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COMMUNICATION INFORMATION

Most important to all cruisers is the ability to keep in touch and we are no different.  Communication is one of the primary safety devices on a boat but just as important it is the way we stay in touch with our family and friends. Before departing Rene and I took the necessary exams (including Morse code) to become amateur radio operators, Hams.  This gives us additional frequencies and better propagation to use our SSB/HAM radio.  We can receive email, weather faxes, contact other cruisers and  stay in touch with the local  radio networks.

Here are some ways you can contact us:

Snail Mail:

Our mail forwarding address is:

      Steve and Rene Slack     

      PMB 487 

      88005 Overseas Highway #9     

      Islamorada, FL 33036         

This address is for legal documents and receiving checks. The contents are forwarded to us only every six months or so.

VHF Radio:

Every boat has a VHF radio which has a range of 10 miles or so.   This provides "bridge to bridge" communication for safety and navigation purposes. Our vessel call sign for this radio is WDA9759. 

SSB/Ham Radio:

Our HAM call sign is KC9ADD. This is our most important tool for weather .  We can listen in on the weather nets, download a weather fax and virtual buoy information when necessary.  We also stay in touch with distant vessels via SSB.  Every morning around 8 o'clock there is a flurry of contacts trying to be made between vessels and there are established radio nets that exchange information among cruisers.  We can also pick up the BBC and NPR which is broadcast by American (no longer armed) Forces Radio.

Email: winlink

Since this e-mail capability is transmitted by radio frequency there are several limitations.  The messages must be of a noncommercial nature, there can be no attachments,  and the length of the communiqué must be less than 5,000 text based characters.  It is also advisable not to forward emails to our address since it may contain a great amount of superfluous information.  Other than these limitations it works fine. We depend upon this email to receive weather an it is really perturbing when you have twelve junk mail messages and you are limited to 30 minutes per day. (Our winlink email address is no longer published on this site due to the great amount of junk mail we received after listing our web site on several directories.)

Email:yahoo

We will also be using an array of internet cafes that can be found in almost any port.  With this capability we hope to be able to send and receive pictures  and conduct all normal internet business.  This e-mail address is slackadventure@yahoo.com. Please remember that we will not open this site every day, as we will the winlink site.

Telephone:

Our mobile telephone number while in Turkey is 5466233619

With so many possibilities we hope to hear from you soon.