Glenn and Eddie Tuttle, co-ordinators for the SSCA KPK Net and Cruisers Network Online, have taken over the management of the International Boat Watch Network from Bobby Graves. This group is dedicated to assisting Search and Rescue Authorities in locating overdue and missing vessels worldwide and now has a new Facebook page.

Published 5 years ago

Amateur Radio Operator, and Owner/Manager of the Hurricane Watch Net, Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, has asked Glenn and Eddie Tuttle to assume ownership and management of the International Boat Watch Network (IBWN) – https://www.boatwatchnet.org/.

Bobby is the Owner/Manager of The Hurricane Watch Net – http://hwn.org, and very involved in the Maritime Mobile Service Network – http://mmsn.org, and wants to dedicate more of his time to those very vital organizations. Both organizations are essential to public safety, and Bobby has been doing a wonderful job of juggling three balls in the air for several years.

IBWN History

The motivation for the “Boat Watch” concept occurred in 1998 as many requests via HAM radio came to locate vessels either missing or overdue at their planned destinations. At that time, a list was compiled of various HAM radio related networks associated with mariners, then expanded to include non-HAM entities. The result was a worldwide network of e-mail addresses through which requests are now broadcast for lost or overdue vessels and messages of high priority such as requests for mariners to phone home for an important message usually dealing with illness or death in the family.

To date, the network has successfully contacted over 100 vessels, many in record time, and have verified passage of the priority information.

IBWN into the Future

For Glenn and Eddie, the transition into the management of the International Boat Watch Network is a logical progression of the work both have been doing for the Seven Seas Cruising Association’s High-Frequency Radio Service KPK – ssca.org.

“Our goal is to use our investigative experience as retired FBI Agents, coupled with our past experience as full-time liveaboards for over 30 years on both sail and powerboats, as well as full-time cruising in the Caribbean for 10 years, as a knowledge base to enhance the existing International Boat Watch Network into a fully engaged resource available to the entire cruising community when a cruiser is overdue or missing anywhere in the world.”

A Facebook Group called International Boat Watch Network was started on July 15, 2019, and may be joined at https://www.facebook.com/groups/461762734603032/. All are welcome to join.

Serving the Cruising Community

Glen and Eddie will still continue as the radio voice of the SSCA HF Radio Service KPK, broadcasting to the maritime cruising community from their home in S.W. Florida. KPK is on the air daily at 1215 hours UTC or 0815 hrs Eastern Standard Time on single sideband frequency 8.104 Upper Sideband (USB).

Through KPK’s partnership with the Caribbean Safety & Security Net, any report of a safety & security nature occurring in the Caribbean made to this station will be provided to the CSSN. Likewise, any recent incident posted on the CSSN website will be announced during this broadcast.

Although KPK is a service provided by the SSCA, all vessels are welcome and encouraged to participate in this service.

Additionally, SSCA HF Radio Service KPK has teamed up with coastal radio stations operated by Chris Parker (WCY), Dick Giddings (KNC), and Jim West (KJM) to form the SSCA Trans-Atlantic Cruisers Net, providing support and taking position reports from vessels transiting the Atlantic Ocean. This service is in conjunction with Dick Gidding’s “Doo Dah Net” which operates daily at 2100 hrs UTC or 1700 hrs Eastern Time on SSB Frequency 8.152 and then transitions up to SSB frequency 12.350 for vessels further out in the Atlantic Ocean or in Europe.

Glenn and Eddie continue to serve the Cruising Community as moderators of The Cruisers Network Online Yahoo Group – https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Cruisers_Network_Online.

International Boat Watch Network: https://www.boatwatchnet.org/
IBWN Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/461762734603032/