Our current Humanitarian Award recipients -- KM9D and KF4TUG -- had a close call with the tsunami. They've left their yacht Don Henry in New Zealand and flew to se Asia, where they met up with a friend in Phuket Thailand to help crew his yacht Te Ni on a voyage to the Red Sea and Mediterranean. They left Phuket THE DAY BEFORE the tsunami, making way to the Maldives. At sea, the tsunami wave passed harmlessly under them. BTW they sailed right through the Andamans on their way to 8Q. Te Ni doesn't have a resident ham but an ICOM HF radio allows Mike to send APRS position reports (as KM9D) and he's in touch via email through Winlink 2000. It has been a great pleasure, and relief, to stay in touch with them. I met Mike and Jan when we were all in ZF January 1999 -- near the beginning of their sailing adventure. Happy 2005 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bruce Frahm KØBJ http://www.carrollsweb.com/bfrahm/