Cry in the Night

As an amateur radio operator, Bob Karon has frequent conversations around the world, swapping stories about family, sports or new radio equipment with other enthusiasts.

But a recent transmission, heard as he was testing a new amplifier, sent the 46-year-old ham operator leaping to his feet: a frantic voice calling “Mayday! Mayday!”

Within seconds he had begun a harrowing search by radio and telephone that, with the assistance of the U.S. Coast Guard, ended in the rescue of four people aboard a yacht sinking in the Caribbean Sea at night with a storm moving in on them.

“This all came out of the blue,” he said this week, after receiving a letter of commendation from the Coast Guard. “I wasn’t expecting an emergency call.”

The night of March 18, the Encino man was conversing with another ham in Naples, Fla., when he heard the mayday call on the same frequency.

“All stations please stand by,” Karon instructed.

In the first few minutes of talking to the sinking craft, Karon learned that it was a 44-foot Canadian yacht, the Cambria, carrying owner Kenneth Cunningham, his wife and another couple.

The yacht had grounded on a reef in an area known as Alice Shoal, about 150 miles southwest of Jamaica, Cunningham had indicated in static-interrupted transmissions.

The yacht was punctured and water was coming in fast. A storm was moving in and the waves were growing. Cunningham said the boat would go under within the hour.

“They sounded terrified,” Karon said. “It sounded like they had very little time.”

Karon first telephoned the Coast Guard in Los Angeles, which transferred him to the Miami station. Phone to his ear and microphone in hand, Karon was now the only link between Cunningham and potential rescuers.

“I had to make sure [the Coast Guard and the sailors] got absolutely correct information,” describing the yacht and its location, Karon said.

That turned out to be very difficult, he added.

The grounding left the vessel on its side on the reef and jolted the communications system out of place, including the radio antenna, which was almost touching the water, Cunningham told Karon.

The signal was weak and full of static, Karon said.

“A lot of times I would say something and the response would come back, ‘negative,’ ” Karon said, meaning Cunningham was trying to correct him.

When they were trying to determine the vessel’s location, for instance, Karon could not determine whether Cunningham was saying 50 degrees or 15 degrees.

“Was that 50 degrees?” Karon asked.

“Negative,” Cunningham responded. “Come again.”

“Was that 5-0 degrees?” Karon repeated, saying each number individually for clarity.

“Negative,” Cunningham said. “1-5 degrees.”

By then the Coast Guard had determined its nearest rescue team was 2 1/2 hours away.

But the Nord-Jahre-President, a freighter, was about 25 miles away and could reach the Cambria in an hour and a half: It might be too late, Cunningham told Karon, but it was their best chance.

Karon was connected by the Coast Guard to the Nord-Jahre crew, which accepted the mission, changed course toward the Cambria, and took over from Karon, who learned the rest of the story when he got the letter from the Coast Guard.

Shallow waters had prevented the ship from reaching the grounded yacht, but the freighter’s crew sent a lifeboat that rescued Cunningham and the passengers just as the storm broke about 2 a.m. and transported them to Aruba.

“Your professional and humanitarian actions are heartily commended and demonstrate the finest traditions of assisting mariners in distress,” said Coast Guard Capt. Robert Gravino in his letter to Karon.

“This is the first time that I know of that someone picked up the call before the Coast Guard,” added Petty Officer Scott Carr, who aided in the rescue from the Miami station.

“Los Angeles is very far,” he said. “If [Karon] didn’t pick up the call, who’s to say what would have happened.”

Efforts to locate Cunningham and his crew Wednesday were unsuccessful. The Coast Guard said Cunningham managed to salvage his yacht and get it patched. He and his crew might have gone back to sea, Carr said.

“Their next port of call was Livingston, Guatemala.”