Read Online Ten Degrees of Reckoning by Hester Rumberg - Free Book Online
Authors: Hester Rumberg
Ads: Link
the Andes.
When they returned to the Melinda Lee, it was particularly difficult for Judy to say goodbye to one couple who were heading back to the United States, Peter and Glenda Couch, on the sailboat Lamorna. They had shared adventures for eight months and become like family. As sad as it was to bid farewell, it was also one of the great things about the cruising community: the closeness and the willingness to fill a surrogate role. Glenda ran the radio net and cut everyone’s hair, but she and Peter had a more important role in the Sleavins’ lives: they were Ben and Annie’s offshore grandparents. Glenda was impressed by the determination with which Mike and Judy were raising the children. They wanted their children to have social interactions and adventure, but school always came first, the Couches observed. In the environment of anchorages, where everything was fascinating and spontaneous, the Sleavins insisted that the children understand their responsibility to schoolwork before play and gratification.
The Sleavins sailed west, reaching Colombia in time for Christmas. From Colombia they sailed to the San Blas archipelago, and then to Panama. They sailed over to the yacht club in Cristóbal, where they planned to do all the paperwork required to transit the canal. Also, Mike had made arrangements to have an updated version of the emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) shipped to the yacht club. He wanted to replace their 121.5 MHz model, whose range and accuracy were limited, with a 406 MHz EPIRB, which provided global coverage for search-and-rescue purposes.
COSPAS-SARSAT is an international organization, sponsored by Russia, the United States, Canada, and France, that oversees a system that detects and locates transmissions from emergency beacons carried by aviators and mariners, and recently climbers and other individuals, anywhere in the world. From its inception in 1982, it is credited with providing assistance that has saved more than twenty thousand lives. When an EPIRB (an ELT-emergency locator transmitter on aircraft) is activated in a distress situation, its signal is received by one of a network of low-earth-orbiting satellites and high-altitude geostationary weather satellites. The satellite downlink signal is then relayed to the nearest available ground receiving station, where it is processed to find the location from which the signal originated. The Mission Control Center organizes the remaining data. All EPIRBs must be registered, and once the unique identification code of the beacon’s owner and relevant information is known, the location is verified. The center notifies all the appropriate rescue centers based in the geographic location. Mike hoped they would never have to activate their new 406 EPIRB, but it gave him peace of mind for the upcoming month-long passage. Even in the middle of the ocean, with its worldwide coverage, the COSPAS-SARSAT system would be able to determine the signal’s position within three miles. With the new EPIRB on-board the Melinda Lee, the Sleavins were ready to re-transit the Panama Canal and cross the Pacific Ocean to the legendary South Seas.
They found line handlers at the yacht club in Cristóbal and paid their toll, which included the service of a professional pilot. At Limón Bay, the start of the transit on the Atlantic side, the Melinda Lee was directed alongside a large ship, and when everyone’s lines were secured the massive lock gates swung shut. Millions of gallons of water filled the lock, allowing all the vessels to float upward. They were in and out of three locks that lifted Melinda Lee eighty-five feet before they motored over to Gatun Lake. They had an easy sail across the twenty-three miles of the lake, but Ben and Annie were surprised to see alligators lounging in the water. On their first transit, going the other way, they had gone swimming in the same lake, unaware that the tropical jungle held creatures who might be
When they returned to the Melinda Lee, it was particularly difficult for Judy to say goodbye to one couple who were heading back to the United States, Peter and Glenda Couch, on the sailboat Lamorna. They had shared adventures for eight months and become like family. As sad as it was to bid farewell, it was also one of the great things about the cruising community: the closeness and the willingness to fill a surrogate role. Glenda ran the radio net and cut everyone’s hair, but she and Peter had a more important role in the Sleavins’ lives: they were Ben and Annie’s offshore grandparents. Glenda was impressed by the determination with which Mike and Judy were raising the children. They wanted their children to have social interactions and adventure, but school always came first, the Couches observed. In the environment of anchorages, where everything was fascinating and spontaneous, the Sleavins insisted that the children understand their responsibility to schoolwork before play and gratification.
The Sleavins sailed west, reaching Colombia in time for Christmas. From Colombia they sailed to the San Blas archipelago, and then to Panama. They sailed over to the yacht club in Cristóbal, where they planned to do all the paperwork required to transit the canal. Also, Mike had made arrangements to have an updated version of the emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) shipped to the yacht club. He wanted to replace their 121.5 MHz model, whose range and accuracy were limited, with a 406 MHz EPIRB, which provided global coverage for search-and-rescue purposes.
COSPAS-SARSAT is an international organization, sponsored by Russia, the United States, Canada, and France, that oversees a system that detects and locates transmissions from emergency beacons carried by aviators and mariners, and recently climbers and other individuals, anywhere in the world. From its inception in 1982, it is credited with providing assistance that has saved more than twenty thousand lives. When an EPIRB (an ELT-emergency locator transmitter on aircraft) is activated in a distress situation, its signal is received by one of a network of low-earth-orbiting satellites and high-altitude geostationary weather satellites. The satellite downlink signal is then relayed to the nearest available ground receiving station, where it is processed to find the location from which the signal originated. The Mission Control Center organizes the remaining data. All EPIRBs must be registered, and once the unique identification code of the beacon’s owner and relevant information is known, the location is verified. The center notifies all the appropriate rescue centers based in the geographic location. Mike hoped they would never have to activate their new 406 EPIRB, but it gave him peace of mind for the upcoming month-long passage. Even in the middle of the ocean, with its worldwide coverage, the COSPAS-SARSAT system would be able to determine the signal’s position within three miles. With the new EPIRB on-board the Melinda Lee, the Sleavins were ready to re-transit the Panama Canal and cross the Pacific Ocean to the legendary South Seas.
They found line handlers at the yacht club in Cristóbal and paid their toll, which included the service of a professional pilot. At Limón Bay, the start of the transit on the Atlantic side, the Melinda Lee was directed alongside a large ship, and when everyone’s lines were secured the massive lock gates swung shut. Millions of gallons of water filled the lock, allowing all the vessels to float upward. They were in and out of three locks that lifted Melinda Lee eighty-five feet before they motored over to Gatun Lake. They had an easy sail across the twenty-three miles of the lake, but Ben and Annie were surprised to see alligators lounging in the water. On their first transit, going the other way, they had gone swimming in the same lake, unaware that the tropical jungle held creatures who might be
Similar Books
