A Romantic QSO
Some 45 years ago, and not for his favor, Radio Officer Cadet Ehud Levin (Now 4X1EL), was assigned to the ship M/V MANDARINCORE 4XQJ, to pass a practice competency period, under my supervision. In those days, candidates that passed the examinations for Maritime Mobile Radio Officers proficiency, had to attend, at least 6 months or more, of actual experience at sea, under supervision of a competent Radio Officer, until completing a list of tasks, most frequently encountered, to run the communications and Navigational aids, operative needs, of a ship engaged in international voyages. This, up to satisfying the tutor, so to issuing a printed recommendation approving the cadet ability and seaworthiness, to serve as a single Radio Officer on ships engaged in off shore and international voyages.
M/V MANDARINCORE radio room
Ehud joined the M/V Mandarinecore on a period when it was calling numerous South American ports. The Coast Stations related to those ports, where not all yet equipped with SSB or a stable CW frequency, also the published time tables for the different frequencies were not meticulously observed; furthermore the operators had very poor English and naturally, on A.M., Calls in Spanish were preferred. With the help of my mother language Italian, and accumulated, two years experience of visiting Latin America ports, I learned to speak, read and write Spanish. Not only these, I also gained an insight that to establish a contact with those stations operators; you have to apply skills from the psychology and anthropologic fields.
It was almost natural, that on a ship that calls same ports few times, there is an increase in number of employees from its population, and in this case Spanish speaking crewmembers. The quality of their language and the subjects were not necessarily refined. The adjectives PUTA (Prostitute) and MARICON (Gay) were frequently heard, like it were a tool of the art, for a qualitative high level language, to make a fluent dialog and improve atmosphere on board.
Cadet Ehud, despite not knowing Spanish, was exposed to those adjectives enough times to perceive, even its literary value, and its contribution to smoothen a dialog.
It so happened that the Mandarincore was leaving the port of Montevideo, and for a reason, that I do not recall now, I was asked to make a radiotelephone call to Montevideo, otherwise I would preferred a CW QSO. The best available coast station for the case was PUNTA CARRETA RADIO using AM on 2.182 mHz. It came to my mind, that it will be a good chance to train the Cadet the artifice of establishing an endemic version of the Maritime Mobile “process verbal”.
I called Ehud on duty and wrote him the procedure he has to follow till he will get a reply. It went like this:-
PUNTA CARRETA RADIO (THREE TIMES) AQUI MANDARINCORE (THREE TIMES)
AVER SI ME COPIA AL ELANTE CAMBIO….
Ehud was quite tensed toward the new experience and instead of calling PUNTA CARRETA; he openly and loudly called PUTA CARRETA PUTA CARRETA…
The operator at the coast station, with the local typical QRN on AM IF, missed the name of the ship and instead of MANDARINCORE was replying MARICON… MARICON…
Montevideo born, 2nd Mate of the ship, was coming upstairs crossing the open door of the Radio Room, heard his mother language dialog flourishing from the radio and I saw him frozen in place shocked for few seconds, but after short cognitive procession, of the data collected, he start a wild laughing that went on for hours, and at short intervals each time he met us till the end of the voyage….
Rare Photo – 4X1FC operating R/T at 4XQJ – It is not so common to see a CW operator closing to his mouth what he normally avoid from his hand…
Written by our beloved friend R/O Daniel Yari 4X1FC now S.K.
73’s
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