Doo-Dah Net  

The mission of the Doo-Dah Net is to provide a shore-side source for emergency contacts for people on offshore passages, to record position reports at 1700 ET every day, and also to facilitate connecting with fellow cruisers.

Your Doo-Dah Net controls are Dick and Judy "St Jude"

We begin with the introduction, "Good afternoon. It's beer o'clock."
Then we ask for any emergency traffic.
Then we deliver any traffic to boats from folks back home.
Next we take position reports from boats on passage.
And finally, we offer boats a chance to chit-chat.
The Net usually wraps up by 1730, but may run longer during the heavy Spring/Fall migration seasons.

Vessels that would like the Doo-Dah Net to record their passage position and/or act as a shore-side emergency contact are requested to file a Float Plan with "St Jude" prior to departure.

Download the Float Plan File, fill it in, and e-mail it as an attachment to "St Jude" at richardcgiddings@yahoo.com.

Or you can send the information without the form if you choose.

When Dick and Judy receive your Float Plan you'll get a confirmation e-mail with further emergency contact information, if requested.

Follow Up
Contact "St Jude" when you've reached your destination. This can be done through e-mail, Doo-Dah, or Cruiseheimers.

Scenario: Cruisers notify their loved ones that they're leaving Maine and are headed for Florida.  The loved ones, who live in Kansas, think "that will make a lovely four day trip." (Thinking in road-terms.)
Then they call the Coast Guard on day six because they haven't heard from "Fluffy the Boat" who they thought was due in Miami by now.

Communicate clearly and realistically with friends and family before you leave your home port. This is especially important if it's your first extended cruise.

Let them know in advance, whatever may apply. For instance:
...we plan to arrive in Florida in approximately #weeks/months.
...we'll be making many stops between A and B.
...we'll send e-mail or call every [schedule]
...we'll keep our blog updated at [website]
...we'll check in regularly with Cruiseheimers and/or Doo Dah.

A fair number of "missing" boats are found safely anchored in harbors that were actually part of their cruising agenda.  

Long ago and far away on a dark and stormy night there were four of us cruisers who gathered together on SSB at 1700.  John on "Escape" called it "beer o'clock" as he opened the Net.

The four of us were
John Atkinson on s/v "Escape"     Bill Downing on s/v "Cypraea"
Dennis Rings on s/v "Moxsun"      Dick Giddings on s/v "St Jude"

We used this time to keep track of each other and to chit-chat.

One afternoon we talked about the display on the Icom 710, which three of us were operating. Particularly, we discussed the function of the little bars that lit up on the bottom of the display, indicating incoming signal, strength, and also output/modulation.

We were all familiar with "S" meters, but this gizinkus was a little foreign to us.  Bill started calling the bars "doo-dahs".  "You are giving me four doo-dahs" meant a pretty good signal.

When trying to come up with something socially acceptable to call us, Bill immediately tagged us "The Doo-Dah Net" and so it has been ever since 2002 at beer o'clock. ~Dick

Dick is the only one remaining active today.  There are a few volunteers who help out, most notably Rick on "C_Language" (like Old Faithful) who is in Tampa Bay. This is a big help since Dick is in North Carolina and it improves the seasonal coverage of the Net.  

Others also frequently assist with relays and contribute greatly to help tie the fleet together during difficult propagation conditions.

Sometimes there's talk about virtual pay, doubling salary, or taking a cut.  It's strictly lighthearted bantering.  All net controls on both Cruiseheimers and Doo-Dah are generous volunteers.

"St Jude" is the most active of all.  Dick and Judy are there seven days a week running the Doo-Dah Net. They also run the Cruiseheimers Net every Friday and are dedicated relays every day.

"Judy is every much a part of Doo-Dah as I am, backing me up when I am A.W.A.Y. or other astrays from time to time, and also supporting me when the mass migrations begin, answering phone calls etc.  Same is true for her support of the Cruiseheimers Net.  She is an integral part of this radio operation, and everything else that goes into it."  ~Dick

By the way, Judy designed the "St Jude" logo and had it embroidered onto T-shirts to surprise Dick on their first anniversary.
Thank you Judy, Dick, two Ricks, sometimes Michael, two or three Daves, and least but not last... often lurking NORM (Dick's 'silent partner').

Your virtual checks are in the mail.