we call "supportive" -- rest, clear liquids, and sympathy. Oral medications are not of much help because they won't stay down !!

In staph' poisoning, prevention is the key. Start with clean food, of course, if possible. Personal hygiene is important. If you have boils, or an infected finger, it is best not to be the cook. The most important thing, however, is to never, never, allow moist food to sit out at room temperature for hours at a time. Notorious for growing staphylococcus germs are the custards, custard pie, and spaghetti sauce, but any moist food left out at household temperature can be a culture medium.

It is important to point out that it is the toxin that causes the illness. This toxin cannot be killed by cooking! Once formed, even if you cook it, and you eat it, it will get you. The stools of the victim are not contagious. This is in contrast to salmonella. With salmonella the first step in transmission is often stools of an infected person. The germs are then passed on to the food by contaminated hands.

Jim, K4TCV

Shhhh...Don't tell anyone, but we've all heard stations operating in foreign waters failing to use their reciprocal call signs. (I'm sure they weren't WRCC members.)

Boats operating in the waters of foreign countries usually must have a reciprocal license. U.S.boats operating in the Bahamas, for instance, must obtain a Bahamian reciprocal license and will identify as X4XXX/C6A to show they are in the Bahamas.

Boats operating offshore are considered maritime mobile and are governed by the rules of the country in which the vessel is registered or documented.

Current reciprocal licensing information for the Bahamas, Bermuda, Mexico and Turks & Caicos is available on our web site. From the Home page, click on Club Info; then scroll almost to the bottom. In the box of "Club Related Shortcuts" click on "Bahamas etc…."  (You can also go to the Net Procedures page and in the third paragraph, 'Licensing', click on the International Operations link. - N4UMS)

There you will also find links to the ARRL web site. ARRL has comprehensive information on international operating and obtaining reciprocal licenses, as well as a list of those countries with reciprocal agreements with the U.S. and the scope of those agreements.

Plan ahead in obtaining your license; allow for island time!

(Thanks to N4UMS for maintaining the web site and for most of the content of this article. -K3PKC)

Florida Keys--Boot Key Harbor

The City of Marathon plans to expand the current mooring field from 64 mooring balls to 228. Tallahassee has recently approved the City's application for a State land bay bottom lease in Boot Key Harbor which contains authorization for the additional 164 mooring balls. There are currently no anchoring restriction ordinances on the City docket; but if you anchor, stay clear of the existing mooring field and burn an anchor light at night. Stay tuned for more updates!

Hurricane/Disaster Preparation Courses From FEMA

The Incident Command System course, ICS 700, is one of many free online courses offered by FEMA. This course identifies the structure and function of the Incident Command System during disasters. I found it very informative. http://www.training.fema.gov/EMIweb/IS/crslist.asp

Hurricane Season Preparation

As you know, the Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30th. Now is the time to finalize your hurricane preparation plans. Be prepared with at least a week's worth of nonperishable food and water. Don't forget to keep about three weeks of medication on hand. If a storm hits and knocks out the electricity for two weeks, the pharmacy won't be able to process your refills without power. Check the hurricane outlook at least twice daily to stay on top of any developing storms that could threaten your area. Property owners should also check out the WRCC WEB site. Bill Boyle, N4UMS, has a great article posted there about preparing your home for a hurricane. Just a friendly nudge from your local hurricane magnet!

Hurricane Watch Net

The Hurricane Watch Net on 14.325 MHz, deploys when a hurricane is within 300 miles of a populated area. Their mission is to gather measured weather reports from the affected area of the storm and pass them onto the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami. Be sure to give them a wide berth when they are operational. This is a closed Net. Unless you are in the affected area of the hurricane they ask that you do not transmit. The Net reads the latest storm updates from the NHC.

Missing Markers at Indian Cay Channel near West End

The markers/pilings have been reported missing in the Indian Cay Channel near West End. Transit this area with great caution. This information comes from Mac Simkin, N2FCP.

Revised Weather Reporters Guide now available

A handbook for the Weather Reporters is now available in PDF format on the WRCC Web site: http://www.waterwayradio.net

The guide is chock full of weather gathering information and URLs. All are welcome to download it.

Voice over Internet Protocol VoIP Gains Popularity with Ham Operators

There is a book out that helps beginners learn to use the VoIP with Ham radio. VoIP Linking for Amateur Radio by Jonathan Taylor, K1RFD is available on the ARRL WEB site. You can access this book using the following link: http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/books/2871.html

Marti, KF4TRG

Eighth Annual Wickham Park Picnic

At the large covered pavilion on Brevard Community College Campus

Thursday, November 9, 2006

(The date may seem a long way off, but if we wait until the Fall issue to publish this information, it may not catch up with you in time.)

Location: 3845 N Wickham Road, Melbourne, FL 32935

Provisioning: Please bring a covered dinner dish to share. The following will be provided: soft drinks, water, beer, ice, paper plates, cups, napkins and utensils. Drinks in cans are permitted, but no glass bottles.

Weather: This is a large covered pavilion. Foul weather gear would only be required to get to the pavilion from your transportation in case of bad weather.

Cost: We are trying to keep things simple to keeps costs down. We are asking $3 per person to cover expenses.

Call in frequency to request assistance in finding the picnic site is 146.55 MHz simplex. Cell phone 321-537-3167 will also be monitored to provide information.

Land Cruisers: Please make reservations for a campsite by calling 321/255-4307 during the daytime. If there are at least 8 campsites reserved, you will receive a 25% discount of $5 per day. Please advise them that you are with the WRCC. Discounted daily fees plus taxes, electricity and water are about $15. If there are not at least 8 campsites reserved, you will have to pay an additional $5 per day when you arrive. Ask for a campsite on Loop A. Please have your Visa or MasterCard ready. You will receive a confirmation letter in the mail.

Arriving by Boat: Transportation will be provided for WRCC members on boats at marinas or anchored at the Dragon on the east side of the ICW or off Abaco Jack's Restaurant (was Conchy Joe's) on the west side of the ICW. Contact Ned Buck, W4KS, for pickup at 321/725-1591 or Email: nbuck@palmnet.net.

Arriving by Car: The pavilion is located on Wickham Road, between Post Road and Parkway Drive, .7 mile north of Parkway and .2 mile south of Post. This pavilion is on the northwest corner of Wickham Park and is around the corner from the entrance to Wickham Park. There is a large surfaced parking area to the north of the pavilion. Small signs will be put up near the location to help give you directions.

     GPS Coordinates: 28°10.0693'    - 80°40.3046' (Approx.)

Driving Directions to Wickham Park Picnic

From I-95 South Bound

Take Wickham Road, Exit 191. Turn left on Wickham Road East for 7.7 miles. Turn left at traffic light .2 miles after passing Post Road at entrance to Brevard Community College. On the right is a large parking lot. Turn right at second entrance to parking lot. Pavilion is at south side of the parking lot.

From I-95 North Bound

Take second Melbourne exit, Exit 183 (Rte. 518). At second light turn north (left) onto Wickham Road. Turn right at traffic light .7 miles past Parkway Drive. This is the entrance to Brevard Community College. On the right is a large parking lot. Turn right at second entrance to parking lot. Pavilion is at south side of the parking lot.

Motels:

Near I-95 Exit 180 on US Highway 192
Holiday Inn Express, 321/724-2050
America's Best Value Inn, 321/724-2051
Hampton Inn, 321/956-6200
Budget Inn, 321/724-5450
Howard Johnson, 321/768-8439

Near I-95 Exit 191 on Wickham Road
Imperial Hotel, 321/255-0077
La Quinta Inn, 321/242-9400

Marine Flea Market

Our second Marine Flea Market was held last year and it was successful so we'll try it again. Our Commodore, Ron Knaggs, will be taking care of the flea market details. For those boaters that have recently changed boats or swallowed the anchor, this is a great opportunity to sell those items you no longer need. It is also a great place for boaters to look for items they would like for their boats.

Lona, KN4RB

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The following is a press release from the Seven Seas Cruising Assn, which will be having their convention in Melbourne following our Picnic.  - Webmaster

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31st SSCA Annual Convention – Melbourne, FL

TIME/DATE: Friday, Saturday & Sunday, November 10-12, 2006.

LOCATION:   Eau Gallie Civic Center:

DETAILS: Whether you are new to the cruising community, a circumnavigator, already out there “living the dream,” or have “swallowed the hook,” you won’t want to miss the 31st SSCA Annual Convention and Meeting, November 10-12, 2006, in Melbourne, FL. You will enjoy three full days of cruiser camaraderie, instructional seminars, direct interaction with some of the biggest vendors in the cruising community, raffle & auction and much more!

Seminar Lineup:

COST: $15 ($20 for non-members) Food is extra. Pre-Registration and meal orders must be received by October 26th.

CONTACT: Registration form online at http://www.ssca.org/eventind.htm, e-mail office@ssca.org or call 954-771-5660.

"Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you did not do than by the things you did do. So, throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

Lunch in Nassau started in the early 1980s when the OM of C6AGG went to the GREEN SHUTTERS every Friday lunchtime for their famous curry lunch and decided he could use some company. In those days weather info was very limited and since we could get (most of the time) the VHF marine forecast from Miami and also get the local Bahamas weather by phone, we were already giving this information daily on the VHF. It was simple to suggest boats in the harbour join us for curry lunch.

Friday changed to Thursday when one week there were so many people there that the restaurant literally ran out of chairs. We were requested to move our, by then, very popular lunches, to Thursday.

On the Thursday two days after Christmas, 1990, we all arrived at the restaurant to find it freshly painted black and tightly closed - a fire the day before had gutted the whole place. So we had to look for another location. This was not entirely bad as there were places more convenient to yachts in the harbour and we moved to CAPTAIN NEMO'S, sporting its own little marina and a place to come ashore by dinghy. Some years later, Captain Nemo's changed hands and turned into SUGAR REEF where we were even more comfortable. At times we hosted more than 70 people for lunch and the restaurant handled the crowd admirably, with never an advance "head count".

So once again, we arrive for lunch one Thursday only to find another restaurant had burned down - we were beginning to get a bad reputation!! Sugar Reef had been run by Dave McCorquodale who immediately moved his successful business to CROCODILES which was even handier for our purposes. Dave offered many services to the visiting yachts in the harbour and his hospitality was second to none. We were very comfortable at Crocodiles for several years.

Then one day everything changed again; Dave and Crocodiles moved out and the restaurant become "FRIDAY SOON COME" in the expectation of eventually becoming TGIF. Disaster, one season of lunches was not good, the atmosphere deteriorated, as did the service, then it closed. This last season we moved over to the Nassau Harbour Club to a restaurant called NIKO'S where we were welcomed and comfortable, now this restaurant has closed.

Stand by for news of where Lunches in Nassau will meet this coming winter……

Carolyn, C6AGG

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