Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Spanning an Ocean
The 8 MHz frequency served us well throughout most of the passage, but when the POST
net boats spanned the entire 3,000 miles between the Galapagos and Polynesia, we turned
to an alternate 12 MHz frequency. Invariably, some boats have better SSB transmission
than others, so relays were necessary to compile the entire group's information. This was
another time we were thankful for the relatively small size of our group, since relays can
quickly grow monotonous, not to mention energy-consuming for short-handed crews in the
midst of never-ending watch schedules. We met for about thirty minutes each morning,
with the net stretching a little longer in its most sociable and humorous late editions.
What if a yacht failed to call in one morning? In our group, each vessel put forward an in-
dividual request as to whether the Coast Guard should be notified with a message of con-
cern should they fail to report for two successive days. This would corroborate a possible
EPIRB signal without creating waves of panic in case of a more innocent loss of power or
transmission ability.
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