Radio Nets

The cruising community is just that - a community. And as with any community - there are ways to share information and communicate. In the larger cruising ports (Georgetown, Grenada, Curacao, St. Martin) there is a morning "cruisers' net" on the VHF radio. It is hosted by a "volunteer" controller (aka DJ) and the net's personality often takes on that of this "controller." Some put a lot of work into prepping for the net (music intros, thoughts of the day etc.) and others follow the "script." The nets offer all kind of shared info like weather reports (from someone who's gone on the net and hunted down the NOAA reports, locals reports, wind guru, passage weather etc.); help with services (who fixes engines, sails, where the best deals are on something, when propane is picked up etc.); people looking to buy or sell stuff - often called "treasures of the bilge." Everyone seems to listen in on these and it is both informative and entertaining. Sort of like your morning radio station!

There are also other "nets" on the SSB (Single-Side Band) radio. The Cruiseheimers (mostly US and Bahamas); Panama net; Safety and security net; various weather nets; the Caribbean cruisers' net; mobile maritime nets etc. These provide either specific information (weather) or are contact places to connect with our cruisers or get more information at a greater distance. The VHF is usually a shorter/line of sight radio whereas the SSB frequencies can reach much farther. Again - great info as well as entertainment.

The people who host these nets do a great service to the cruising community. And if something big happens somewhere in the world - it's a good way to learn about it. For example - the tsunami the other day in America Samoa - there were some cruisers impacted by this disaster. On the morning local net here, someone had received an e-mail from a fellow cruiser and the sad news was that one cruiser got swept away by the wave. We had met that cruiser in 2001 when we were in the Turks and Caicos. It shows what a small community this is.

It's been mighty hot and sticky here in Cartagena the last few days and today looks like another scorcher. There is a light breeze on the boat - but on shore - walking is a hot and sweaty exercise. Yesterday, we went into old town early trying to beat some of the heat. Michael wanted to take his watch into a repair shop (the alarms stopped working). The repair man wasn't in when we arrived, so we bought a cup of fresh cut watermelon (for less than a buck) and walked to a park. The shaded park was lovely and it was fun to watch the people and services provided. Shoe shine folks, fruit sellers, and cell phone call sellers. The cell phone call sellers is a big business in Cartagena - for 150 pesos a minute (about eight cents) you can make local calls. Many people use the service and the cell phones sellers are on just about every corner. We've used it as well to call the local seamstress making our cushions. And of course, there are Michael's favorite business people - the Café tinto sellers. Cafe Tinto is a strong cup of expresso coffee - very sweet - served in tiny cups. The coffee men walk around with these thermoses filled with the stuff and serve it up - at 500 pesos a cup (28 cents). Not exactly Starbuck's prices!!! Michael loves the stuff! Too sweet for Barbara.

We enjoyed our morning in the park and chatted with a gentleman on the bench. We remember this as one of our fondest memories from 2001, so it was nice to do it again. We'll go to town a few more times and just sit in the park and enjoy.

Happy October 1st!