We arrived Barra de Navidad about two weeks ago and one of the first things we were asked to do was to help out with the local cruisers net. We were a little leiry at first as we had never been net controllers before, but we agreed and jumped in with both feet. I agreed to be Net Manager which means lining up Net Controllers for every day of the week except Sunday. They actually run the net on VHF radio every morning on channel 22 at 9:00AM. Sharon runs the net on Mondays and I have my turn on Saturdays. I have Net Controllers for the other days of the week except Sundays. It's actually quite fun and we get to know even more of our sailing neighbors. No one ever accused Sharon and I of not being social!

The Net Controllers job is to call for emergencies first and foremost in the sound of their voice. The sound of their voice on VHF radio is line of sight...that could be 25 to 30 miles from our boat considering all the buildings and mountains surrounding us. Then we do a role call for all boats within VHF range. For this area its...Tenacatita, Melague, Barra Marina, Barra Lagoon, Santiago and land based stations. Each day we have about 55 to 60 boaters check in. Once the role call is finished, we ask for general announcements, trading things that we have on our boats, services needed and community assistance. We feel that we are doing the sailing community a service and like I said...it's fun.

So...we have two more weeks of Net Control and then we'll hand it over to some other willing boater.

We're having fun with the radios...both VHF and (SSB) Single Side Band. We're enjoying sailing this year from anchorage to anchorage then to a very civilized marina. Life is treating us good and living each day at a time.

We really look forward to hearing from friends back in California and Oregon... and we're meeting new friends this year on the water...as we do every year. Just the other day I ran into a friend from Corinthian Yacht Club...Mark and Julie Leonard...they are here visiting family. What a small world!!! We miss all of you and would like to hear from you on our blog. Take a moment and send a note please...it makes our day when we hear from someone back home.

So..take care all...stay tuned for the next update hopefully it will be before we leave Barra de Navidad.