1715hrs 04 Feb 2005 UTC 47’56”S 164’20”W Map Ref 46 2224nm
A day in the formal life of the radio operator – times in UTC/approx local – A sked is a scheduled radio broadcast, usually initiated by a land station (but, as in our case with Sarau and Taupo, not always), in this context specifically intended to allow vessels to report their positions as part of the global maritime safety network.
1600/0600 NZ Metservice weather fax. Wxfaxes take about 10 minutes to come in to the laptop and we can get out the printer and print them if necessary. Dodgy down here in the damp and clag. Faxes really slow by land standards but allow time to make the first coffee boost and think about breakfast. Pete will have just gone to bed after his three hours on watch, so it’s just me for the next 3 hours at least, unless we need to change sails etc. Have a look at the fax when it gets in, compare it with earlier ones to get a feel for how the systems have moved and assess our relative position and speed and think about where we need to be in the next couple of days to keep the breeze and avoid any nasties as far as we can. Plan any course and sail changes so that we can do them at watch changes whenever possible.
2000/1000 Australian wxfax – compare with Kiwi one – the australian fax is sent from Charleville in Qld and covers the entire southern pacific on a polar projection with the south pole in the centre at the bottom and a sort of isobaric spaghetti putanesca in a semicircle from australia on the left to Chile and the antarctic peninsula on the right. Detail sometimes hard to see because transmission quality not always 100% The most useful info of the day if we can get it.
2100/1100 listen in to the Australian Penta Comstat long range sked and report our position if we can get through. Radio propagation down here is not good and we dont get through very often. Great service though and every NSW cruising yachtie should join. We also talk to Taupo Maritime Radio in NZ as part of the informal day – see future episode.
2200/noon call Malcolm and Hamish in Sarau, now about two days ahead of us and compare notes, local conditions and our opinions about developing weather and the quality of the local beer. We pass on any relevant ice reports as they dont have SatComC (looks as if the ice that was around has gone – disappointing – i was hoping we’d get to see some).
2215/1215 Kiwi wxfax. I usually stay up from 1600 until this one arrives (it’s easier than the alternative of getting in and out of clothes, sleeping bag etc) and make breakfast, do a deck check and any other daily chores like the bilge and dipping the water tank, write bits of this update, tend the vegies and generally try to be a useful member of the local community. Anthropological study of ritual and ceremony one day soon perhaps. Pete wakes up around 1900 and gets himself breakfast and we talk about the plan for the next few days. If the sun is out, he takes a sextant sight and plots it and does his share of the daily rounds. We may change ends/roles for variety as we get further into the voyage and we can write about the daily watch routine and boat maintenance some other time.
0400/1800 kiwi wxfax. 0600/2000 Penta Comstat L.R. sked 0830/2230 Australian wxfax
1200/1400 listen in for the Patagonian cruise ships sked – haven’t got them yet but nice to join the sked when we are in range. And back to the top of the page again. That’s the formal day, tied to scheduled broadcasts and skeds and I try to maintain this schedule because it’s our lifeline.
The informal radio day depends on radio propagation and weather conditions and how busy/wet/tired we are. I will write about it in another episode. Today’s breakfast was purely medicinal – a guinness, bacon sandwich and a spoonful of tabasco to help the medicine go down…medicine go down…