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Courage
and Determination
Winlink
described as “fabulous” by senior cruiser
Jeanne
(KC2IOV), of the sailing yacht NEREIDA, wrote to the Winlink Development Team
expressing her gratitude. She had just gone through an ordeal loosing her
sailing buddy, her husband George, after cruising together for five years. She
writes to Steve (K4CJX), the Winlink Administrator, as follows:
“Steve, I just wanted to express my
thanks for Winlink to all of you who have been involved in developing it - also
to the PMBO sysops in & around the Caribbean who were used by me recently
when on my sailboat in Bonaire.
I lost my husband to
cancer in London in March and scattered his ashes at sea close to Bonaire in
early July. Using Winlink, I was able to communicate with family and friends
around the world both before and after the event - they were all with me in
spirit on the chosen day. It was absolutely fantastic.
Thank you all again for enabling the help, support & encouragement I got
from them all.
Jeanne, KC2IOV (temporarily back in London) (S/Y 'Nereida'
still in Bonaire, awaiting my return in September)”
George had been a Senior
Lecturer at Brunel University, specializing in Spectroscopy (he gained his Ph.D.
in N.M.R). When the opportunity came to take early retirement in 1997, he
revelled
in the thought of spending his remaining years sailing. “Nereida” (a Najad
361) was bought as a result.
Nereida’s maiden
cruise took her from Sweden; up to Norway as far as the Lysefjord; and back to
the Hamble in the UK via Denmark, the Kiel Canal and the Netherlands. Later she
left the UK again, this time for Biscay. Her travels took her down to Spain,
Portugal and Morocco. She took part in the Gibraltar Regatta of 1999 and the
ARC99. Her voyages continued down to Trinidad; up to New York via Bermuda;
eventually joining the Commodore’s Millennium cruise from Manhasset Bay to
Nova Scotia. She continued via the USA to the Bahamas and Cuba. Sadly, George
was diagnosed with cancer in Grenada in September 2001. He returned to the UK
for treatment but returned to the boat in May last year to sail
to Tobago and Trinidad, thence to Venezuela and Bonaire. That was his last
cruise. He returned to the UK and passed away on March 17, 2003. As Jeanne
writes in these final days: “with his love of the sea and sailing he was
only really happy when he was on board Nereida.” His ashes returned to the
waters off Bonaire to sail the seas forever.
What
is equally remarkable about this sailing couple is that Jeanne and George, when
aged close to 60 and 65, respectively, took up the study of amateur radio while
actually sailing along. Jeanne writes:
“While we were sailing 'down-island' in June/July 2001, we were
learning & practicing our Morse Code and learning from the 'Technician'
level book we had bought at the Oct 2000 Annapolis Boat Show, in readiness (as
we thought) for taking our exams after getting to Trinidad. We
got to Grenada at the end of July and stayed there (its climate is
far pleasanter than Trinidad's - far less humid, with fewer tropical
downpours!).
We made
many friends there - among whom were quite a few also wanting to take their
'ham' exams. We also met three well-qualified 'hams' who were willing to help us
all and who were authorized conducting exams. So we all got organized, helped by
very useful computer programs (for both the Morse and the theory) and personal
help/explanations from tutors whenever needed.
We both studied and practiced hard every day throughout August and into
September. Sadly, we had to fly to London (the day after 9-11) for George’s
treatment. I briefly returned to “Nereida” to get her safely onto the hard
before I returned to London. In anticipation of us soon returning to cruising I
sat for and passed the ham radio exams.”
She continues: “The
intention, of course, was to make use of our 'ham' qualification to use our SSB
with more freedom of choice of frequencies to talk to cruising friends at sea
and also to use Winlink which seemed like an excellent way of keeping in contact
with shore-based family & friends - so often Internet cafes are just not
available, especially at anchor in remote places!
Because of George's condition, we only
got back to cruising together on 'Nereida' in May (to Tobago) and then again
from mid-August to late December (Trinidad to Venezuela to Bonaire) and we had
too many other things on our mind then to organize the Pactor modem.
So it was not until this year that I
was determined to investigate the installation and to get the modem to bring it
back out to Bonaire with me because I felt that to have Winlink would clearly be
useful. In fact, it turned out to be a huge success from my point of view, as
you have gathered. Every evening, I
was able to exchange messages with our family and friends and when the day came
to scatter George's ashes, although I was alone on the boat, it felt as though
everyone was with me because they all knew what I had planned - including quite
a few cruising friends scattered over the island chain.
I 'spoke' often to close family in New Zealand and Australia, as well as
Scotland and England and knew we were in their thoughts that day. Many, many
people raised a glass to George that lunchtime! The good thing also was to be
able to do all this from the security of the boat, out in the bay, and not be
restricted by having to go to an Internet cafe. (My intention had been to sail
from Bonaire back to the Aves and/or Roques for the ceremony but the winds were
too strong 'on the nose' to do so - but that didn't really matter since the
sailing was excellent on the day (25-30 knots!), just as it had been when we
sailed together up the coast of Bonaire in December.)
I have
been really impressed by the speed of transmission at times (using Pactor 3 and
certain stations. I just love the chart that shows propagation - it makes it
so simple to decide with whom & when to make contact. I've also been
surprised at how often I've actually managed to get messages through in the
daytime (again using F8 to advantage!) via Winlink."
AussieWinlink
would like to conclude that it speaks for the courage and determination of
Jeanne when she writes: “I certainly do not intend stopping while I am
physically capable of continuing! The sooner I can get back out again, the
happier I'll be! Regards, Jeanne.”
AussieWinlink
30 August
2003
For
a more detailed article written by Jeanne Socrates, Click on > Five
Years
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