SB SPCL @ ARL $ARLX012
ARLX012 Radio to the rescue

QST de W1AW
Special Bulletin 12  ARLX012
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT  March 10, 1994
To all radio amateurs


Amateur Radio to the rescue

Two men rescued from a sinking boat in the Gulf of Mexico credit
Amateur Radio for saving their lives.

Larry Hooker, KB5ZNY, of Thaxton, Mississippi, and his sailing
partner, Rett White, were returning from Honduras on Hooker's 35-ft
sailing vessel ''Off The Hook,'' when they ran into an unexpected
storm and high seas.

Hooker had been in contact with his friend Randall O'Brian, KD5ZH,
of West Point, Mississippi, since hoisting anchor on February 6, on
80, 40, and 20 Meters.  Hooker had visited his daughter, Tina
Hooker, KB5YNN, a missionary with Global Outreach in the
northeastern part of Honduras, in an area accessible only by air or
sea.

O'Brian was the first to learn of their difficulties and eventually
contacted the US Coast Guard.  O'Brian continued to help provide
communication, along with the Coast Guard, who came up on 3862.

On March 4, Hooker and White were taken aboard the Coast Guard
cutter Cushing and their boat was put under tow but subsequently
sank.

''The Lord decided that he would use Amateur Radio to save us,''
Hooker said.
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