CUSHCRAFT

Amateur - Gallery

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 movement 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 availability, 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 never-ending. We always felt as if we were "picking their brains", and always waited for the reply that they really didn't 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 commitments 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 aggressively, 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 privileged 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 usable 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!

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 continuous 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 wispy 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 Caribbean 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 assured 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 alluring, and beautiful!

*Note: The R7000 is no longer available.

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