48 AMERICANWAY
JULY 1 2009
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JACkBoulWARE
is aSanFrancisco–basedwriter.
hurricane season and then pick back up
in October through January. These days,
he advises between 10 and 60 boats at one
time. Numbers are lower because there
are more sources of weather information;
more convenient forms of communication
suchas e-mail, textmessaging, and satellite
phones; and also because of the effects of a
changing atmosphere, which have limited
his frequency range.
“I’ve never seen anything like it over
the last 20 years,” he says. “It’s almost like
there’s no ionosphere. So right now, my
traffic isdown.”
When atmospheric propagation is best,
extending his radio range, Herb can cover
the north and south Atlantic, as far north
as Greenland, as far east as Madagascar,
and as far west as Baja, California, and
Easter Island.
People who depend onHerb sail water-
craft that range from yachts to familyboats
to commercial vessels. Of the latter, many
cross theAtlantic todeliverwar supplies for
American troops in Iraq. Herb really has
onlyonecaveat—youmust contacthimvia
SSB.
“Iget thesephone calls saying, ‘Herb, I’m
gonna leave tomorrow for Ireland, and I
want tomaintain contact with you. I have
a cell phone.’ I say, ‘I don’t do that. I work
strictly via radio.’ That’s what I enjoy. It’s
unique,” he says. Ironically, Herb doesn’t
sail anymore. He and his wife will travel
to visit family, but he prefers to stay home,
maintaining the garden and the fish pond.
And talking on the radio. “I knowwhat it’s
like to be in40-foot seas. So I don’t need it
anymore. But I feel like I’mon aboatwhen
I talk to theseboats.Everyday. It’samazing.
I feel for theboats. It’s roughout there.”
One added bonus of being the world’s
secret weatherman is that some of his con-
tacts are actually pilots for American Air-
lines who tune in to his frequency. As they
flyoverhead, theyoften call himandask for
a quick forecast on the jet streams so that
theplane canpickup somemileage.
“When I was living in Bermuda,” Herb
says, “I was flying back fromMiami, and
the captain recognized me on the flight.
He invited me to go up forward and sit
with them in the cockpit — all the way to
Bermuda!”
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Cenegenics American Airlines 02-02-09 A.pdf 2/4/2009 2:25:26 PM
