G4CIB and G4RHK on Lundy
2009
Brian G4CIB and Leta G4RHK made their annual visit to Lundy between 16th and 23rd May 2009, staying in Stoneycroft, a delightful bungalow adjacent to the Old Lighthouse, originally built in the 19th century to accommodate visiting Lighthouse inspectors.
Our trip over was exciting - the previous day we heard the shipping forecast for Force 7 - 8 strength winds so we knew we would be in for a helicopter ride from Hartland Point as the supply ship does not put to sea in conditions greater than Force 5 - 6. The evening before our departure was spent in a pub in a village of West Down near Ilfracombe - Leta walked into the village only to find it was their bell ringing practise night so she made herself known to the ringers and was soon joining in their Devon “call change” routine - a style of ringing peculiar to that part of the country. Meanwhile, I was carrying out an assessment of the equipment I planned to take.
When we arrived at Hartland the following morning the wind was indeed Force 7 although the sky was clear and the sun shining. The helicopter, a twin-engined Augusta 135, is licensed to carry 7 passengers - 6 in the rear cabin and one with the pilot. In view of the weather, no-one else in the group seemed too keen to sit with the pilot - so I grabbed the opportunity! Although it is only a short hop of some 12 miles taking only 6 or 7 minutes, the views from the cock-pit are superb - I managed to get some shots which will be shown in the talk to club members in the autumn. Luckily a “luggage only” flight preceded ours and the staff were only too happy to load my “roach pole” telescopic mast into the helicopter hold - at least I wouldn’t have to rummage around for an aerial support when we arrived!
Arriving on Lundy the wind was fierce - so fierce that we were unable to erect aerials outside until the following day (Sunday). We were eventually able to erect the 3 ele SOTA 2 metre beam and work some stations in the 144MHz contest - using the IC202 running 3 watts I managed to work a dozen or so stations including 2E0XLG/P near Skipton in North Yorkshire. Later that day I caught a sporadic E opening on 6 meters and worked S58AL and 9A8A using the IC703 and a wire dipole indoors!
By the Monday the wind had died down enough for us to put up the HF dipole and we were of course thrilled to work G4AYM on 80 metres in the evening, followed by Trevor G3UUL. We then got into a routine of working on the 80 metre AM net on 3.615 MHz in the mornings, regular attendees being GW3UZS, Geoff (Cardiff), GU4LJC, Brian (Guernsey), G3XGW, Keith (Beckford) and G3YNT, Tony (Newent). On the Wednesday evening after returning from a meal in the tavern I stumbled across the Cray Valley club net hosted by Bob Treacher (of SWL fame , now 2E0RCV/M3RCV). He very kindly organised a mini pile-up for me on 80 metres adding greatly to the call signs in the log book.
All too soon we were dismantling the aerials on the Friday evening ready for our return to the mainland the following day which was the exact opposite of our trip a week earlier - an evening sail back to Ilfracombe on a flat calm sea under a clear blue sky.
Before leaving Lundy, however, we booked for 2010 - same property but a bit later. Our 2010 visit will include HF SSB Field Day and a 144MHz contest.
Looking forward to it already!!
Back to list of visits
orread about Brian and Leta’s preparations for their 2010 visit