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Old 10-05-2014, 10:08 AM   #1
KF5BET
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Default Tour Du Teche Boat Race

The girls and I spent yesterday afternoon on the banks of the Teche river here in south Louisiana volunteering communications support for the race.

http://www.tourduteche.com/

The Tour Du Teche is a 3 day, 135 mile race down the river. There are several different races during the event and several different categories. We were supporting the main 135 mile race.

We arrived at our location, Check point #7, around 11:30am. Set up our screen tent, threw a line over a tree limb, hauled up the antenna and got ready to work.

The first boat came in around 2:30 pm. Over the next 6 hours, we would run down to the ramp and get boat numbers and times from the official time keeper and relay the information back to the command center for the race officials. The information was used to keep track of the boat locations that was updated on the website for "almost" real time tracking.

We learned a few things this year.
#1 Our deep cycle battery failed sometime in the past few months, so it will have to be replaced.

#2 Because of the battery failure, we relied on HT's, which were adequate as long as we kept the batteries fresh since the repeater we were using was just on the fringe of the HT range (even with our antenna up in a tree about 30'). Our mobile 2m would have worked so much better, but we adapted!

#3 Mosquitoes are big!

#4 Those canoers are dedicated (and maybe a little crazy...did I mention 135 miles).

#5. It gets really dark when the sun goes down in the middle of nowhere.

#6 While waiting for the last boat to come in, we were able to teach the support crew (1 guy) of the boat about ham radio. He had no idea what ham radio was and was very interested. Hopefully he will look into it further! We as hams, should be prepared to promote the hobby at anytime and anywhere.

The last boat came by at 8pm and we were able to pack up and head home. A good day all in all and enjoyed being out in God's country. This was our 4th year to help with this event, and it gets better every year.
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Old 10-05-2014, 01:56 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KF5BET View Post
#3 Mosquitoes are big!
I think your Louisiana mosquitos are the same kind we have in Florida. In fact I think they're the same ones, commuting for dinner.

Several years ago a Boeing 747 collided with a Florida/Louisiana mosquito in the Orlando area. The 747 went down with loss of all hands, and the mosquito had a sprained wing and made a precautionary landing in Daytona. It took the mosquito almost a week to heal up and fly again.
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Old 10-05-2014, 05:19 PM   #3
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Both my kids and the wife are hams and have been for years. Told the kids no ham license, no drivers license. Then about the time my daughter got her first car they came out with free cell phones with 2 year contract and we never put a mobile in her car. She still has the Kenwood HT I got her. My son still has his UHF/VHF equipment.

They got their licenses because I asked them to. You are lucky you have girls that are interested in radio, such wonderful memories together.

My daughter now works at hospitals here and the next big town over. Our hospital has one of the clubs two 2 meter repeaters on it's roof. The hospital sits on a ridge, so located for easy helicopter traffic, coverage ain't bad. I have encouraged her to become active in the ARES as this may offer some job security as well as provide a required part of the county emergency response plan (licensed op at the hospital) but she's got her plate full chasing certifications she needs for patient care. And isn't really interested in radio, anyway.

But again, you are so lucky to have this time with your girls
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Old 10-07-2014, 07:15 PM   #4
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NearFest, Deerfield NH featuring an outstanding supply of boat anchors this Friday and Saturday who's in? Actually it is a great ham fest I’ll be there along with the Mount Washington Valley ARC we will attempt to sell some very fine collectable items for the benefit of the club please stop by.
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