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I never was good at navigating!

Currently there are 8 marine zones covering the Atlantic offshore waters. These 8 zones will be reconfigured into 18 zones. According to the OPC, "Marine observations, local effects, and customer feedback all indicate that the current marine zones are too large to provide the necessary detail for the marine community. This reconfiguration will serve to improve the precision of marine warnings, forecasts and other services by allowing forecasters to be more area specific."

Each and every morning our tireless and dedicated WRCC weather reporters must download an increasingly large amount of weather data and organize it into a product that is accurate and informative for our cruising members and non-members alike. Then as soon as Net Control has finished asking for emergency traffic, this information must be read over the air; all in about 10 minutes or less. If you don't think that can present a challenge on certain days, I invite you to join our ranks and give it a try. We are always looking for fresh volunteers.

With the reconfiguration of the Atlantic zones - which I do not disagree with, mind you - we are faced with some delicate choices. Which areas and products do we include in our reports, and which must we leave out? For example: What is now (ANZ085) Baltimore Canyon to Hatteras Canyon, by the time this article goes to press will have become (ANZ825), (ANZ828), and (ANZ925). Let's face it, we simply do not have enough time in our allotted slot on the Net to read all the weather for every zone, especially with the approach of storm season when we must begin reporting the tropical weather as well.

So, here's the plan. Beginning approximately April 2, 2014, our weather reporters will no longer read the weather for (ANZ085) as it will soon become obsolete. Instead we will provide the following:

(ANZ898) - The synopsis for the New England Waters (during the appropriate seasons).

(ANZ899) - The synopsis for the Mid-Atlantic Waters (during the appropriate seasons).

No daily reports will be given for these new zones or any of the existing zones remaining after the reconfiguration. For example; the Offshore Waters Forecast for the SW N Atlantic Including the Bahamas, the South Florida Coastal Waters Forecast, and the Gulf of Mexico Offshore Waters Forecast will not automatically be read. Only the synopses and any watches or warnings will be provided.

For the time being we will continue to provide Current Conditions in the form of Buoy Reports. We may add a few or remove a few as deemed appropriate in order to keep our reports timely.

We will continue to conclude our reports by reading the following:

"THAT COMPLETES THE WEATHER. WE HAVE WEATHER AVAILABLE FOR ALL ATLANTIC AND GULF ZONES IF YOU NEED IT. ARE THERE ANY FILLS REQUIRED OR ANY REQUESTS FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER?"

Take this as a hint. If you NEED daily reports (forecasts) for a given area, JUST ASK! Also, please take the time to print out a copy of the forecast zones in the link above to use as a reference in the event you desire additional weather.

Clearly it is the intent of the Ocean Prediction Center to provide mariners with more detailed and area specific weather products. With this goal in mind there are a number of excellent resources being brought on line even as we speak. The link to one such site is listed below, and although it's experimental, it promises to yield tailored weather data based on a number of criteria including weather zones and latitude and longitude.

http://preview.weather.gov/edd/index.php?t=marine

Initially this transition will take some getting used to and more than likely require a little "tweaking" to get everything running like a smoothly oiled machine, but let's not forget, we've been doing this for over 50 years! I think we can handle it.

73 and smooth sailing,

Ridge - N3JUY
Rear Commodore/Weather Coordinator

WATERWAY RADIO AND CRUISING CLUB

ALTERNATE OPERATIONS PLAN

February 19, 2015

In order to provide guidance for continued Waterway Net operations in the face of disruptions to service - either because of atmospheric interference or persistent interference from terrestrial sources beyond the reach of regulatory actions - this alternate plan for daily net operations has been formulated.

The Net Manager shall explore the status of frequencies in the general vicinity of 7.268 MHz to identify options for Net operations. Such options shall be outside the range of interference causing the activation of the Alternate Plan and shall exclude frequencies ordinarily used by other nets.

With a frequency selected, the Net Manager shall inform the Net Control and all WRCC members with operating assignments that the alternate frequency will be used until further notice.

Net Control shall announce on 7.268 MHz at 0745 EST/EDT that the Waterway Net will meet for normal operations on 7.XXX MHz, beginning immediately.

The WRCC Secretary shall issue a notice via email to all members announcing the change in operating frequency, the reason there for, and the expected date for commencing operations. For three days before the shift in frequency, announcements shall be made during regular Waterway Net operation.

For the first five days of operation on the alternate frequency, the member assigned, as either North Relay or South Relay shall shift to 7.268 MHz no less than once every ten minutes and announce the frequency currently used by the Net.

The Scuttlebutt and the club web site shall publish the Alternate Operations Plan and the duration for its activation.

At such time as the interference causing activation of this plan has disappeared, or diminished to levels considered acceptable for net operations, the Net Manager shall declare that the Net return to normal operations on 7.268 MHz.

Notification of the termination of the Alternate Plan shall follow the same sequence as outlined for its activation: announcement by Net Control, communication to all with operational assignments, reminder on the alternate frequency by North or South Relays, notice from the club Secretary, and notice on the web site and in the Scuttlebutt.

  Amendment to the Sportfishing Regulations in the Bahamas:
Nick Wardle writes, "For the avoidance of doubt and misrepresentation, spear fishing regulations have NOT been changed from what they have been for many years. You have always required your Fishing Permit to be endorsed to allow spear fishing, but Customs, when issuing the permits, appear to have been unaware of that requirement, so ignorance was bliss. You could and still can, of course, only use hand-propelled/aimed Hawaiian Sling or pole spear (with or without rubber band to propel) - spear guns have always been illegal. The regulation reads "unless otherwise authorised by the respective permit".

Update from Nick: (11-16-07) "They have relaxed the conch so you can now have six aboard at any time; also ten crawfish, but that depends on you having your fishing permit endorsed to allow spearfishing. That has always been the case, with no changes - Customs mostly did not bother to even ask, when you cleared in, but I believe they now do. It's not clear about demersal fish (60lb or 20 fish, as one grouper could be over 60lb!)
When we have more clarification, we'll announce it on the net."

You may download the Amended (Oct. 2007) Press Release (pdf file - requires Acrobat) explaining the new changes here.

  DIY GPS Position Encoder:  Sam, N4UAU, suggests using the "TinyTrak3" as an inexpensive way to transmit your position, connected between a serial GPS and your radio transmitter. You can purchase PCB, case and all parts, cables and assemble it yourself. Click image for details.

CQ100 Virtual Radio:  Read Terry's, K1LCH article about a new way to receive the Waterway Net over the Internet using VOIP technology. This could be of great help when you are traveling without your rig, or when propagation is poor.    ARTICLE

Waterway Net Annual Picnic to be held Thursday, Oct. 24th, 2019

The site will be the New Bern KOA, on the Neuse River just past the junction with the Trent River. More details to follow.

Helpful App for locating Marine Debris: (from Sam N4UAU)
The free Marine Debris Tracker app was created by the NOAA Marine Debris Division and the Southeast Atlantic Marine Debris Initiative (SEA-MDI) at Univ. of Georgia. This app will work on your smart phone or tablet, both iOS and Android. This app will allow you to enter coordinates for any debris that you may spot and view debris sightings from other boaters. To install, just go to either the App Store (iOS) or Google's Play Store (Android)

  ARRL charts showing new Ham frequencies. These are .pdf files and require Adobe Acrobat Reader to view. They can be printed from the same program. Choose either the color version or the B/W version.

  Coast Guard to discontinue use of *CG: The U.S.C.G. has announced that they are asking all cell phone providers to stop allowing the sequence, *CG to be used to contact the Coast Guard. 911 will still be allowed as a secondary option, but VHF radio is highly recommended. Using VHF makes more sense anyway: if there are other boaters in your vicinity that can offer help, they're not going to know you have a problem if you use your cell phone! Also, using marine VHF gives the rescuers a chance to triangulate your position, saving valuable time in an emergency.

Weather Reporters Guide -   Marti, KF4TRG has published her Weather Reporters Guide for Net reporters and any other interested parties. The Guide is in pdf format (Acrobat Reader required) and can be downloaded HERE.

For WRCC shirts, pins and burgees, check our new WRCC Store page .

Note: Membership in Boat U.S. increased from $19 to $25 on Jan. 1, 2006. WRCC members can get a 50% discount by using our group ID number when applying. The number is published in the current Scuttlebutt.

New U.S.C.G. SSB Emergency Hailing Frequencies

Florida Antenna Statutes and FCC ruling pertaining to amateur radio (pdf file)

New National Weather Service Offshore & Highseas Times for HF

Voice broadcasts of National Weather Service marine forecasts from NMN Chesapeake, VA and NMG New Orleans, LA were modified on June 15, 2005 to accommodate a greater range of products and reduce mutual interference between these and other stations.

NMG/NMN HF voice starting times were: 0330, 0500, 0930, 1130, 1600, 1730, 2200, 2230 UTC

NMG/NMN HF voice starting times are changing to: 0330, 0515, 0930, 1115, 1530, 1715, 2130, 2315 UTC

Frequencies for these stations are:

Chesapeake (NMN) 4426, 6501, 8764, 13089, 17314 kHz (USB)

New Orleans (NMG) 4316, 8502, 12788kHz (USB)