About 25 years ago I was active as a licensed radio amateur; a HAM. I found it an exciting hobby. As a HAM you could make contact with people all over the world using wireless radio. In those days this was one of the few ways for individuals to maintain international contacts. And while today the internet knits us all into a global network, hobbiest radio still exists.
I kind of forgot about my old hobby but because of the visit of the Rainbow Warrior to Amsterdam it all came back when I realised we have HAM radio equipment aboard. Unfortunately, during our short stay in Amsterdam we did not possess the required HAM license. So I suggested to use my old license and request a special call sign for the Ship; PG6RW. In HAM speak this is Papa Golf six Radio Whiskey, but we prefer to use Papa Greenpeace six Rainbow Warrior. A great possibility to contact our supporters world wide.
It was a great experience for the crew and for me. No matter who we contacted, in which country, what background, we always met friends on the radio bands. We received many requests by email for trying a radio contact on specific frequencies and times. A nice thing about HAM radio is that, after you have made contact you send each other a card (a so called QSL card) with technical information about your equipment, the connection and sometimes information about yourself. For the Rainbow Warrior we made a special card, of course with a photograph of the new ship. We sent many cards.