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Ken WA8JOC, Wayne K8LEE, and Mike VE9AA unfurl the Cushcraft banner below
the A3S tribander. The CY0AA DX-pedition truly proved these operators to be outstanding
in their field.
(Written by Ken WA8JOC)
My dream began in early 1995 with the idea of going to
"someplace" to be DX. After handling Dave Heil's QSL's for
the last 8 years, I had decided to BE the DX, and not just
enjoy it vicariously through the issuance of ten's of
thousands of cards for Dave. Places like Kure Island, West
Africa, and especially, South Africa (with A22MN being
resident in Botswana at the time, and me being his long-time
manager, and friend) all seemed attractive, but only Kure had
the mystique that drew me.
One night while preparing for my 5BDXCC application with the
usual compiling of QSL's, I came across a 1980 Sable Island
QSL for VE1AI/1. Here it was! The bluish picture on the card
was shrouded in mist, with only the very western end of the
sandy island showing itself to the camera, with 90% of it
still holding it's mystery from me. It was perfect! Close,
but yet far away. Common, but yet rare. Dangerous, but yet
safe. Sable was it! I placed the QSL on the wall behind my
operating position, so that it would always be in front of me
beconing.
The first thing was to see if it was worth the effort to the
amateur community around the world. What better place to
find this out than at the Dayton Hamvention. I always have
enjoyed the amateurs from all over the world coming up to me,
and thanking me for a J52US, 9L1US, or some other of Dave's
many QSL's from his many QTH'S over the years. During my
sojourn to the DX Forum from the flea market area,( If
you've ever been to the Hamvention, then you will appreciate
the word sojourn, versus a little walk. It's similar to
a salmon going upstream to go anywhere inside the main
arena.), I had run into some friends that I had used to
bounce the Sable Island idea off of months earlier. The
usual joking, joviality, and good fun was abundant, well
worth the trip up the rapids. Three SM's introduced
themselves to me, and once again thanked me for past QSL's,
and sought current information regarding Dave. In the midst
of this, I dropped the idea of a Sable Island operation in
the conversation. They lit up like Christmas trees! "Will
you be on 160? 6? How long will you stay? What about RTTY?"
The question was answered...on to the next step.
The next step......licensing. I gathered my wits about a
month afterward and began my quest to find THE guru in the
Canadian government who could help me here. I found out from
several sources that the government there operates with an
ongoing constant state of flux. Department names, and
responsibilities can change from day to day, and I had to
catch the right tide to find out who Mr(s). Right was. I
began this quest, with a few feelers, and as assumed, someone
else always was responsible for that area. Finally, I did
come across someone who knew someone who knew something.
Well, to cut to the chase, I did get the application moving
through the Department of Industry - Canada. After several
calls, and many faxes the application was in! I did mention
that a Canadian amateur was involved also, which seemed to
move things along a bit more quickly. By this time, I had
been chatting with Mike, VE9AA, who had very similar feelings
to myself about such an undertaking. Needless to say, we hit
it off very well, and he joined the team.
I felt that it was only fair that we try to do a 50/50
operation; 2 Canadians, 2 U.S. op's. A close friend of mine
had also mentioned his interest, and so K8LEE was added as
the second U.S. operator. I had even approached WD8SDL about
his availability, but unfortunately, due to some earlier back
problems he respectfully declined, but was more than happy to
handle the HF QSL chores. In the light of the 50/50 mix, I
had thought about for the operators, Mike suggested VE1PZ
would be an excellent fourth operator. If it wouldn't have
been for the lack of funding early in the drive, and the HUGE
jump in expense going from 3, to 4 operators, Doug would've
been #4. We can't downplay his vital assistance though in
the logistics. He and Mike made it possible for equipment
movment prior to the U.S. op's arrival in Canada. My
feelings about the U.S. side were very solid. Both of the
operators I have contested with over the past few years, and
knew instinctively that the match was good. Mike certainly
had that same faith in Doug.
My friend to the north, Mike, VE9AA, however had his hands
full. We had discussed, and decided it might be best for him
to become the contact person for permits, and licensing,
since I had seemed to get the shuffle when I asked questions
as to status, call availabilty, etc.... After about a two
month delay, both Mike, and I received calls, and faxes from
a person in the licensing section, Mr. Phillip Amirault. I
was out of town on business, so my XYL, Barb, took the call
which was VERY apologetic. He assured us the process would
move quickly now, under his direct supervision. It did! He
even wrote a letter of apology to us because of the delay we
had experienced.
We also discovered, however, that there three types of
permits, etc.. needed to operate, or even land on the island.
The permit to land did just that. The radio amateur license
did just that. The BIG problem was that both depended on
appropriate quartering on the island. Let me assure all of
you, there are no Holiday Inn's on this island! Where would
we stay? Since it is considered a natural preserve...no
camping is permitted. Mike and I burned up hundreds of
dollars of phone calls each month trying to get a lead on
some institution, foundation, or whatever, to find a place to
stay. As luck would have it, I remembered a fraternity
brother of mine from college worked for the Canadian Trade
Consulate here in Cincinnati. I called Steve, and attempted
to explain why I wanted to go to this God forsaken island to
talk to people. He was sincerely trying to understand so he
could "grease the skids" for us a bit, but ended up saying he
would try to do whatever he could to get us the names of
people to speak to about this. Again, several weeks had
elapsed, and all of us fell back into the doldrums of
uncertainty once again. Finally, he called with the phone
number of the officer in charge of the island. With Mr.
Forbes' duties taking him to the mainland, or out on the
islands' ends, he was hard to contact. Once again, Mike came
to the rescue and took over the communication with him, by
telephone, and fax. I began my duties as the "bean counter"
at this point, and let Mike take the reigns as the negotiator
with this new person, and the whole Canadian government.
Not to forget K8LEE, and WD8SDL, all of the "brain trust" was
constantly in communication, and thought, about this or that
detail of the trip. The countless hours of discussions,
really were just that! I really couldn't put a number to it,
on either end.
With the permits, and licenses underway...the "bean counter"
begins his work. How much is this "little" trip going to
cost? Where do we get the money? Equipment? Storage for
logistical reasons? Travel accommodations?
At this point, the first goal of the permits was well under
way. I felt that Mike's contacts with Gerry Forbes, as
officer in charge, were really moving along well. Gerry said
that there were quarters available, but very limited, and
VERY expensive. The environmental impact was also something
that had to be taken into consideration. If we put up
antennas, how would we anchor them? What would we anchor them
too? We knew none of these answers, and therefore had to
assume the worst. Our incessant bothering of Gerry Forbes,
and a myriad of other DXpedition consultants (WA4JQS,
AA6BB/7, and VE1YX all included) was neverending. We always
felt as if we were "picking their brains", and always waited
for the reply that they really didnt have anymore time to
give to our queries. Fortunately, that reply never was heard.
So....at this point, we had to make the decision as to what
we had, and didn't have for our trip to Sable Island. The
quest continued!
With permits, licenses, and quarters, all within reach, the
next step was support, and backing. I knew that without this
DXCC counter being close to the top ten mark for U.S.
amateurs, funding, and support might be a problem. I had also
hoped for European, and Asian support also, with Sable being
#87, and #4 respectively. Well, as fate would have it, the
North California DX Foundation, and U.K. Six Metre Group came
through with substantial $1500 plus donations. This is where
the base was built for the operation. We were asked to give
details for bandplans, goals of the operation, and answer
detailed questions regarding techniques for operating. After
we were voted on, and approved, we received the funding,
without which, the operation would not have taken place.
Each of the operators had committed to personal funding, but
even with that, all of the support we could get wouldn't be
too much. Unfortunately, ALL of the financial committments
for the operations were upfront costs, before we even left
for Sable. The Airplane charter, the rent for our quarters,
the equipment shipping expenses, etc...all added up
VERY QUICKLY!!! It was a real problem to convince some
organizations, at first, that we were indeed serious. We
were 3 untested expeditioners (on this level, anyway), who
said we would do whatever we could, but could guarantee
NOTHING! With no substantial DXpedition track record, other
than Mike's Canadian IOTA's, and Wayne's Navassa, and
Montserrat trips from several years ago.
Our emotions went up, and down like yo-yo's, with support
being solicited, then turned down. We were always looking
though, for target groups, that would feel a CY0 Sable
operation would be valuable. After several months it seemed
that we started to take hold. We tried to keep the world
amateur community informed by using BBS, Packet, Internet
Webpages, magazine articles, and periodic releases to the DX
magazines to keep in touch. I even received several VERY
unflattering replies about the uselessness of our idea to go
to such a "common" place. Man, did that help at the time!
Mike was concentrating on the finalizing of the permits and
licenses, while I was beating the bushes for support,
financial, and otherwise. Wayne continued to be the "tech
support" and brought up the technical aspects of what we
"might" experience there. Voltage fluctuations, cross
interference between the stations, and possible antenna
placement, and usage. Each part certainly could, and would
affect the whole operation's outcome.
We approached the support aspect rather agressively, since
actual cash funding was only about 50% of what the operation
really needed. I therefore went to the next level of
support: equipment!
Once again, the leads were few, and for the most part, not
productive. There seems to be a very close network of
supporters of expeditions. We were able to obtain the
introduction to one, that eventually led to not only
equipment, but also some additional financial support. We
experienced rejection on the part of our first request for
equipment. A true disheartening blow, knowing we didn't have
the finances to purchase the types of rigs that we would
really needed to do a 160 through 6 meter operation, and we
certainly were looking at SUBSTANTIAL shipping costs for any
duplicate equipment, to get it to the island. Fortunately,
our contact at Oklahoma Comm Center, Mike, got Icom America
on the horn and 3 brand new IC 706's followed from both of
them. We had decided, early on, that we would only ask for
the loan of equipment, not a donation of same. There were
certainly some horror stories that we had heard from
PROMINENT manufacturers, due to the "loss" of "donated"
equipment. This abuse cost us the support of two companies.
I'm glad that we had our own equipment to replace it. I
certainly don't envy anyone in the future trying to get
support for an operation. Our eternal respect, and THANKS
goes out to the support companies listed on our QSL's for
their belief in our word. For clarification, all equipment
has been sent back to the appropriate companies...per our
promises!
So, at this point, the licenses, quarters, equipment,
antennas, and finances had all fallen into place. Credit
cards, loans, and downright begging filled out the balance of
the $13000+ adventure. We now had the majority of what we
had estimated we would need financially, and with the final
approval of all of our requests from Cushcraft Antennas, it
was beyond fail-safe... in other words...NO TURNING BACK!
Now all we needed was the logistics for the final dates,
weights for the charter plane, and equipment shipping
instructions.
Naturally, Murphy was there AGAIN! Now, a GPS study team
from a BIG oil company, was going to be on the island for
several months. Their sensitive instruments might not be
able to take the RF we were putting out! The operation was
in jeopardy AGAIN! Gerry came to our rescue, and ran RF
tests and all came out just fine. At worst, we would have to
negotiate times of operations, but CY0AA was still a GO!
With the months of February, March, and April literally
flying by, plans had changed again. We had learned of the
possible closing down of the Sable Island operations
altogether, at "some future time"! Would Murphy get us
again? We didn't know when this closure was going to take
place, and if we would be welcomed since our reason for being
there was not a substantial one in non-amateur radio circles.
With Mike and Gerry keeping in close contact, we were given a
chance to send some equipment over on a Canadian Coast Guard
vessel that was bringing food, and other supplies to the
island about 2 weeks before we were to arrive. This would
save the operation about $2000! We were advised also that an
additional plane flight was scheduled now for rotating
personnel off the island, and would be empty going over. Of
course Murphy was not to be out done yet! Mike was
originally going to go over on June 24th, with Wayne, and
myself, but since we now had a slight windfall of funds, and
the six meter window was better earlier in June, it was
decided to have Mike go over on the 18th. He would be the
point man for the operation, and be our "insurance" that
oversights could be corrected by having Wayne, and I bring
whatever we needed with us on the 24th. We were advised
earlier in June, however, that the ship date for the Coast
Guard cutter, had been moved from the 7th of June, to the
16th of June. This was only a 2 day window before Mike would
arrive! One more postponement, beyond the 18th, and it would
throw us back into an additional $2600, for another plane
charter! Our financial buffer, plus some, would be gone!
Fortunately for us, the equipment was loaded on time, on
schedule! (Of course, with Murphy still hanging around on
the edge...just waiting...still!)
With all the changes, Mike was still able to arrive as
hoped and set up "house" for us, get six, and two meters
going, along with the R7000 for HF when other bands weren't
hot.
He really hit the air on the 20th for the first time. Wayne
and I both had schedules with Mike prior to our departure
from Cincinnati. I had the good fortune to even pickup CY0AA
on six meters prior to our leaving! You should've heard
Mike ...."Ken? Is that really you?? WA8JOC? Your 59 on
Sable..Is that you??" Yes, it was me and I was as surprised
as he. Anyway, with the equipment, and antennas already
there thanks to the Coast Guard, Mike was able to get a head
start. He spent almost a day and a half putting things
together, getting the antennas up, and still managed to work
a couple of hundred stations on six, and two meters, with
about 4500 QSO's also being put into the log by the time of
our arrival. Mike was the best CW operator (save OH2/K8MN)
that I have ever seen. Cruising at 40/45 WPM flawlessly,
with one of the best ears I've ever been priviledged to be
exposed to, he was a pleasure to turn the CW operating over
to, since I knew he'd do about 175% of what I could do on CW.
And that's why we were there.
Our trip from Cincinnati was not very eventful, other than
setting up the one IC706's in the hotel room and listening to
W0AIH on CW for Field Day. He was the ONLY station we could
hear from Halifax, Nova Scotia. My experience with Canadian
Customs also left something to be desired. After being told
to go to the Immigration Officer, while Wayne breezed through
with no problem, was a bit irritating. Also, the additional
2 times I was stopped before getting out of the airport
started to get on my nerves a bit. Wayne's comment "Well,
Ken, you just fit the profile.", was dead on. I have 3
cousins that work for U.S. Customs, and that is exactly
correct! I fit the profile of a tired, anxious, DXpeditioner
that wanted to get on the air yesterday! I understand though
that they have their jobs to do, but sometimes our physical
and mental anticipation won't consider that at the time. Our
time in Halifax was spent in thoughtful anticipation of
Monday's flight to the island. By Sunday afternoon, Wayne
and I were both ready to go.
We ventured over to the airport to find the Provincial Air
hangar, and possibly store our luggage a day early, so Monday
morning, the 24th, wouldn't be too stressful, too early. We
were pleasantly surprised at the very positive response that
we received about our desires to do things a bit earlier than
usual. After we made the trip from the hotel to the hanger,
with all of our equipment for the next days flight, we were
pleasantly greeted again, and given assistance, and more
information on their procedures that made our level of
anxiety decrease substantially.
On Monday, the 24th, we were on our way. The Britten-Norman
Islander was not what I would call spacious, but rather,
efficient. Seats could be put in, or, taken out. The payload
was 1070 pounds to the island, and 1250 pounds coming back to
the main land, passengers included. We were impressed with
the very short takeoff, but for the one and a half hour
flight out to the 130 mile distant island, ear plugs were the
rule of the day. The drone from the twin engines was
deafening. All I could think of was that Murphy was riding
with us again, and I would probably go deaf before we arrived
there! Not the case though!
Upon our approach to the location of the island in the
Atlantic Ocean (We hoped!), we saw some of nature, and man's,
awesome products. We viewed from 3500 feet the majesty of a
swimming whale. As it surfaced, and that quickly submerged
beneath the waves, it's streamlined movements were indicative
of the grace, and power it possessed. Just a few minutes
later, we observed a HUGE container ship making it's way
toward the Canadian coast. Again, its slow, deliberate path
through the waters certainly bespoke of its ability to carry
thousands of tons of freight to the mainland, with very
little surface disturbance being observed from our altitude,
but us still knowing its awesome power when earthbound.
As the approach to the island was more evident visually,
needless to say, a certain relief overcame Wayne, and myself.
At the same time, a feeling of responsibility seemed to
settle on our shoulders, and would remain there for the
remainder of our stay. WE were the DX, and WE needed to be
there for whomever needed us, wherever they needed us, on
whatever modes and bands they could possibly, and feasibly,
work us. No pressure here!
After the short overflight over the island, which was more
revealing than ALL of the pictures I had ever seen of the
mysterious "Graveyard of the Atlantic", I felt that this trip
would be good for us, and thousands of other amateurs around
the world. Our landing was truly storybook... a slow, and
smooth one. The sand seemed to absorb all of the shock that
a normal runway wouldn't. What a greeting to heaven!!
We were greeted by Gerry Forbes, Commander-in-charge of the
island, along with Mike, VE9AA. We already were starting to
interact since the islanders needed to send a few boxes back
to the mainland, and since it was technically our charter, it
was our call...yes, or no to their placement on the aircraft.
Naturally, we weren't there to be selfish, just to get a job
done. "No problem! Put'em on the aircraft!" was the unanimous
response, no question! Gerry was very gracious, and it was
certainly a very happy occasion for Wayne, and I to finally
meet Mike, VE9AA at the landing strip, and also do some early
bonding with our fellow cohabitants of the island.
The trip to our small, yet pleasant home for the next 10 days
was one filled with information. What we could, or couldn't
do there... what possible problems, or questions we might
have, and there were a number, were all covered by Gerry.
There was a complete book for visitors for the given limits
of what activities would, or would not be tolerated. For
example, the one telephone line was not usuable from 0745-
0945, and 1945-2145 local time each day. This was in
addition to non use on the complete, and half hours, for data
transmission to the mainland. Weather information always
seemed to be the mainstay of why it existed. We could obtain
incoming calls, however, only on a very limited basis.
Still, it was better than an Antarctic wasteland with no
calls from home even possible. All outgoing calls were on
collect, or credit card basis. We could handle that!
The plush accomodations of the Sable 8 Hotel
Ken, WA8J0C "running" at the HF station
The pileups began in earnest when I was there about 3 hours.
Six had opened to the East Coast...BIG TIME... and we were
there! I worked 30 - 40 stations down the coast, into NC,
SC, and even KY, OH, and IN. Not bad for a first part day!
Mike had said that this was the PRIMO time of year for
six/two openings in that direction. After Wayne and I got
settled, we got our own rigs up and going. We decided that
the R7000 would do that evening, along with the 5 element six
meter beam. The other antennas would come the next morning.
So 20 meters was our first BIG group attack! Several hundred
stations worked CY0AA that night. The first group of over
15,000 to work us while we were there!
The Expedition continued, with various complications becoming
more, and more evident. Not with what the operators could
anticipate, but rather the limitations that space on the
island, due to environmental factors, and, weather conditions
would eventually impose. The lack of space wouldn't allow
us to use a beverage antenna on 160 meters, and those who
made it on that band were picked out of a S9+20DB noise
level.
Space, or not, at long last the tribander was finally up, the
WARC beam up, the R7000, and six, and two meter beams up. The
next Herculean task was that of putting up the huge Battle
Creek Special the following day, with its 70+ radials, and 3
levels of guy wires. This would give us 160-2 meter coverage
as we had promised the amateurs around the world!
We continued to use the morning hours to handle the JA
pileups on a regular basis, since their need was much greater
than ANYWHERE else on the face of the earth, and the
propagation was best that time of day, for a 4 hour long
window into Asia. We had the West Coast guys that needed us
also. We really tried to be there at the right times for
conditions there too, but mostly in the evenings. We
continued to look to Asia in the morning hours. WOW! A tidal
wave of CW with only one QRZ! One morning, we had worked
through a 10 Khz wide pileup of solid JA's! A great number
of operators put CY0AA in the logs that day, and in the days
to follow on those early morning sessions. Wayne, K8LEE, had
the same experience on 10 MHZ! He had experienced 15 - 20
KHZ of pileup on that band. We felt bad because there was
almost no room for anyone else! Wayne also was the major
WARC band and RTTY distributor! The pileups were greater
than we ever anticipated! We still managed about two hundred
RTTY QSO's from Sable, along with a multitude for the WARC
bands. All the op's there were putting all their best
efforts forward to do what we could do, no more, no less.
The days seemed to run into nights, which again turned back
into days again. Anyone that thinks it's easy to sit there,
hour after hour with the drone of continous CW tones, or the
squawking of sideband signals, has not been through a busy
DXpedition. I personally, on several occasions, had to just
get up and walk away from the rig, pile up or not. That was
the beauty of having the cross coverage flexibility among the
stations. Mike, or Wayne, would just "pick me up", and
finish working the pile up out. We all went through ups and
downs, and would pick each other up each time. We were all
allowed to still remain human, even though our machined "59",
"QSL" replies sometimes told us otherwise. From what we had
been told by our consultants, and friends, lack of sleep,
pressure, and just plain anxiety about the final outcome of
the success of the operation, would take their toll. We had
to control our own emotions through all of this, or face the
risk of having the whole thing blow apart ...RIGHT THERE!
We were all very frustrated at the six, and two meter band
conditions. The one of two openings, to speak of, was the
one that I had the good fortune to work on the 24th, when we
arrived. Just little "teaser" openings, other than one other
big one toward the end of our stay on Sable. All day, every
day, whenever we were available, the beacon was on six, while
the other 2 stations were cranking QSO's; one WARC, one
standard HF bands. We only had two significant openings for
10,12, and 15 meters during our stay. When it happened, all
3 stations went to HF, fought through the cross interference,
and worked hundreds of stations for new bands, or modes.
Several times we heard the CT0WW/Beacon, and European video
signals on six meters for 10 to 20 minutes at 20+ db over S9.
No activity though on 6,10,12, or even 15 meters. Everyone
was still at their jobs! We CQ'd until we couldn't stand it
any longer. Still, no answers, even though the MUF, and
propagation was there. We were here..Where's everyone else??
We had spent a long time putting up the antennas, more than
we had anticipated, and the day of our teardown was quickly
approaching. Which stations would be the survivors of the
draw? We gave careful thought to giving the most we could,
all the way to the end. We felt the five element six meter
beam and one IC706 would be one, and the other IC706 with the
old faithful R7000, and Wayne's solid state amplifier would
handle WARC, and standard HF for the others. The tribander,
WARC beam, Battle Creek Special and 2 meter long john would
be taken down. We decided to make it a concentrated effort,
so as to keep the other two stations off the air for the
least amount of time. This was July 1st, and we needed to
prepare for the possible July 2nd flight, shipping about 200
pounds then, so all the equipment, and the operators could
get off on the July 3rd flight. The antennas were taken down
along with the boxing up of my amplifier, and two other boxes
of guy ropes, 2 meter amplifier, and power supplies. At $3
per pound, we didn't want to send too much, or, too little!
Whatever happened, we wanted all the equipment off the island
by the time we left. The next morning we were greeted with a
knock on our door...it was MURPHY !!
We were told that the plane on July 2nd was going to be
filled now, by duty personnel rotating. The good news was
that due to additional shifting in personnel, there would be
2, or even 3 flights on the 3rd of July! We were very very
relieved to hear this, since we had just paid our bill for
our island stay, and the CY0AA account had a whopping $150
balance in it. As we continued to count the approximate
$5000 cash for our housing bill there, we had noticed that
there was about $1100 we hadn't counted on! At this point,
about a total of $500 cash left in our pockets...then...
CREDIT CARDS!!!! We were getting off just in time! So we
thought... $900 later!
Murphy was the pilot though! Gerry came over to our barracks
and gave us the news that a heavy weather front was due
during the night, to early next morning. At 3PM though, we
figured things could change by then, but our July 2nd flight
was now gone. We had no hope other than the July 3rd flights.
We did have some fog though, early on the 2nd, but it burnt
off. Gerry had said that we had the longest string of
absolutely BEAUTIFUL weather that he had seen so far this
year. The fog season begins there on July 1st, and lasts
through August 31st of every year. But we were leaving July
3rd, and it was a charter, so we would probably go...we
thought! We were still on the air, but we were told to be
prepared to tear down EVERYTHING in about 90 minutes, and be
ready to go when we were notified by Gerry! This brought the
seriousness of the situation there to our attention. We
continued to rack up hundreds of QSO's, but when were we
going to leave? We were all wondering what Murphy was going
to do next.
The morning of July 3rd, at about 5:30 AM, local time, the
sky opened up. It rained, like it hadn't rained since we had
been in Canada! The sky was blue later on that morning. A
beautiful blue at that, with high, high whispy cirrus clouds.
By mid-afternoon about 3PM, Gerry came over and said that all
flights had been cancelled for that day! WHY?? The beautiful
beach became our captor, since it was too moist to handle an
aircraft landing. Additionally, he gave us the news that the
winds had changed due to a disturbance somewhere in the
Carribean that was going to send cloudy, foggy weather for
the next SEVERAL! days. Possibly...just possibly...late in
the weekend we could leave. This would mean a departure
delay of at least 4 days! Now, Murphy was our weatherman!
The morning of the 4th of July was very foggy. It's gloom was
to overcast Wayne and my own holiday. Our families were home
enjoying warm, sunny weather on the U.S. Independence Day
holiday, while Lady Sable held us there against our wills.
Mike was also depressed due to the continuing poor six, and
two meter conditions. The weatherman, Mac, had told Mike
that the record for fog this time of year was 28 solid days.
We ALL agreed that we didn't want to break that record! To
keep our minds off the let down of the delay, we worked
several hundred or so stations that day. As fate would have
it though, we all would work hundreds on 20 CW up through 6
CW. The bands REALLY came alive for hours, and allowed us to
really put CY0AA back in the limelight again. July 4th ended
up being all that we had hoped all of the days on the island
would be. The bands exploded! The approximate 500 stations
were mostly on the bands that had not been open before but
once, or twice briefly. That day flew by, with our hopes of
departure being put aside for the finally fantastic band
conditions.
After this rejuvenation of spirit for all of the members of
the expedition, we thought to go to a place we had not even
considered before......40 SSB! Why?? Well, there had been
requests, but we felt the QRM, and split control frequency
would end up being a real problem, and very inefficient for
numbers of QSO's. We had nothing to lose. We were stuck
there, so let's just do it! If it's bad...we QSY..if it's
good we stay. Several hundred of QSO's later..the band died.
We QSY'd to 20 CW, and ran a pileup there. By midnight, we
were all exhausted. I tried to do some 20 CW, but after a
bit, I was sleeping sitting up! The stations were calling,
but I couldn't answer because I knew I couldn't handle the
paddle physically, and be understood! Earlier in the trip I
was doing 40 and 20 "late night" CW, but now the toll had
been taken. Our sleep schedules were changed somewhat, and
we were overdue now to leave, so to begin to change back to
normal should be our goal.
On the morning of the 5th of July, little or no JA conditions
on 20 CW. Evidently, the solar activity had pretty well
killed the polar routes for propagation to Asia the day
before. We were able to put some North American stations in
the log though on HF, but again six meters was almost dead
with the exception of some east coast contacts. Conditions
were not good though. We had heard again by this point early
in the day that fog, which was very evident, possibly might
let up by later in the afternoon. Ultimately though, flights
were cancelled again for July 5th. We continued to hope,
since there had been a small chance of a break in the clouds,
and a bit more heat to dry out the beach on Saturday, July
6th.
We again were up on the early morning of the 6th of July,
looking to Asia. We had worked 40 CW early into the morning
hours. Sunrise had seen us trying SSB on 20 to no great
avail. CQ's were going unanswered, by anyone! We kept
trying different frequencies though. The bottom line was
that we were advised to get ready to go! We began to tear
down the tower with the six meter beam, and start to put back
all of the bricks, construction bars, and guy ropes that we
had used. We continued to keep the vertical up for HF QSO's
until the last minute. We finally called it quits at 1313Z
on July 6, 1996. Our parting comment was that we could
always tear the vertical out of the box, and be back on the
air again that night...if need be. We had packed all of the
antennas into each others boxes since we were told that our
chartered flight was no longer ours, but rather a "people
flight", to get all of the personnel off the island.
Therefore, the equipment would get off the island "whenever",
and our promises kept coming back to us. We wanted it off
ASAP, preferably the 2nd trip. We were told that trip was a
"maybe" at best, considering the front coming in. The
weather window was for about 5 hours. After that...5 to 7
days of fog, and rain for the island, so Gerry was making
sure his people would get off the island along with us. Our
equipment though would be on the second flight...if there was
one.
Well, Neil, our pilot, came in at about a 20 degree attitude
on a cross wind of about 25 knots! The plane looked as if it
were going to land to my left. But when I was taking videos,
it was pointed 20 degrees off straight, and landed close to
where I was standing. The good old Britten did it again!
As we were preparing to take off, the passengers were on the
aircraft, the engines were rev'ed up but....we weren't
moving! Had Murphy done it again???? We were this close, but
were destined to remain here for another 7 days??? At that
point, Neil popped the brake and we were moving. The engines
were certainly getting a workout, since the sands on the
beach were still not completely dry. Even Gerry had said
that these were marginal conditions, but that he felt they
were still "acceptable". The flight was never in any danger,
but I can certainly understand erring in the favor of safety,
where human life is concerned.(Especially ours!) We were off
the beach again, and in the air, at last! The plane wasn't
even pushed slightly. All we had to worry about was the
cargo left behind. Neil assurred us that he felt as though a
second trip back could be done. We were in receipt of all of
our remaining freight by 9 P.M. that evening in Halifax.
The CY0AA DXpedition was now history. All of the equipment
has been shipped, all of the operators are now home, but none
of us will ever .. totally .. leave Sable behind. The "most
shipwrecked island in the world", but also one of the most
allurring, and beautiful!
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