SB QST @ ARL $ARLB022
ARLB022 Amateurs summon help after sailboat runs aground

ZCZC AG22
QST de W1AW  
ARRL Bulletin 22  ARLB022
From ARRL Headquarters  
Newington CT  March 27, 2002
To all radio amateurs 

SB QST ARL ARLB022
ARLB022 Amateurs summon help after sailboat runs aground

Vigilant members of the Maritime Mobile Service Net on 20 meters
relayed calls for help from a sailing vessel that ran aground March
26 off the northern coast of Cuba. Aboard the sailing vessel Tao
were Dave Beane, G0TAG, and his wife, Sara, whose frantic calls on
the Net frequency got a quick response. Unconfirmed reports via
Amateur Radio indicate the couple has been rescued and that efforts
to salvage the vessel were under consideration.

''She was in a big panic, and then they just stopped transmitting,''
reported Ed Petzolt, K1LNC. US Virgin Islands ARRL Section Manager
John Ellis, NP2B, said that less than an hour earlier, Beane had
checked into the MMSN to say the couple had enjoyed a visit to Cuba
and was planning to sail around to the south side.

Ellis said the vessel had run aground on a reef. The couple called
for help from the Cuban authorities but got no response. Mike
Pilgrim, K5MP, notified the US Coast Guard. Petzolt contacted the
Swiss Embassy, which put him in touch with the Cuban mission in
Washington, which, in turn, contacted authorities in Havana by
radio. The US Coast Guard was only able to contact the Cuban
authorities via telex.

It's not yet known what agency was able to assist the Beanes or
where they are now. Petzolt reports that he received ''third-hand''
information via the Waterway Net March 27 that the couple had been
rescued and was safe.

Ellis said the MMSN had ''excellent cooperation and assistance''
during the incident from net control Frank Kelly, N3FK, Petzolt,
Pilgrim and Dave Dalziel, N4ICE. ''There were a number of others on
frequency available to help, but all maintained top-notch order and
control,'' he added.
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