Unusual Request

Every morning we listen to the Cruiser's Net on the VHF radio at 8:15 in the morning. There is all sorts of information learned plus weather reports for our area. The past several days there has been an unusual request announced. There was a homing pigeon that must have been blown off course, wandering around the Abacos. Finally someone got close enough to see that it was from Miami, found a cage and food, and gave her a name...Rebecca. They contacted a homing pigeon group who claim that if she is brought back to the States and let go, she will find her way home (I guess her internal GPS must not include the Bahamas?!). So the request went out for any sailboat heading back to Florida to volunteer to transport Rebecca back and release her. No one has stepped forward yet, but then again it is going to be blowing 20-30 mph for a week, so no one is going anywhere. Meanwhile, Rebecca is well taken care of. Hopefully it all works out for her and her instincts kick in when she sees U.S. soil again. I hope she remembers her passport!

Footnote: Back in high school I used to go out with a guy who's family had homing pigeons. We used to transport them as far away as 100 miles and they would all make their way back home. They truly are amazing birds.