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Making it all Worthwhile for Winlink
It's the
time of the year when many people in faraway places exchange messages to wish
each other the very best for the New Year. Many Winlink users in remote
locations around the world take the trouble of sending a brief message to the
Winlink Team expressing their appreciation for the assistance provided.
Quoted
below is one such message from an Australian cruising couple. The text is
self-explanatory. Apart from the addition of some words in brackets, thus
(Winlink) to improve clarity for non-Winlink readers, the text is reproduced as
shown below:
QUOTE
 Barbara and I come from Sale in Victoria and we are both
retired and have opted for the cruising lifestyle for the medium future. LUTANA
II is a 35 foot Dutch built steel sloop. She
was built in 1964 and has Styrofoam insulation so the noise hardly penetrates
the hull. As you have now forced our hand we
will shortly learn how to take a digital photo with our new video camera,
transfer the photo to the laptop and then send it to you. Wish us luck.
When I began my cruising in 1988 in the South Pacific, the biggest problem was
keeping in touch with those at home who were always concerned about any delays
in communication. News from home was always hard to get. Many times we had to
delay a departure waiting for a letter and the problems sometimes encountered in
trying to make a phone call home often meant that the calls did not happen. Ham
radio kept us in touch by family members ringing a friend who was a Ham, and who
made the time to keep regular QSO's.
Since the advent of the Internet, everything became easier and as we traveled
through Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand it was always possible to
eventually find an Internet Café to send and receive emails and thus end the
tyranny of Snail Mail. The letters were always there, waiting in cyber space -
sometimes for weeks or months till the next Internet Café.
Then came Jim (Corenman) and Airmail and the dedicated (Winlink) PMBOs and the
team  who developed all the rest of the software. For the price of a modem, Hams
were suddenly back in touch. Whether from Chagos Archipelago, or the middle of
the Indian Ocean or the Red Sea, propagation allowing, we were "In
Touch". Fears and Anxieties at home were alleviated, news from home came as
it happened, and cruising around in the world became much less constricted by
the need to "go somewhere to get in touch".
We are now in Turkey near Marmaris, 25
km away in Orhaniye in the Gulf of Hisaronyu at Marti Marina. We are looking
to move next year to onwards towards the Caribbean
on our slow and leisurely visit to interesting places that always seem to be
further west.
The community/brotherhood of Hams has always been a delight and safety net to
us, and we seldom get the chance to express our sincere thanks to those who
provide that service. We try for an “eyeball” (contact) wherever possible
and have always made another friend. I hope sometime to catch up with you.
For now Cheers, 73s & 88s, Don (VK3CQN) and Barbara on LUTANA II in Turkey
UNQUOTE
Embedded are a few photographs of LUTANA II and
crew that, as promised, were just sent over the Internet from Turkey. The
boat photo was taken a couple of days ago with the new digital video camera. She
is tied to the walkway at Marti Marina, which you can see. There is a nearby
mountain spring or at this time of the year, more like am underground river,
that debouches under the jetty right next to us. It is quite a torrent at times
and never ceases to amaze jetty walkers how we put up with it. The
personal photos were taken at the Wall Bay Restaurant in Gocek bay in summer
time.
We wish Don
and Barbara enjoyable and safe cruising as they are continuing on their westward
circumnavigation.
AUSSIEWINLINK
January 4, 2004
To view LUTANA II's geographic
location, Click VK3CQN
Read the Disclaimer
that is now the "normal" attachment to any Good Wishes for a New Year.
It's along the line of the Navigational Charts that carry the qualification that
they are not to be used for Navigation.
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