Cruiser's Net: VHF Channel 71

 LITTLE CURRENT YACHT CLUB

 CRUISERS' NET

 ROY EATON 

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                                      To follow Roy's live broadcast at 9:00 am, each morning, during July and August just tune in on Ch. 71.

                                                                                                                                        

 In his retirement, Roy Eaton has found great meaning in a second career on the radio - VHF, that is. Roy is the voice of the Little Current Cruisers' Net - a daily broadcast he runs every morning through the summer. He shares news, marine weather, and messages for boaters in the North Channel of Georgian Bay. And it's not just a fun hobby - it's a public service. He was in Toronto in 2016 as a presenter at the Toronto International Boat Show. While there, he had a special experience to be interviewed in the downtown Toronto CBC studios by Sean Foley of Fresh Air. "What an impressive broadcast room, sound studio and really, an entire floor. I thank the CBC's Sean Foley for making it such an enjoyable experience. It was an honour and a privilege to be on his show and promote our world famous North Channel", commented Roy.

You can listen to Sean and Roy in conversation here: https://soundcloud.com/.../roy-eaton-on-little-current-cruise... 

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 To read an article written by Bonnie Kogos and published in the Sudbury Star....click on this link.

Cynthia Berger and Bill Carlsen arrived in Little Current aboard the canal boat Dragonfly. Bill is a professor of Environmental Education at Penn State University Park. The voyage to complete the Great Loop is his sabbatical. Cynthia is a public radio reporter and the news director for WPSU-FM in State College, Pennsylvania. Cynthis is also an emvironmental journalist with a number of books to her credit. To listen to WPSU-FM Cynthia Berger's report on Roy's Cruisers" Net Program Click Here.

 


 

"Cruising World", "Sail", "Great Lakes Scuttlebut", "Sudbury Star", "Manitoulin Expositor", and the list goes on. How does past Commodore Roy Eaton garner such prestigious accolades? 

By rising at 5:30 a.m. every morning in July and August to prepare for his daily VHF 71 broadcast to those boaters encompassing a 50-mile North Channel radius from Little Current, that's how. North Channel weather and Georgian Bay weather reports; international,  national and local news; the most recent sporting events; Manitoulin Island happenings. It all takes place at "The Anchor Inn Bar and Grill" where local entrepreneur and owner Bruce O'Hare has generously provided a VHF unit and allowed the mounting of a tower and antenna on the hotel roof. A new antenna purchased with donations from the Anchor Inn, the Little Current Yacht Club, and many of the boaters who listen in each morning now has a height of 110 feet above the waters below. No wonder the broadcast can be heard over such a large area! 

If you find yourself anywhere in the North Channel during July and August, turn to Channel 71 on your VHF and wait for that professionally-delivered announcement, "It's 9 a.m. Welcome boaters, to the Little Current Yacht Club's Cruisers' Net."

Roy starts off each broadcast by asking if there are any emergencies. There have been a few and Roy has successfully supplied those in need with the necessary information and support systems. The Thunder Bay Coast Guard and the Trenton Air, Search and Rescue Team have Roy's name on their files in case they need that VHF 71 assistance. After the 20 minute broadcast, Roy invites all the yachters to call in and give their boat's name and current location. It's also a time to get questions answered and inform other boaters of special news and events. This has helped to create a real sense of fellowship as boaters get to know their fellow companions on the North Channel and the names of each other's boats. So much so, that many of these boaters, when docked in Little Current, came to offer their assistance during Roy's broadcast and then stayed to mix and mingle.

Roy can't be present every day and he thanks those volunteers who so kindly replace him during an absence. With everyone pitching in, in seven seasons only two days have been missed and both of these days were missed due to technical problems.

Each year The Cruisers' Net has seen an increase in the number of call-ins. In the last 2 years, mopre than 6,000 calls were received.  

To read, in futher detail, the history of the Cruisers' Net click here.

You may contact Roy via email at roy.eaton@sympatico.ca

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