Informal QSOs sometimes develop into regular scheduled nets. This net, which developed over time, serves the interests of its maritime members--who are always on the move.

1096 members! How many Amateur Radio clubs, or any similar club, can boast of a membership like that? Every morning at 7:45 on 7.268 MHz, boaters on the Intracoastal Waterway, on rivers or on the ocean are listening closely to the Waterway Radio and Cruising Club Net. On our boat, sailing vessel Falcon, monitoring this net is a priority each morning.

W8PZH mans the Waterway Radio and Cruising Club table at the November SSCA Gam. [Photos by the author]

Organized officially in 1963, the WRCC Net was entered in Lloyd's Register of Yachts as the Waterway Radio Net Club and is now called the Waterway Radio and Cruising Club. WRCC began as a scheduled QSO by Charles Burgoyne, W1LHZ (from New England) and Jake Hornor, K4YBL (a Floridian)--two amateurs with a mutual interest in boating. It is now a controlled net that has aided boaters with weather reports, emergency traffic--including medical emergencies--float plans and position reports and traffic between boats. And now, 39 years and 26 commodores later, it has grown to more than 828 families and 1096 hams. The 2002 season begins with the new commodore, Lawry Bennetts, KB3KR, at the helm.

The Morning Callup

Each morning, adhering to a consistent format, the net begins with a call for emergency or priority traffic. This is followed by a comprehensive report of weather, announcements of general interest--such as bridge closings, lost dinghies, luncheons--and traffic between boats accommodating those hams who want to talk to each other. Precisely at 8:15 the Fleet Captain calls all boaters who have filed float plans. If they do not check in, their float plans are reviewed and the emergency contact person is notified.

The next item is a call to boaters who want their position listed and placed in the computer for future reference. Any ham with a General class or higher license may call in and have his position recorded. A person must have a General class or higher license to use this net, but any boater may listen. Emergency assistance is of course available to all without regard to license class. As the boaters report in they notify the net of their location and, if they are in transit, their destination. Over the years a number of boats have been located through the assistance of net members.

The Coast Guard will often call in and report an overdue or missing boat. The Commodore will query the net for any information regarding that boat. Boats in nearly every harbor and on the high seas--who can hear the transmission--monitor the net. If the missing boat is in any of these places it will be quickly reported back to the net. Of course these are not all emergencies--many times a spouse or other family member will become concerned and report an overdue boat only to discover that the captain may have decided that the previous port was just too interesting to leave.

S/v Falcon under way on Exuma Sound, Bahamas. Note the wind turbine electric generator.

True to its purpose, the net has come through countless times for those in distress. A case in point is the piracy that occurred three miles off the Venezuelan coast March 20, 2001. Pirates attacked a Swedish ham and his wife aboard the s/v Loma, headed for Trinidad and Tobago. The captain, suspecting trouble, tried to pull away from the boat but was shot. Among the hams aiding these unfortunate boaters was the WRCC Fleet Surgeon Dr Jim Hirschman, K4TCV. Hirschman also gave much needed medical advice to a couple from The Netherlands in March 2000 when pirates near Honduras shot their 13-year-old son. His advice helped keep their son alive. Jim has aided many cruising boaters who called via the WRCC. Dr Jim generally monitors the net each morning for any emergency medical traffic. A "First Aid for Boaters" page may be found on his Web site. It addresses many of the bothersome illnesses boaters encounter [Hirschman was the recipient of the 2001 ARRL International Humanitarian Award.--Ed]. Hams traveling with animals may also call the net for advice about their pets since the services of a veterinarian have also been added.

A Net for CW Operators

Growing rapidly over the years, the WRCC has spawned other nets. An average of 15 WRCC members and some non-members meet daily at 7:00 AM on 7050 kHz (prior to the WRCC Net) for a 45-minute CW net. All are welcome. To accommodate all those checking in, Monday, Wednesday and Friday are designated as slow-net days (10-15 WPM). Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday are fast-net days (15-25 WPM). For those wanting an even faster net, Sunday is QRQ day. It has been interesting to hear the improvement in code speed and the confidence of the new hams who check in. Hams report from New York, Colorado, Texas, Minnesota, California, the Bahamas and the Virgin Islands. So to paraphrase Star Wars, may the Morse be with you.

More Nets

A Tech Net for hams needing help and advice on problems with boat equipment, radios and/or antennas is held Sunday mornings following the regular WRCC Net. On Friday a Computer Net covers subjects related to the use of computers, their problems and applications. Many boaters now have computers on board but lack Internet connection for help with their problems.

Members who travel in recreational vehicles instituted their own net--the RV Net. Net members keep up camaraderie with fellow hams, exchanging information and arranging social gatherings.

At the annual November gathering of the Seven Seas Cruising Association in Eau Gallie, Florida, the anchorages and marinas are filled with cruisers awaiting the four-day activities. On Thursday before the gam (a get together) the WRCC holds its huge annual picnic with hams converging in boats, cars and RVs. Our annual Yellowbird Luncheon--named in honor of former Commodore Genie Lazowska, KC4YB (SK)--is held on Friday. These events are attended by more than 100 visitors.

During the gam, members of the WRCC provide information about the club and about Amateur Radio in general. They give seminars, provide testing sessions and volunteer to help with the children. In the last two years volunteers taught the rudiments of Amateur Radio to children of boaters who were attending the Gam. It was gratifying to watch these children learn enough code to present a short program and it was a good example of how quickly children can learn a new subject. We taught them how to make CW keys from piezoelectric buzzers. When children have any kind of noise making gadget in their hands they can work miracles.

One other net associated with the WRCC Net is the Bahamas Weather Net, which meets daily on 3696 or 7096 kHz (depending on propagation) at 7:20 AM. Without fail cruisers will hear a report from Carolyn Wardle, C6AGG, from New Providence Island, Bahamas.

Licensing Classes

In addition to its many other facets, this organization has provided a service for those wanting to pursue a license now that they are aboard boats. During the month of February, WRCC Exam Coordinator Ron Knaggs, N1GYX, with the help of volunteer examiners from other boats, sets up a testing site in the Exumas (Bahamas) where each year for more than nine years an average of 25 cruisers complete the requirements for a license. Prior to the testing date, weekly lunch meetings are held on a beautiful Bahamian beach followed by a discussion of some radio topic of general interest to boaters. These gams usually attract 80-100 attendees.

Chuck Grey, ND7K (one of the founders of the CW Net) in his shack at Marathon, Florida.

Many cruisers are anxious to get that General class ticket as a gateway to hooking up to Winlink so they can send e-mail from their boats. This service was created for the mobile ham by the Winlink 2000 Development Team of Jim Corenman, KE6RK; Hans Kessler, N8PGR; Victor Poor, W5SMM; Rick Muething, KN6KB and Steve Waterman, K4CJX--all WRCC members. Being able to keep in contact with loved ones is, of course, of prime importance to us all. Last spring while anchored in the Bahamas, I heard by VHF radio that there had been an earthquake in Seattle. Having a daughter and family in that area gave us cause for concern. Telephone service was sporadic at best and sometimes unavailable, not to mention the one-mile trip we had to make across the harbor to town. We checked in to the Winlink system and received the message that all was well with our family.

The WRCC exemplifies the real meaning of Amateur Radio--that of being of service to others. Cruisers have a reputation for being helpful and of course friendly, but boaters who are hams--and more specifically belong to the WRCC--are more so, because that's what Amateur Radio and the Waterway Net are all about.

Norma Stoffer, W8PZH, received her Extra Class license in 1996. As Examination Coordinator of the WRCC she began giving ham exams in George Town, Exuma, Bahamas. She has also given seminars on Amateur Radio--"Ham Radio--Is it for You?"--at the fall meetings of the Seven Seas Cruising Association in Melbourne, Florida. The purpose of the seminar is to encourage cruising boaters to get a ham license and to point out the necessity of having Amateur Radio capabilities aboard their boats. She also includes a demonstration of CW showing how easy it is to learn this skill.

Norma, and her husband Van, W8NQI, are in their 10th year of cruising. Norma is currently Net Manager of the WRCC CW Net. Their rig is a Kenwood TS-870 connected to a mast-supported inverted V antenna. "I was trained as an organist and I think my love of CW stems from the fact that it takes the place of a keyboard," Norma said. The Stoffers can be reached at w8nqi@winlink.org.

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