Grapevine June 1967 Vol. 24 No. 1

. – . –  Message by Morse
From ship-board cabins to outpost in Qatar. . .

WHAT of AA in out-of-the-way places? We all know that in the States an AA is just as far away as the nearest telephone. Most larger towns, and many smaller ones, are sure to have a group, and AA can be had for the asking. But what of the men on ships? What of foreign countries? What of those places where communication is slow and unsure, where prejudice still exists, where the "town drunk" is ostracized or run out of town?

Let us look in on a ship. This is not a typical sea-going AA set-up by any means, in fact it is unique, but it shows the spirit of the movement. Our sailor prefers to remain anonymous also, so we will call him Jim because that was his nickname when he was a baby.

Something strikes you about his set-up. That's it! There is a spiritual atmosphere about it. Not much, but on the wall is the Serenity Prayer, the cornerstone of AA philosophy. On the opposite wall a card admonishes Easy Does It under which someone has written "But do it!" and another card advises: One day at a time. And the place is clean. You would never realize that its occupant was once run off the waterfront in San Francisco for being so obnoxious no one wanted him around. A picture of the founder of AA, Bill W., smiles at you. And there is a small picture of the President of the United States and one of California Street in San Francisco.

There is the radio equipment. Modern, obviously the latest word, and not occupying much space. That is another thing you immediately notice about a sober alcoholic--he can afford a few of the nicer things of life. His years of junky living make him especially keen, and you can believe he settles for nothing but the best. An air conditioner hums in the corner (also purchased personally). Something mighty efficient going on here, but all this equipment just to say, "Hello, how are you?" Well, hardly!

The ship ploughs on through the night. It is one of those nights in the tropics when the stars are big as watermelons, almost. A slight stir, and the green light indicating the filament power comes on. Jim is up and about.

"Oh, hi," he says to me, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "I gotta go and get some coffee if this is going to be any kind of meeting." AA meetings all over the world are not complete without coffee and this is no exception. That is one thing about a ship, a ship always has plenty of coffee. Then he jumps: "Hey, I'm supposed to be alone! Just who are you, anyway?" I explain that I am an astral visitor with an interest in new things on earth and wish to ask a few questions.

"OK," Jim says, "shoot."

"Well--" just then a click and a red light comes on indicating power, and the rig, as it is affectionately called, is ready to go on the air. "Well," we repeat, "seems like you are up early."

"Yes. My regular watch doesn't start for hours, and this is the best time of day from a radio standpoint. It is already 9 A.M. in California, noon in New York and 5 P.M. in London. Since signals tend to follow the sun I can have a lot of contacts with the U.S.A."

"You mean you can carry on two-way communication with the U.S.A.? It must be 12,000 miles away!"

"You are looking at a fiat map. By great circle it isn't so far. From Singapore to San Francisco is only 8440 miles. That's usually the way the signals go. Not always. Sometimes they take the long path around the South Pole, sometimes both, which gives them a weird echo effect. . . ."

"I see. What do you say to them?"

"Well, today I have about six messages. One to my sponsor to tell him where I am. A couple of thank-you notes and a couple of appeals for gifts of literature from some of the more affluent AA groups back home. And one of the sailors is worried about his kid with the mumps."

"And your man in the States takes all these messages? Free?"

"Oh, sure. It is fun for him. They will be delivered in a couple of hours and I will get the reply this evening."

"Sounds great. The literature--what do you mean?"

"Well, AA prints a lot of books and pamphlets. From time to time I put the bee on groups back home and they kick in these things, and I take them overseas with me to the new groups."

"Would you have a lot of candidates on the ship itself?"

"Oh my, yes. The rate of alcoholism at sea is about double that of the general population since many go to sea to escape and for other reasons connected with loneliness and boredom. But more and more of them come to me and listen to my tapes and read the literature. It is surprising how many of them are not aware that they suffer from a progressive and fatal ailment. They seem to think that because they can drink a lot now they can continue to indefinitely. This in spite of the fact that we lose a man about every trip or two."

The transmitter was good and warm. Faintly, and then louder, came the beep-beep of my distant friend. I pointed at the mike. "Not using the mike?" I asked, puzzled.

"For some reason people seem to think that the microphone and voice is easier," Jim said. "Most of us think it is 100 times as difficult to carry on a voice conversation, especially at a great distance. The key is best for message handling. It isn't long until I have hooked up with my friend in Vancouver, B. C. He is so darned faithful, every day, rain or shine. He takes my messages with nary a break. A good operator and a pleasure to work with."

I said, "Do you ever ham just for fun? I mean, work stations at random?"

"Oh, sure. That's the main purpose of hamming--fun. It is the greatest hobby in the world. Young and old, high and low, all participate in it. I worked over 100 different countries just for fun, on the way out. I'm running out of the easy ones and now have to concentrate on Zambia, Kuwait, and places like Qatar. I run into some AAs accidentally.

"The other day I was working a guy in South Africa. 'Call me Padre,' he says. Sure enough, he was a minister. So, of course, we fell right into step and had a miniature meeting over the air. This happens quite frequently.

"Also I often work an AA member who is a ham--I said often, I mean relatively often considering there are so few of us. But in AA we all believe that our Higher Power, God if you will, guides us and arranges a lot of these things for us. The probability rates are out of the window because of some of the strange things that happen. Any AA person will tell you of things that have happened that stretch the odds way out of reason.

"How about India? Our cargo is a load of wheat for India. The ham community in India is about the friendliest I have ever seen anywhere. I make it a point to work them all coming in, and they come down and meet the ship. Nothing will do but I must visit their homes, where they invite more hams. What a hamfest. I explain AA to them, and they promise full cooperation. One more link in communication.

"Communication! I think that is why I was spared! Each and every member of AA is a link in communication, to carry the word to other alcoholics, the wonderful word that recovery is not only possible but that life takes on a deeper meaning and is incomparably more wonderful than most of us had ever dreamed.

"I consider myself extraordinarily fortunate. Pity the poor members who have to content themselves with letters, meetings and direct contacts. I have ham radio which means another half million kindred souls. Just how lucky can one person get?

"So in my little prayer of thanks I give at night, there is a PS: 'Dear God, bless all the hams in the world.' Perhaps some of you have noticed your luck changing for the better lately?"

Jim went back to his rig, and I waved goodbye and faded out.

Copyright © 1944-2011 The AA Grapevine Inc.
All Rights Reserved. Reprinted by permission.