Story 26DX/CU005




Story from 26DX/CU005 activity.




After much negotiation with e-mails and phone calls, I finally got permission to land and activate the Island of Piel.

A good friend of mine had said he would take me there on his boat, so I contacted a few friends to see if they would be interested in putting this New One on 11m. In the end the team was myself, Matt 26DX021 and Steve 26AT015. All of us are experienced with IOTA activation and things started to take shape.

Sadly Matt dropped out a couple of days before the event, due to work commitments; Steve on the other hand was well up for it. I hope that for future activations, this team will get together.

On the day we planned to go, I got a call from my friend Tim, who was waiting on the boat for the tide to move so he could come in and pick us up. He said that the weather was quickly getting worse, and that we should move now. Steve however, was still a couple of hours away, stuck in traffic on the motorway. I decided, I would go and set up the station, and Steve would join me on the next tide.

Tim came to get me from Roa Island, and after many attempts, managed to get myself and the gear into the boat. The sea was very choppy and as soon as we cleared the shallow water it felt rough. Tim did comment that we must be crazy ?. We arrived at Piel and unloaded the gear. I then had to carry it all a few hundred meters, the wind was really strong and it was hard work. I put my first tent up so that I had some shelter, but that tent blew away before I secured it. I managed to get the second tent up and get the radio gear inside and safe. The generator had suffered some problems on the trip over and would not start. It was then I decided that the weather was too bad to continue, so I settled down for the night and would put the antenna up in the morning.

The wind through the night was very strong, but the tent was still ok in the morning. I got to work putting the antenna up. I took a 12v battery with me so at least I could get on air for a few hours. I got the A99 up as best as I could and tested the radio. The band was very quiet, just a few locals. I spoke to Steve 26AT015 He told me the bad news that sailings across to Piel Island had been suspended due to high winds, so it looked like I was on my own for the whole weekend. Steve made plans to return home, and I made plans to get on with it.

Finally the band showed signs of life and I started to log some stations. In between the contacts, I had a look at the generator. I did not have the tools with me to work on the generator, but I did manage to do what I needed with a pair of pliers. I was just about to give up with the genny when it fired up. I topped up the tank and set up the PSU and amplifier. Finally, things were going well. I had a steady flow of contacts, I also managed to make myself a hot drink. I also found time to make the tent a little more secure.

By the end of the day I had around 75 in the log. The weather was still bad, so I tried to get some sleep. When I woke on Sunday morning, the generator would not start again (sea water), so I went back to the battery. Tim had been in touch and it was decided that I will leave the Island by Landrover, the sea conditions were still too rough. I started to pack some of the gear away, and just had the radio and battery. For some reason the band started to open nicely, with short skip. Contacts were coming really fast now and I knew I should continue, giving these stations a chance of a New One. I got help from 26AT026 and 26AT016 to get everyone that I could into the log. I closed down the station at 12.08 and quickly took apart the station and campsite. Tim arrived in the Landrover, just as I carried the last things to the pickup point. I was pleased that, although everything had gone wrong for this activation, the logbook looked as if it was a complete success.

145 log entries with a dxcc score of 21. My thanks to everyone involved, Pauline for letting me play, Steve 015 for your efforts to be here, Darran 047 and John 101 for support and help. Special thanks go to Tim for big help in transport on and off the Island, also to Dominick Mulvey for his support.

See you from the next one :-).

Trevor 26DX015 (26DX/CU005)

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