WayneS - 2-25-2009 at 11:47 AM
I will be sailing a small boat down Baja, and would very much appreciate any information on VHF nets which would be helpful to sailors. I am sure
there are such nets in La Paz, Puerto Escondido/Loreto, and very possibly Bahia Conception and Santa Rosalia; maybe Mulege.
Any information on net locales, stations, and times would be much appreciated. Thanks!
Wayne
Diver - 2-25-2009 at 12:09 PM
http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=37087#pid3932...
Jack Swords - 2-25-2009 at 12:26 PM
If you can get your hands on a SSB (single sideband) ham radio or even SSB marine radio, you will have more reliable communications. VHF is
line-of-sight (yes, some folks do better, but don't count on it) and usually you can get 10 to 15 miles range from a sailboat with the antenna on the
mast. A handheld is even worse. This by no means indicates you should not have a VHF, just the SSB radio will allow you distances around 1000 miles
or more. There are a multitude of SSB Ham and Marine nets all over the Sea or Cortez. Most give weather forecasts on a daily basis (some from points
in the USA). Google Marine/Ham SSB nets in the SOC for more info. Another good source is Club Cruceros in La Paz. Their website has "radio info"
that lists frequency and net information. The Sea can be very unkind at times and reliable communications is essential.
WayneS - 2-25-2009 at 04:56 PM
Many thanks to all.
Jack, I'm a licensed ham, but can't do a ham or SSB rcv/xmtr radio install before I leave; so I am taking a SSB receiver to pick up those nets. Wish
I could get that Icom 718 installed.
rhintransit - 2-25-2009 at 06:12 PM
.
loreto, pto escondido and surrounds local net at 8am channel 22. locals monitor 16, 22, and gringo fishers 78
la paz local net same time same channel, but never on a sunday. boat people monitor 16.
other locations, ask on 16. nets everywhere.
Hook - 2-25-2009 at 07:14 PM
In case strong northwesterlies take you over to San Carlos, Sonora, our net is on 72 at 8am.
Jack Swords - 2-25-2009 at 08:50 PM
OK Wayne...the HF SSB receiver is good for the Wx info. Do check out the radio info on the Club Cruceros site on the Internet. You will fing VHF
freq allocations and also SSB (Marine & Ham) freqs and times for nets and Wx. The local VHF nets as you cruise down are usually at 8 AM and start
with Wx. Winter "northers" are usually predictable and can last for several days so the nets can give you a "headsup" so you can hunker down. Have a
great trip!
Jack. N1IY, s/v La Paloma
Many thanks
WayneS - 2-26-2009 at 05:37 PM
Thanks to all-- good information, and much appreciated.
If you care to, look for a little Cheoy Lee Frisco Flyer named "Sumatra", right now in San Carlos but should be in Baja before too long-- around March
10.
Wayne
BajaBruno - 2-26-2009 at 07:34 PM
I am guessing WayneS is Wayne Stromberg, Ph.D. You can see his boat at:
http://www.cheoyleeassociation.com/friscoflyers.html
Good to have you on the board, Professor. Cute boat, but it must be a tad cramped if you have company aboard. Don't forget to troll a lure on your
way across the SOC--you may arrive with dinner!
WayneS - 2-28-2009 at 07:20 PM
Thank you, BajaBruno.
"A tad cramped"? A few years ago I met a man who sailed a boat exactly like mine around the world. Another one, exactly like mine, accompanied him.
I asked him what the trip was like and he very forcefully replied: "UNCOMFORTABLE."
You ask me, he needed to go to his Quiet Place.
Hook - 2-28-2009 at 10:15 PM
WayneS, where are you in San Carlos? When do you expect to leave?
WayneS - 3-1-2009 at 11:03 PM
I'm in Marina San Carlos, fairly near the office, on J dock. Going back down this coming weekend with a friend, and to Santa Rosalia soon after.
WayneS - 3-1-2009 at 11:05 PM
Clarifying-- The boat is in San Carlos. I am in San Diego, traveling back down this coming weekend.
Hook - 3-2-2009 at 06:49 AM
OK. I heard someone on the net yesterday by the name of Wayne's World and I wondered if it was you. But I guess your boat is Sumatra.
Listen for me on the local net. Ch 72 @ 8am. I live here. Let me know if I can be of any help before your trip. I am going to a baseball game on
Friday in Hermosillo, though.
I also have an interesting means of possibly getting you weather reports via VHF from as much as a hundred miles from San Carlos. Let's talk when you
get here.
PJ on the F/V Marisla
Pompano - 3-2-2009 at 08:09 AM
WayneS..
For Mulege (including the Bay of Conception):
Call channel is still Ch. 16, but most small boats can be hailed on Ch. 22..the local fishermen's favorite.
There is a Mulege radio broadcast at 9 o'clock each morning on Ch. 21. Area events, swap, barter, mail north, etc.
There is a Conception Bay broadcast at 8 o'clock each morning on Ch. 18 that features weather forecasts for a broader area. Courtesy of 'Club Burro'
Your Sumatra may be small to some, but probably not to you. I once met an Englishman here who sailed a 17-footer, named Mirror, completely around the
Cortez and Pacific sides of Baja. Did he he make it to wherever the hell he was going after that..? Who knows? As in most things, it's not the
destination..it's the journey.
Hook - 3-2-2009 at 08:20 AM
Roger, we had this discussion on another thread.
When you say channel 22, are you guys using 22-international or 22A-U.S.?
I believe one is duplex and the other is simplex.
[Edited on 3-2-2009 by Hook]
805gregg - 3-2-2009 at 06:11 PM
Frisco flyers are great little boats, I have a friend that did Baja twice in his, once single handed.