[Milsurplus] So Much for "Modern Technology"

[Brooke Clarke]

Hi David:

You didn't mention what happened after they activated the EPIRB.  If they had 
done that up front the rescue might have been faster.

Is any government agency maintaining HF stations for coms with ships at sea?

Have Fun,

Brooke Clarke
http://www.PRC68.com
http://www.precisionclock.com


> Date: Sat, 12 May 2007 07:04:35 -0500
> From: "David Stinson" <arc5 at ix.netcom.com>
> Subject: [Milsurplus] So Much for "Modern Technology"
> To: "Old Tube Radios" <boatanchors at theporch.com>,	"Milsurplus Radios"
> 	<milsurplus at mailman.qth.net>
> Message-ID: <000d01c7948d$b5edab20$0202a8c0 at 262ul>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="Windows-1252"
> 
>>From the latest ARRL Letter:
> 
> 
> ==>HAM RADIO INSTRUMENTAL IN PACIFIC MARITIME RESCUE
> 
> Amateur Radio played a critical role May 4 and 5 in rescuing two people from
> a foundering sailboat that had been en route to Colombia. Members of the
> Maritime Mobile Service Net (MMSN) and Intercontinental Net on 14.300 MHz
> were involved in getting the man and woman aboard the 35-foot s/v Sailabout
> to safety after they ran into trouble some 700 nautical miles southwest of
> the Galapagos Islands in the South Pacific.
> 
> The couple, identified as Gunnar Hansen and Grethe Haraldsen, both Norwegian
> nationals and neither an amateur licensee, put out a Mayday call on the
> Intercon/MMSN 14.300 MHz frequency the morning of May 4 after Sailabout
> sustained damage to its bow -- possibly as a result of losing a forestay,
> which helps to keep the mast upright -- and started taking on water. ...
>  The Sailabout had only recently been equipped with an
> HF SSB transceiver.....
> 
> Amateur Radio relays alerted the US Coast Guard at Alameda, California, to
> the Sailabout's predicament. At the Coast Guard's request, *relayed via ham
> radio,* Hansen set off the vessel's Emergency Position Indicating Radio
> Beacon (EPIRB). Job says Henderson -- assisted by several other stations --
> passed critical information to the Coast Guard. .... (they got rescued. ds)
> Throughout the ordeal, various Amateur Radio stations -- some of which
> simply stood by if needed -- made themselves available to update the Coast
> Guard, **which never had direct contact with Sailabout.**
> (emph mine)
> 
> Call me a luddite, I guess...
> D.S.