Excerpts from the previous Scuttlebutt issue.

Once again I'm pleased to report the Club's affairs are in good order and to express my sincere appreciation to all the net volunteers. If you would like to become a net relay, daily fleet captain, or weather reporter, please contact me. New participants are always welcome.

I'd like to offer a few comments about the net format, weather fills and float plans for the benefit of all members. The basic format is the preamble at 0745, then emergency traffic and weather, followed by announcements (as near 0800 as possible), traffic to or from boats underway, then new ham check-ins, and general traffic. Promptly at 0815 the Fleet Captain takes position reports, beginning with open float plans if any. After position reports there's general traffic for as long as needed.

This format is time-tested and effective. While some flexibility is appropriate on occasion, such as an emergency or when significant weather features require more time than usual, everything works smoothly when net volunteers and stations calling in respect the prescribed format.

Early position reports are handled best before 0745. A few of our regular members are always on early; they are happy to take position reports and pass them to the Fleet Captain during PR time. Weather fills should always be taken off frequency to allow the rest of the net participants to continue within the planned format.

If you have filed a float plan, you have an obligation to check in at 0815 when position report time begins. The net takes float plans very seriously, for your safety; if we don't hear from you, the Fleet Captain will call your contact person and possibly initiate a boat watch with the Coast Guard. You also have an obligation to notify the Fleet Captain as soon as a float plan is to be terminated. Please refer to the Net Guide, section D-3.2 before initiating a float plan.

Finally, a word about relays. We've endured years of poor propagation. Some of us, attempting to be helpful, may have developed a habit of offering a relay when it may not be necessary; I've been guilty of that myself. Let's make a practice of letting the controlling operator (NC or designated relay) ask for a relay before we offer one.

These comments aren't intended to be critical of anyone, just a reminder of the basics that make our net excellent. Smooth sailing and 73 to all,

73 - Peter K3PKC

In 1984 we sailed to Bermuda over a 2 week summer vacation. An experiment at the time to see if we should continue our dream of early retirement and sailing to faraway places. Despite some problems we weren't discouraged and retired three years later and headed for the Bahamas. Ham radio played a big part in our lives over the next 17 years as we sailed Moonshadow between the Chesapeake and Bahamas plus a couple of trips to South America by way of the eastern Caribbean. The following account was completed last week when some internet tools finally put me in touch with Maria.

I recently telephoned Maria Taylor, KJ3T, and thanked her for her assistance in getting the USCG Cutter 379 Unimak to come to our rescue June 21, 1984, a little more than 500 miles SE of Norfolk, Va. Thanks to "Google", I made the long overdue call.

We had sailed to Bermuda aboard Moonshadow from our home port of Crisfield, MD in the Chesapeake for a summer vacation and were on the return leg when we lost steering. Bermuda Harbour Radio had given us a favorable weather report for the trip before we left St. Georges for Norfolk under fair skies. Like us they weren't aware of the low pressure system that had developed off Cape Hatteras.

The wind freshened at daybreak and continued to increase until we were running off under just the storm jib and mizzen. The storm trysail had replaced the main but remained lashed to the boom. When the course became erratic I took over from the autopilot and discovered the loss of steering. A few quick checks turned up an almost empty hydraulic steering reservoir. Refilling the small tank returned the steering to normal, but a short time later we again lost our steering.

We gave the emergency tiller a try but discovered the handle was much too short for the leverage needed to control Moonshadow's big rudder. After finding that two people on the tiller didn't work we lashed the tiller hard over and hove to for the first time in our sailing career. It worked just like I had read about in some books on heavy weather sailing. The motion below was comfortable and now to find the hydraulic leak.

The Hynautic steering system uses Dextron power steering fluid, same as most automobiles at that time. It wasn't any problem finding the red fluid; the bilge seemed covered with it. My best friend and crewman Winnie and I spent the day repeatedly refilling the reservoir and tracing lines with paper towels looking for the elusive leak without success. Winnie, had spent several years as automotive service manager of Newport News's largest Chevrolet dealership before purchasing the Maryland GM dealership from which I eventually retired. I'd grown up in Chincoteague Island, VA and had been fixing things on boats most of my life. We weren't just a couple of novices unfamiliar with tools and how to use them, but we were sure stumped at the end of the day. At this point we thought the hydraulic leak must be some place between the engine room and under the floor of the aft head.

After Carol and additional crew Liz fixed some dinner I plotted our position using a loran fix and discovered that we were about 50 miles north of where our steering had failed. The storm didn't seem to be getting any worse so we decided to try and get some rest before giving the leak search another try. Spirits among the crew were pretty low at this point.

Discussing what our options may be if we were unable to repair the steering someone mentioned the Coast Guard. Norfolk is as long way off but suppose they were in the area conducting drug patrol.

Carol and I had taken a ham radio class over the winter and a new ICOM 745 was aboard. Unfortunately I flunked the code test and Carol only had technician privileges. I hadn't heard of the Waterway Net at this point but I had read something about the service provided by the Maritime Mobile Net and had made note of their 14.313 frequency. Now just to figure out how to call them.

The Delaware Amateur Radio Supply salesman in Wilmington, DE had insisted that the ICOM roller inductor manual tuner was the best choice for a sail boat. The tuner manual was just a few pages and I finally got the right combination of the complicated dials settings and made a call.

We were all quite surprised when KJ3T, located in Florida, quickly answered our call. After describing our situation, Maria, requested we stand by on the frequency and she would contact the Coast Guard. There was quite a sigh of relief when Maria called back less than an hour later and reported that a Coast Guard cutter was underway with an ETA of about noon tomorrow. The cutter came up on frequency and had good copy on Maria but none with us. Since both we and the Coast Guard had such strong copy on Maria it was decided to remain on 14.313 and not take a chance of losing someone changing to another frequency. We then established a 30 minute schedule where Maria would call every half hour for our latitude-longitude and relay it to the Coast Guard.

The schedule began about 19:30 and worked fine for several hours until we could no longer copy Maria but were answered by a station located in Texas. The Texas station relayed to the Coast Guard for a few hours before handing the relay job off to a station located on the West Coast of Africa. The Africa station continued the relay until sometime after dawn when Maria's signal could be heard again.

As noon approached we began scanning the horizon with binoculars without success hoping to catch sight of the cutter. Around noon we received a call on the VHF from the Unimak who reported that they now had us on their radar. By 12:30, 17 hours after our call, the 311 ft cutter Unimak was standing by ready to launch her big inflatable tender.

Lt. Smith and his boarding team were soon aboard and quickly began assessing the situation. They brought along an engineer who they claimed was responsible for keeping all the hydraulics aboard the Unimak in working order. Lt. Smith claimed if the engineer couldn't fix whatever was broken; the shop aboard ship would make a new part.

This conversation followed the one we just had where the boson's mate said the main mast would be the place to attach the tow hawser for the trip back to Bermuda. I really didn't want to go back to Bermuda, especially under tow. The fishing boat Wonder Bar out of St. Georges had towed us the last 10 miles into Bermuda. Bermuda Harbor Radio had described that situation as the usual "No Fuel and No Wind"

Reviewing with the engineer what I had done to troubleshoot the hydraulic steering, I offered to refill the reservoir with fluid. No, that's not the best way to find the leak he said. Just have someone slowly turn Moonshadow's wheel and we will listen carefully. As the wheel was slowly turned we began tracing the copper hydraulic lines. We had hardly begun the search when I heard a distinct spitting sound in the aft cabin bilge. The copper lines were bound together and one had chaffed a pinhole in the adjacent line. From here the fluid had a straight path to the bilge, leaving no evidence of the leak location.

We quickly cut out the damaged area and rejoined the tubing with a compression fitting, all with parts and tools that I had aboard. Reservoir was refilled and the repair checked for leaks and we were ready to set sail for the Chesapeake.  When I asked Lt. Smith for the bill he smiled and said "It's payable by April 15th."

Following our rescue Maria Taylor mentioned receiving a letter of commendation from the US Coast Guard. She's dusting off some old files and promised to send me a copy. At the end of our long phone conversation that brought back a lot of memories to us both, Maria said "This is the nicest contact I've ever had".

Tom Elliott KE3JO

Welcome aboard to the new members. This is probably one of the largest new member groups we have had in awhile. Keep up the good work, and recruit your friends! If you happen to spot one of them in an anchorage, please introduce yourself and make them feel at home.

And, everyone should be flying the club burgee on their boats so that we all know you are a member. If you need a replacement, please let me know. The cost is $15 for the heavy duty burgees and $5 for the light weight ones (I still have a few of the light ones left, but when they are gone, that's it).

Hard to believe it's the middle of summer already. Let's hope that Hurricane Season is nice to all of us this year. Please, just some nice soaking rain, but no big winds. Hope to see many of you in the Fall at the annual picnic in November.

Jeanie, N4WFM
WRCC Secretary/Treasurer

The Waterway CW net is unique in that there are no dues, only one elected (or drafted) officer and the only requirement for membership is to check in to the CW net a few times (QNI). However if anyone doesn't check in for a while they may be deleted from the roster. The net Manager this year is John N6ANQ. The net is now 21 years old (we're of age now!) and going strong . I guess it's a good formula.

Sending Morse code is a little like playing a musical instrument; if you don't practice, it doesn't sound so good. To keep up your Morse proficiency and improve it get on our CW net. Don't worry if you think your skills aren't good enough, you are welcome to join us. We have members who send with straight key, bug, paddles and a few (like me?) with their left foot. In spite of modern computer programs, the human brain is still the best reader of Morse code and improves at no extra cost.

We update the CW Net roster about twice a year. A new one just came out in June and can be found on waterwayradio.net. In the left hand column click on CW Net, go down about half a page and click on CW Net Roster in blue. The right hand column of the roster has a lot of added info. Please, come and join us. Most QNI to get on the list and are then called in turn, or if you're short of time add /ST to your call sign on check in and get called early. We usually have between 15 and 25 check-ins and it lasts from about 7 to 7:30am Eastern time on 7.047MHz. NCSs, etc. are listed on the Roster.

CU 73 Chuck ND7K

Bubbles W4CST, Temptation, WD0ETL, and Skat, KI4EVJ	St. Jude, W3RDT
	Orion, KI4WIT and KI4OQI and Southern Cross KC8MID and KB1NDV
Anania N2ST, Eleanor M N1UFT and KB1ORH, and Fair Winds KI4TVS	Pioneer, KG4WCD and Southern Cross KC8MID

Even with a dismal weather forecast the North Carolina Picnic was a success. Fortunately, the weatherman was wrong and the weather was fine.

We had 36 participants at the picnic. The covered dishes brought by the members were delicious and the barbecuing aid rendered by W4CST Craig Turner and KI4EVJ Jim Thompson was greatly appreciated.

A great big "Thank You" to the Marina Staff who graciously allowed the use of the facilities and provided the tables and chairs and anything else we needed to be comfortable. Thank You, Bud (KI4TVS), Dawn, and Paul.

In September 2009 the Communications Act came into existence thus repealing the elements of the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Act. As a result of this, the Public Utilities Commission was replaced by the Utilities Regulation & Competition Authority (URCA). Pursuant to this change, the license application process for a Reciprocal Amateur Radio license changed.

The biggest change is that the licenses are no longer renewable every year. Only when you plan to visit the Bahamas, do you need to fill out an application form. Thus you do not have to apply or renew for the years that you will not be using the license. Another change is that the license is only good for the "Duration of Stay in the Bahamas" that is specified on your application. This section is mandatory and has to be completed by all applicants.

In addition, you cannot request your "Duration of Stay in the Bahamas" to be more than one year or pay fees for more than one year at a time.

To apply for a Reciprocal Amateur License go to the URCA Website - www.urcabahamas.bs.

Helpful hints for completing Section 5:

Upon completion of the form, send it along with a copy of your Amateur Radio License, the identification page of your Passport or Birth Certificate, the credit card authorization form, or international money order, or US money order, or check for the application fee plus Spectrum fee (currently license application fee of $10 and Spectrum fee of $25 for a total of $35; however check the fee schedule on URCA website for any changes) to:

If there should be questions or concerns regarding this form, kindly contact URCA's office at (242) 393 0234, email address: info@urcabahamas.bs or cwhyms@urcabahamas.bs

You should receive confirmation of your Reciprocal Amateur Radio license in 2 - 3 weeks.

We first cruised the Bahamas in Altair I 1964 and got our weather forecasts by AM Marine radio and AM broadcasts. The marine radios were 2 MHz AM and most cruising boats had one. I was not a ham and there were very few in the Bahamas then. My marine AM radio was typical: Simpson, 50 watts, 5 Xtl controlled channels each tuned in a big tank circuit, cost $200 or less. The random wire antenna started at the back of the radio, no feed line. They had a range of about 100 to occasionally 300 miles. My 5 channels were: Miami and Nassau Marine Operators; call and distress (2182); and two ship to ship. The marine operators gave weather forecasts on iffy schedules. They would not interrupt traffic for weather. AM broadcast stations in Florida giving marine weather included Charlie's Locker, Ft Lauderdale at 8AM on WVCG, a disc jockey in Miami with a thick Maine accent and Zed NS Nassau with weather broadcasts, including one in the morning right after "Obituaries on the Air." Most out island "clubs" used AM marine radios for communication, ID-ing from their boats like Mizpah, Black Pepper, Yellow Cat, Bessie Virginia and Cleopatra's Bardge. Some of these marine radios strangely migrated from the boat to the bar room. Cruising and charter boats met on the air every morning on ship to ship channel 2738 to exchange weather and other info. Some referred to it as "The Children's Hour."

That's the way it was about the time the Waterway Net got started. From 1971 to about 1974 AM Marine radios were phased out. The change was not popular but encouraged cruisers (like me) to become hams. The AM radios were replaced with VHF-FM and SSB Marine radios which were big and expensive. VHF Marine weather was started then, but for years there were holes in this system. AM Marine radios (with their QRM) were used for years in the Bahamas after they were illegal in the US. The 1970's also saw new small 12 V solid state ham rigs like SBE, Atlas, Ten-Tec, Kenwood and others. These were big improvements for cruising boats and cost much less than marine SSB.

We became hams 1972, WB4WTR and Chris was WB4WTS. That spring we took Altair III from Panama to Florida and checked into the Waterway net regularly. The net did not have organized weather reporting but members relayed needed forecasts. On June 16 we found shelter in a small harbor on Cozumel, which soon filled with Mexican freight and fishing boats and some yachts as hurricane Agnes formed in the Yucatan Strait. I can remember Altair's little pilot house crowded with Mexican captains as we listened to the Waterway Net on my Swan 500CX and got the only reliable weather forecasts available. We suffered no damage and Agnes went straight north to the Florida panhandle.

Sometime around 1980 Dotty Miller, N4AAT, started giving the East Florida coastal forecast on the net, copied from Charlie's Locker. A year or so later Wes Carlseen N5AQJ started giving the marine weather from Gulfport, MS. In 1990 Carolyn C6AGG started giving forecasts from Nassau. Nobody assigned them the job, they just did it. Weather forecasts were shorter then, about as detailed as what we get now from Nassau. John Stufflebeem, N3DKZ did a lot of homework on weather sources and got us reporting the S.W. N. Atlantic in 1986. Many weather reporters got up at 4:30 in the morning to hand copy weather from the USCG on NMN at 5AM Eastern time. Bud, KK4MV, appointed the first weather coordinator in 1991, Conrad, WA3SSB, who got us into Weatherbank, a big breakthrough. In 1993-94 John, N3DKZ, wrote detailed instructions on its use. It was a private company supplying WX info. Each net weather reporter maintained a credit balance account with Weatherbank and we downloaded requested weather forecasts using an 800 number, a PC with modem and free software. It cost 25 cents a minute, but sometimes it took longer. It was reliable and fast. For the first time we could get weather forecasts at any time and print them out.

Two or three years later we started getting weather off the World Wide Web. A lot of services came along (and some left) about that time, like Weather FAX, NAVTEX and RTTY weather. Unfortunately, USCG ended the most reliable CW weather in 1993 and the Navy ended WxFAX in 1997.

Since the start of the Waterway Net there have been many advances in weather forecasting: weather computers; satellite images and communication; Doppler radar and more. In spite of this, the weather service still "blows" forecasts, and errors still increase exponentially the further out the forecasts go. Forecasts are more detailed, redundant and verbose. Sometimes I think more is less and less is more.

Note: Information for this article came from C6AGG, N3DKZ, W4IKV, N4LDX, ND7K, KK4MV, KN4RB, KI4SL, N4UAU, many old Scuttlebutts, Rosters, Net Guide and Marine Electronics 3rd ed by WB6NOA.

The following members or their families have recently received cards or flowers from the Sunshine Fund.

May

Ginny Kynett       N4CYP       Surgery

Al Resnick       K3PXR       Silent Key

June

Tom 'Duffy' McMurray       WP2V       Silent Key

Be sure to send any Get Well or Silent Key requests or notices to Debbie at:

Debbie Lerner KD4GRR
Sunshine Fund Chairman
sunshine@waterwayradio.net

Tom "Duffy" McMurray, Jr. 85 passed away June 16,2011. He was born August 21. 1925 in McAlester OK to Tom McMurray Sr. and Christine (Weaver) McMurray. He served his country proudly as a pilot in the United States Air Force. He continued his love of flying as a charter pilot flying tourists to various islands.

Tom was a commercial photographer and owned a camera shop, "Stowe Photos. He took aerial pictures of Stowe, Vermont. He went to the Bahamas every winter on his boat named "Thumper".

He is survived by his 2 daughters: Cynthia McMurray, Karen Tutt and husband David; 2 sisters: Suzanne Kauffmann and husband Howard, Marilyn McMurray; 2 grandchildren: Deanna, Jennifer Peacock and Husband Jamie; and 6 great-grandchildren.

Note from Tom's Family

BoatUS Press Release: ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 26, 2011 - The nation's largest boat owners' group, BoatUS, hand delivered over 15,000 comments from concerned boaters, sailors and anglers to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today asking the agency to protect the future reliability of GPS (Global Positioning System) across the United States. The agency is currently considering a request from a private company, LightSquared, (see Around the Waterways, page 11) to build up to 40,000 ground stations for a new nationwide broadband wireless telephone network, which, tests have shown, could cause significant interference with most GPS signals.

At issue is LightSquared's proposed use of radio frequency bandwidth adjacent to frequencies that are used by the relatively weak GPS signal. A recent report to the FCC said, "all phases of the LightSquared deployment plan will result in widespread harmful interference to GPS signals and service and that mitigation is not possible." In an unusual move, a conditional waiver was granted in January by the FCC to LightSquared to permit the dramatic expansion of land-based use of mobile satellite spectrum, subject to spring testing and public comments.

"We hope these 15,000 comments indicate to the FCC the critical need of having a reliable navigation system, not just for boaters and anglers, but for pilots, drivers, outdoor adventurers, and first responders. It is unimaginable that the federal government - the guardian of the bandwidth - would consider approving a proposal with so many problems and grave public safety consequences," said BoatUS Vice President of Government Affairs Margaret Podlich.

An unusually short 30-day public comment period on the FCC permit ends Saturday, July 30. BoatUS is urging citizens around the country to share their views by going to www.BoatUS.com/gov to send their comments to the FCC.

After losing their only other viable navigation system (LORAN) last year after the Department of Homeland Security shut the system down, boaters now solely rely on GPS for electronic navigation. The US Coast Guard's emergency search and rescue system, Rescue 21, now uses GPS to locate stricken vessels on over 36,985 miles of coastline. Mariners also rely on GPS-enabled communications with DSC VHF radios to provide location information, as do 406MHz Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs) and Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) for mayday and man-overboard situations, respectively.

BoatUS is a member of the Coalition to Save Our GPS, (http://www.saveourgps.org/) which works to resolve this serious threat to the GPS system.

The deadline to submit comments has passed but as boaters we'll need to keep any eye on this situation. There's sure to be more news on this.

Additional sources for information and news:

Having travelled the ICW from Ft. Pierce to Mile Marker 0 in June, I can report no surprises. We still have to play the tides through Georgia, especially at Jekyll Creek and Little Mud River. Hell's Gate depths are less robust than when last dredged, but easily passed at half tide or more. We found adequate depth for our 4' draft where the ICW crosses the North Carolina inlets and at Ft. Matanzas near the red side. The old pontoon bridge is gone. You can find up-to-date information on the condition of the ICW at:

Check these sources before heading out.

Going to the Bahamas this year? Diesel was as much as $6.00 per gallon in June. Best price we found was in Spanish Wells - $5.29.

Have you heard about LightSquared? It's a new company that proposes to erect 40,000 land-based wireless internet stations across the USA, using radio spectrum adjacent to the band allocated to GPS. Tests so far indicate serious GPS interference. The FCC is working on a solution, and no doubt the military will have something to say about it. You can still plot a course and fix your position using paper charts - right?

As of the end of June, the Okeechobee Route 1 navigation depth is less than 3.6 feet. The St. Lucie and Franklin locks operate only at 0900 and 1600.

From June 19, 2011 through 6:30 p.m. on December 20, 2013, the Gilmerton Bridge, at AIWW mile 5.8, will not open from 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. Note the potential 3-hour delay.

Carolina Beach, NC, plans to install 10 moorings in the southern part of Myrtle Grove Sound. Each of the moorings, to be installed by August 2011, will hold boats between 26 and 55 feet. The expected charge is to be $10--$20 per night. Boaters will be able to make reservations and pay over the phone or on the Town of Carolina Beach website. Once the moorings are installed, anchoring will be prohibited within the mooring field or within 100 feet of moorings or docks.

Check out the newest boating place on the Virginia Cut route. Top Rack Marina is a small-boat storage facility just north of Steel Bridge. It features a fuel dock and an above-average restaurant. Spend $75 at the Amber Lantern for dinner and your dockage is free. This place has received very positive reviews.

Mooring fields are in progress at Sarasota and in the north basin at St. Petersburg. Anchoring is prohibited within 100' of all mooring fields in Florida.

Finally, and regrettably, a boater was killed in the C&D Canal recently when he fell in the water while trying to JUMP from a docking boat onto a pier.

Scuttlebutt is published quarterly to inform members about Waterway Net news, activities and items of interest. Email your material to the Editor for possible submission.

What to Send

Your Editor is always looking for articles and photos

News from gatherings and luncheons

Human interest stories, humorous, hair-raising and "Don't worry, honey. . ."

Bahamas and Island news

CW and Land Cruiser's news

Technical topics

Safety & navigation notices

Letters to the editor

Poetry

Boating/Ham events

Sea Chest: items wanted or for sale

Use your imagination and send it in

Send Silent Key and obituary notices to our Sunshine Lady.
Address changes should be sent to our Club's secretary.

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