Date

Entry

22 March 2008

Saturday morning - LAND HO!!! We docked at the Harbor at 0630. It's great to be back. I was able to rebook my flight home to leave San Diego at 1300. I arrived Manchester, NH at 0030 Sunday morning and finally got to sleep around 0430. There is still snow on the ground and it's COLD. BURRRR!!!

We knew going into the DXpedition that everyone would be comparing us to the Ducie (VP6DX) operation. The Ducie group did not experience the extreme weather conditions nor did they have to build their operation from the ground up. We were up for the challenge until we were hit with the extreme weather conditions and treacherous landing conditions. Clipperton was definitely one of the more Challenging DXpeditions and I wish to express my sincere thanks to all of our sponsors, individual contributors and to those who expressed their concern by closely followed our progress. Without people like you TX5C would not have been possible. Amazing as it was, in 6.5 days we logged over 71,000 Q's. I’m looking forward to my next adventure. 73/88, Ann WA1S / TX5C

21 March 2008

Friday morning - Our fifth night at sea has passed and the seas have gotten calmer. Our ETA to San Diego is about 0630 tomorrow morning.

We spent the day watching movies and exchanging photos. It has been a long trip and we are all looking forward to our arrival to San Diego. With the calmer seas many of the team members came out of their bunks for a little lunch.

20 March 2008

Thursday morning - Our fifth night at sea has passed and the seas have gotten rougher again. There is a report of Gale force winds in San Diego. Many of the team members have remained in their bunks.

At 0815 local it is partly sunny. We are presently at 26 deg 12 mins North and 114 deg 48 mins West. I spent part of the day working on a Clipperton Island presentation. We also watched movies, played cards and read.

19 March 2008

Wednesday morning - Our fourth night at sea has passed and the seas have calmed down a bit. We are still bouncing around quite a bit but nothing compared to this time yesterday. Our ETA is still sometime Saturday morning.

At 0635 local there is a beautiful sunrise. We are presently at 22 deg 38 mins North and 113 deg 33 mins West.

18 March 2008

Tuesday morning - Our third night at sea has passed and the seas have gotten rougher. The swells are throwing us all over the place. It's getting real difficult to walk around the boat and it is a real challenge trying to stand while taking a shower. Forget going outside as the waves are crashing over the bow.

Only 16 (including the crew and captain) out of 31 showed up for dinner last night. We had lobster and steak. We pass the time on the boat operating radio, watching movies, working on our computers, reading and playing cards.

Yesterday we all of a sudden started to go in a circle. We lost a relay which controlled the hydraulics. It was quickly replaced and we resumed our course back to San Diego.

With the rough seas last night it seems as though water may have gotten into our antenna and/or coax and we can not tune the antenna. We are off the air with over 8400 Q's in our FO5A/MM log. This afternoon it has calmed a bit and a few more showed up for dinner.

17 March 2008

Despite all the obstacles we have had to over come on this DXpediton we had a total of 71,766 Contacts in our logs with 2,719 dupes. Not bad for 6.5 days with several shutdown in between. We had a pool to guess how many QSO's we made and to my surprise I won with a guess of 72,245. As the winner I will get a free copy of Win-Test.

As another day passes at sea and it has gotten a bit rougher. It is after 11AM and there are several who haven't come out from their bunks. AT our rate of speed our ETA to San Diego will be sometime Saturday Morning. We are again operational as FO5A/MM.

16 March 2008

It was great to get a good night sleep. I was up at 0600 to a beautiful sunrise. At the present time it is pretty calm and there are no visible white caps. Most of the team is in good spirits and glad to be off the island. We should find out later the total about of contacts in the log.

15 March 2008

I made my last QSO at 1300z. We began taking down antennas, rolling up coax, dismantling the stations and carting things to the beach. It was around 1000 local when just about everything was on the beach and ready to be sent over to the Shogun. We received a call from Captain Norm that it would be a couple hours before the tide would be high enough to send stuff to the Shogun. It was just after noon they made the first attempt to enter across the reef with our lunch. Observing from shore as they crossed through the breakwater onto the reef when Tommy and Pat were thrown out of the Zodiac. All I could see was Tommy's hands holding onto the side of the Zodiac and Pat disappeared momentarily into the water.  After several seconds I saw their 2 heads popping up out of the water. Other than a few cuts they were OK. We would have to wait at least another hour before we could start unloading things from the beach. After more than an hour passed they were able to continue shuttling stuff from the beach. We only had a few hours left of sunlight so all the important things were brought first. N2WB, Bill and I were the first to leave this island today. On the trip out as soon as  we hit the break water a large wave crossed on to us and the Zodiac. Other than getting a good soaking we were all OK. We were forced to leave a few things behind like cots, diesel fuel, extension cords and coax.

We departed Clipperton at 1825 local. ETA to San Diego will be about 6.5 days.

Clipperton island is a place where you can see how much impact man has had on land and environment. Seeing the trash washed up on shore when I was on Kure Atoll in 2005 was nothing compared to what is on Clipperton. There are shoes, fishing nets, pieces of buys, lighters, bottles (both plastic and glass), tires and much more.

14 March 2008

This morning we woke up to wind and partly cloudy skies. We began taking a few antennas down and carting stuff to the beach to be sent back to the Shogun. Due to the low tide, it wasn't until early afternoon when the tide was high enough that they sent over lunch and began shuttling things back to the Shogun. The last few trips to the boat they sent 8 team members back to the boat 2 at a time. Getting over break water through the shallow reef is not an easy task so we could not fully load the zodiac. I remained on the island to operate through the evening. We will have 3 cw and 2 ssb station on the air throughout the night.

My first shift was 0000-0400z on 40 meter CW and again 0900-1300 on 40 meter CW. I was unable to use keyboard because the Micro Ham interface was not working so my hourly rate was not as fast. Using the keyboard I did in excess of 200 per hour but using the key I max at maybe 120-140 an hour. In between shifts I attempted to get a few hours sleep. I was sleeping about 2 hours when a crab decided to join me. As I jumped out of bed the crab went flying across the tent. Although we have setup the crab fences a few crabs seem to manage their way through.

13 March 2008

Another rain squall passed through the area early this morning. The additional reinforcement we made seems to be holding up so far. I saw 2 rats last night when I was returning from operating CW. Since coming to the island I have only seen 1 other. I guess most of them are located on the south side of the Atoll.

We saw our first sunset this evening over the lagoon. It was a beautiful site and many photos were taken.

Tomorrow we will be busy taking down things and sending them to the boat. We will be on the air tomorrow evening with 2 stations on SSB and 2 on CW. Some people will return to the boat on Friday and the rest Saturday. I expect we will depart Clipperton late Saturday morning or early afternoon.

12 March 2008

We had more wind, rain, thunder and lightning today. It has been an uphill battle staying on the air. Along with operating CW, I operated 17 meters SSB from (1510-2020 UTC) 0810-1320 local. With all the wind and rain it has been difficult keeping things dry. Since my sleeping bag and pillow got wet it has never really dried and I have been averaging only about 2 to 4 hours per day.

11 March 2008

Yesterday we had 3 rain squalls with thunder and lightning. It was windy and raining sideways so hard that it caused 2 of our generators to shut down and we were temporarily off the air. After the rain subsided we were able to access the damage and discovered that water had actually gotten into the sockets passed the plugs which tripped the GFI circuit. After tilting the generators and removing the water we were able to reset the GFI outlets. We turned the generators in the other direction and placed a barrier around the plugs to prevent more water from entering the sockets. One of the scientists had set up a weather station and measured winds gusting to 45mph and .8 inches of rain.

This morning it is windy and partly cloudy. We are not sure what weather will be in store for us today. If it's not raining, thundering, lightning it's sunny, HOT and extremely humid. Looking off in the distance it appears we may be in store for another rain squall.

We survived another day here on Clipperton. Late yesterday afternoon and last night we had more driving rain and thunderstorms. All the antennas have so far survived the storms. We lost a few of our amplifiers and have been running barefoot on some of the bands. Running 100 watts hasn't seemed to effect the large pileups as I was running 200 plus an hour on 12 meters yesterday.

This morning it is overcast but the sun is beginning to peak through the clouds. Looks like it's going to be another hot day.

09 March 2008

It has been a challenge between the rain and the winds. We finally got on the air around 1700 local last night (0000 UTC). I started on 40 CW for the first 3 hour shift. It not only rained last night with winds gusting over 30 knots but it we also had thunderstorms. I operated 30 CW late last night and 15 CW today. This was the first time I broke a 200 hour on CW and ran close to 200 an hour for about 4 hours before another operator took over.

The winds have been gusting so strong that we have had to add additional anchoring to out tents. The sun finally came out in the afternnon and the winds have calmed.

For those of you who wants to work a YL on sSB I will be operating SSB Tuesday on 20 meters from 1800 to 2100 UTC, Wednesday 17 meters from 1500 to 1800 UTC and Thursday 15 meters from 1800 to 2100.

08 March 2008

I was awakened at around 4am this morning with the sound of a Boobie crashing into our crab fence. I jumped of bed and grabbed my light and Paul grabbed the Boobie and removed it from our tent. In the mean time several crabs came crawling into our tent. I fixed the fence and caught the crabs and threw them out. Most crabs you just grab them from behind. I quickly found out (OUCH!!!) this did not work with these crabs.  The trick with these crabs is to trap them under your shoe and grab them by their top shell on the sides.

Just after daybreak it downpoured. This slowed down our progress a bit but was a plus as the temperature has dropped a bit and it is now overcast. It seems to be getting a bit brighter and I'm sure before long it will be BLAZING hot. We are hoping it will hold off until we can complete setting up our antennas. We should be on the air sometime this afternoon.

07 March 2008

We were able to get our remaining gear ashore yesterday before night fall.

Today it's been HOT working in the sun. I recorded a temperature of 117 degrees (47 celsius). The antennas are slowly coming together. In this heat we need to keep hydrated and take frequent breaks. We have already had a few cases of heat exhaustion and Bob, N6OX slipped while off loading gear from the boat and sprained his ankle. Even applying lots of sunscreen it is difficult not to get sunburn. Gerard has suffered first degree burns on his legs.

06 Mar 2008

It downpoured last night and some of the rain got on to my cot. This morning I worked on sealing the tent in the area near my cot. Is is overcast and you can see dark clouds in the distance. Winds are gusting to over 30 knots so it will be a challenging day. There are boobies everywhere and they continuously make noise throughout the night. The crabs aren't as bad as I thought they would be and Our crab fences seemed to be very effective last night.

It is high tide and the surf is crashing on to the beach. It will be awhile before the boat sends breakfast and begins sending more equipment over. With the difficult landing through the surf it will most likely take all day for us to get the remaining equipment on shore. We will begin our station and antenna setup today. It's difficult to say when we will get on the air maybe Saturday evening.

05 Mar 2008

LAND HO !!!! We anchored just outside the island last night. About 0300 local the anchor slipped and we had to bring it up, move and re-anchor the boat. Another beautiful morning. We circled around the island for potential landing spots and we were escorted by a school of dolphins. As we circled the island you could see the surf crashing over the reef. We finally anchored near the landing strip on the Northeast part of the island.

There are a few so anxious to get off the boat that they have brought all their stuff topside. Little do they know that it will probably be late this afternoon before it goes to shore. The first things to go will be the medical supplies and the tents. First we will build our shelter. There are a few coconut trees on the island and we will set up our main camp under a small group of them. Being 10 degrees North of the equator the sun is real strong. Safety is paramount and it will get really HOT this afternoon.

At approximately 1000 local 3 of the crew members made land fall. They reef is only about 1 1/2 feet below the surface during high tide so they are searching for other possible places to land along the shore.

A suitable landing is found but it is difficult maneuvering across the reef. Notice in my photograph the breakwater. At this location it is extremely shallow and maneuvering through it has been a challenge. We get our main camp set up and cots assembled just before dark.

04 Mar 2008

Another beautiful sunrise today over the ocean. It continues to be quite calm. While We had white caps 2 days ago today there is none. We have over 5700 Q's in our FO5A/MM log.

Yesterday afternoon we spotted a school of dolphins and took on 3 hitch hikers (3 Brown Boobies).

At 0600 local (1400UTC) time we were 12 degrees 51.8 minutes North and 110 Degrees 08.9 minutes West. Only 176 Statuate miles (281Km) to Clipperton.

We should arrive the island sometime late this evening but will not be able to find a good landing spot and start unloading until tomorrow morning.

03 Mar 2008

A penguin and moose sighting aboard the Shogun N6HC and WA1S !

Another beautiful sunrise today over the ocean. Being on several other DXpeditions where the seas have been rough it's amazing how calm the seas have been on this trip. It's been a great trip so far and the food aboard the Shogun has been excellent. We have over 4700 Q's in our FO5A/MM log.

At 0600 local (1400UTC) time we were 16 degrees 20 minutes North and 111 Degrees 21 minutes West. Only 419 Statuate miles (670Km) to Clipperton.

We should arrive the island sometime late tomorrow but will not be able to start unloading until Wednesday morning. We are hoping to find a good landing spot and setup somewhere on the North side of the island.

There was a beautiful sunrise today over the ocean. We have passed the Baja Penninsula. The seas are still quit calm. We are all getting anxious to get to Clipperton. We have over 3300 Q's in our FO5A/MM log.

Unfortunately we were not able to establish a solid Satellite link yesterday to upload our journals. The boat is rocking a bit too much. There will be some delay before this may show up on the Website. We will try again later today but it may have to wait until we get to the island.

At 0600 local (1400UTC) time we were 19 degrees 54 minutes North and 112 Degrees 38 minutes West. Only 678 Statuate miles (1094Km) to Clipperton.

Another calm night at sea as we are still hugging the Baja Penninsula. We should clear the end of the Penninsula sometime late today and I suspect the seas will become a bit more rough. We have over 2000 Q's in our FO5A/MM log.

At 0600 local (1400UTC) time we were 23 degrees 35 minutes 68 seconds North and 113 Degrees 59 minutes 58 seconds West. Only 967 Statuate miles (1560Km) to Clipperton.

29 Feb 2008

As usual I am up early. Another calm night at sea as we are still hugging the Baja Penninsula. It is cool out for being south of 30 degrees North. We have over 600 Q's in our FO5A/MM log.

At 0600 local (1400UTC) time we were 27 degrees 16 minutes 64 seconds North and 115 Degrees 22 minutes 82 seconds West. Only 1238 Statuate miles (1993Km) to Clipperton.

At 0900 local we made a successful test connection to the satellite for uploads to our Website.

N2WB, F2JD and me WA1S

28 Feb 2008

I was up at 0430 to the smell of coffee brewing. I took a shower and went into the galley to find Arnie, Jay and Rick (one of the cooks). The seas have been calm and we were well enroute to Clipperton.

At 1030 local time we were 30 degrees 16 minutes 58 seconds North and 116 Degrees 28 minutes 23 seconds West. Only 1452 Statuate miles (2338Km) to Clipperton. We are traveling at a speed of just over 11 knots.

The HF antenna is now errected and we are now on the air. We are operating Maritime Mobile using FO5A/mm.

27 Feb 2008

We had snow last night. Would my flight take off this morning?

I was up at 2AM and looked out the window. It was no longer precipitating. Now to check my flight status on the internet. No delays YES!!! I arrived the airport at 4AM, checked in and the flight took off without any delays. It was a rough landing at Philadelphia. My connecting flight took off on time and I actually arrived San Diego 40 minutes ahead of schedule. I took a taxi to the dock and after getting my boarding pass boarded the Shogun.

I was brought over to my sleeping quarters where I was to share with Alyssia (a student from the University of Washington go to Clipperton with 3 others doing scientific research), a bit small but compared to the Machias (the sailing vessel we took to Kure Atoll in 2005) it was 5 star accommodations. The galley comfortably seating all of us. Along with the captain, there are 4 crew members and 2 cooks.

All members were present and accounted for so We departed San Diego at 1800 local time.

I spent time over the weekend charging batteries for my digital camera and spare computer battery. I also purchased another CompactFlash card for my digital camera. It's amazing how cheap they have gotten. A 2GB card for less than $20.

Less than 48 hours to go before I head for San Diego. We are expecting yet another snowstorm tomorrow. At this point I am just hoping the weather clears enough for my flight to get off the ground Wednesday morning. My first hop is to Philadelphia on a small Regional Jet. Global warming.....WHAT'S THAT? I'd like to have a good talk with Al Gore on this subject.

 23 Feb 2008

 Here it is only 4 days before I fly to San Diego to meet up with the team. I'm packed and ready to go. Am I excited? You bet I am. Rats or no rats!

With record snowfalls this Winter I'm tired of snow. Yesterday another 6 inches fell here in New Hampshire. I am just hoping any more snow will hold off so I can catch my early flight Wednesday morning. Looks like I'll be the last one to join the team. Everyone have a safe flight and see you in San Diego.

For the rest of you reading my journal. Hope to work you in the pileups !

73/88 Ann