G4CIB and G4RHK on Lundy
3rd-10th May 2014

(Note - all times in this article refer to BST or clock time)

Ready to depart

Saturday 3rd May
Bideford Quay 08.00. A dull but still morning and a smooth crossing is promised - which makes a change as our last two crossings have been pretty evil. Our luggage has been checked in and will soon be loaded into the hold of the "Oldenburg"', meanwhile whilst waiting to board, we catch sight of a few familiar faces and are soon catching up with the latest Lundy gossip. Spot on 09.00 the mooring ropes are cast off and soon we are gliding down the Torridge estuary heading for the open sea. One of the smoothest crossings ever and two hours later we are on Lundy. The cloud has cleared and it looks like we are in for a good day. First stop - the Marisco Tavern - fresh sea air does promote a good appetite, so it's a Lundy lamb pasty and a bowl of chips washed down with a pint of "Old Light". Knowing that it takes a while for the luggage to be unloaded from the ship and delivered to your property, we go for a walk up the west side of the island and take in the scenery. Just as we arrive at Stoneycroft, our base for the week, an island worker arrives on his quad bike with our luggage and pre-ordered provisions. As the weather is so good, we decide to get the "roach" pole mast and dipole up immediately before unpacking our stuff. By 17.00 we are ready to go, and switching on the IC7000, the first station we hear on 40m is GB4ART with Alan, G4MGW on the microphone. What a great start to the week working a fellow GARES member! A quick foray on to 20m produces a few European qsos then back to 40m where it was a pleasure to have qsos with G0UTC, Paul in Bishops Cleeve and M0JLY, Andy in Cheltenham. Another station involved with the Waterways event was worked - MA0FNR/P located by the Caledonian Canal near Loch Ness. Our first night of our holiday on Lundy so once again the Tavern beckons for a meal and the special this evening is Lundy lambs liver with all the usual trimmings - there is no shortage of lamb on Lundy, that's for sure!! A ten minute walk back to Stoneycroft, and a quick look on 20m nets a few more qsos including PY2ZR (Brazil). It's been a long day and we crash out before the generator is switched off at midnight. Which reminds me - what did we forget to take? A torch - but the Baofeng VHF/UHF handheld comes to the rescue - it incorporates a powerful LED torch - these Chinese think of everything!!

MS Oldenburg alongside the Lundy Jetty

Sunday 4th May
Woke early to a clear blue sky, and with power switched on promptly at 06.00, the first priority is a cup of tea!! 20m is working so once again qsos with a few more Europeans, also venturing on to 15m then back to 40m where we have a qso with MA0FNR/P now operating from the vessel "Good Grace" and a little while later contact Alan G4MGW and our worthy Chairman, Graeme G0EEA,. operating GB4ART. The RSGB Contest Calendar lists a 70cm contest so we lower the mast to attach an HB9CV antenna. As the weather bodes well for the day, after breakfast we venture out to the South West of the island to peer into the Devil's Limekiln, a gaping chasm in the southern slopes of the island some two hundred feet across. Needless to say, you approach this hole in the ground with extreme care!! Afterwards we stroll to Benjamin's Chair - a ledge some thirty or so feet below the cliff top that you can scramble down and sit and watch the swirling sea some two hundred feet below crashing on to rocks. This is the area near to Shutter Rock, where in 1906 the warship HMS Montagu ran aground in thick fog whilst testing a new-fangled contraption considered to be a possible aid to navigation, namely "wireless". I expect the Commander said something along the lines of "It'll never catch on" or words to that effect as the ship went down. What happened to the 70cm contest? I could hear the Cornish beacon GB3MCB and repeaters but not a single contest station heard.
Our evening meal is once again in the Marisco Tavern - this time the special is Roast Beef. Back at Stoneycroft, a quick listen on 10m pulls in PY2XU (Brazil) but not a lot else so its back on to 40m and some inter-G and EI qsos

Nearly there!

Monday 5th May
May Day Bank Holiday and the afternoon has been set aside for amateur radio as GARES members will be out in force on Crickley Hill. After the early morning brew-up we open the proceedings with a couple of CW qsos with some European stations on 40m, then Leta reminds me of the AM net held on weekday morning on 3.615 MHz, so at just after 07.00 I join in the net - the array of equipment used by the participants is quite amazing, many using ex-military radios of varying vintages. After breakfast we venture out to Jenny's Cove to check out the puffins. These birds were almost extinct on the island fifteen or so years ago with just an estimated five breeding pairs, but since the rat eradication programme the puffins have made a remarkable come-back and we delight in seeing at least eleven bobbing around on the water. In 2012 it was estimated that there were nearly 200 puffins on the island. So, it's now back to Stoneycroft and an afternoon of amateur radio. Luckily 40m is working well and settling on 7.101 MHz I'm soon tackling a mini pile-up. Just after 14.30 I get a call from GARES club member Dan operating as 2E0DWP/P from the beach in Newquay - brilliant! Hot on Dan's heels half an hour or so later I exchange 5-9 reports with another GARES member, Dave G4BCA, quickly followed by G0ULH/P Les, 2E1GKY/P Anne, M6RYL/P Rita, M0HNH/P Aaron, 2E0DWP/P Dan (again!), G0HTO/P Vernon and finally 2E1GKY/P Anne (also again!) It really is great to hear you all having such a good time up at Crickley Hill. I carry on for another hour or so and by 1730 I'm in desperate need of a cup of tea! I've had a cracking afternoon on 40m and decide this evening to catch up with some reading, particularly as we are "eating in" tonight.

The rugged West side

Tuesday 6th May
We've now got into a routine and seem to wake a few minutes before the generator is switched on at 06.00 As an aside, later in the week I chat to the island engineer in the Marisco Tavern who tells me that there are three Cummins B and C series diesel generators capable of producing in the region of 150kVa. He also tells me the supply is switched on manually by him in the morning (after carrying out some pre switch-on checks) but it switches off at midnight on a timer. Once again I join the AM net on 3.615 MHz but signals not so good today. As the day dawns bright and clear we decide to head to the northern most point on the island - North Light. This is a place of total solitude where you can sit in the shelter of the lighthouse and spend hours watching seals, reading, dozing, watching seals, reading, dozing.......later in the afternoon we head back to Stoneycroft, and over a cup of tea decide to try 40m.The first station worked is GARES member 2E0DWP Dan, now back home in Bream after a long drive back from Cornwall. As I plan to operate in the 2m activity contest this evening, the SOTA beam is already on the mast so we qsy to 144.300 and exchange albeit weak signal reports. Back on 40m two hours and some 22 qsos later we decide that a meal in the Tavern is overdue! Suitably replete we return later and activate Lundy on 2 metres. The wind has now increased and the SOTA beam is certainly taking a buffetting. Conditons are not exactly brilliant and we clock up some 14 qsos, working squares IO71, IO72, IO81, IO82, IO92 and JO03. By 22.00 the wind is fairly screaming outside so we quickly lower the mast and remove the 2m beam, then back up with the mast and get back on to 40m, finally pulling the plug at 23.00

Old Light and Stoneycroft

Wednesday 7th May
My first qso off the day was logged at 06.13 with OH4DY on 20m CW. A quick look on 40m and I can hear N1IFU/M calling CQ. Worth a call and we exchange 5-5/4-4 reports so at least we've made it across the pond. As the forecast is good albeit with a westerly wind we decide on more island exploration, this time heading for the sheltered east side down in the disused granite quarry. Back at Stoneycroft in the late afternoon, more inter-G qsos on 40m including one with GARES member G4CLR, Ian. Before heading off for an evening meal in the tavern, a quick look on 6m and we catch a bit of sporadic E by way of qsos with HA7TM in JN97KK and HG8QG in KN06MT. In the tavern we meet up with the island manager Derek Green who has just arrived back on the island after a rough crossing on the "Oldenburg". We get the first indication from him that the weather is set to deteriorate over the next few days and that Saturday's return home sailing is in doubt. It looks as if we will be in for a helicopter ride.

Thursday 8th May
The Old Light, situated some 100 metres or so from Stoneycroft, is not visible today as a thick mist or cloud envelopes the island. The forecast is not good so it's a day when we will not venture far, but catch up with some reading and of course play amateur radio. The bands however decide otherwise - conditions are wierd. I start on 40m with a cw qso with ED5URL and get a lousy report although he is 599 with me. 80m proves equally difficult - the AM net on 3.615 MHz is struggling so I don't stay long. On 40m and 30m I have a few cw qsos before looking on 10m where I bag 9A7JCY (Croatia) and on 6m I4JEE in JN54TU. Outside the wind speed is increasing and the rain is lashing down so content myself with spending the morning catching up with some reading as the radio conditions are so bad. By early afternoon 40m has recovered and I call into the Worked All Britain net on 7.160 MHz and spend an hour or so giving square "SS14 - Lundy" to some 14 WAB hunters. The rest of the afternoon is spent on cw on 10m, 15m and 18m but conditions are poor.

Just visible - old light through the gloom

Friday 9th May
Wake up to a clear sky but the wind is still very strong. A few cw qsos on 40m before joining the AM net on 3.615 MHz. Signals much better today and one of the group GW3UZS Geoff, confirms that there had been a radio "blackout" yesterday, so the sun is still playing its tricks. The day turns out to be quite glorious with plenty of sun albeit with a strong westerly wind, so we decide to head to Milcombe Valley on the east where we can sit and read. Reading does seem to give you an appetite so we head to the tavern for lunch where we learn that tomorrow's sailing is cancelled but we are instructed to be in the tavern at 09.30 tomorrow for further news. Listening to the awful forecast given out by Swansea and Milford Haven Coastguard on marine channel 86 we come to the conclusion that even the helicopter may be in doubt -the wind speed prediction is horrendous. Back at Stoneycroft I have one last fling on 40m and am pleased to work GARES members G0XAC Gary and 2E1GKY Anne along with ten or so other UK stations including G4WIA Ivan down on the Lizard. Hearing once again a dire weather forecast on channel 86 we decide at 17.00 to dismantle the antenna before heading for the tavern for a last meal. Later in the evening Derek Green confirms that we will be off on the helicopter tomorrow and to be in the tavern for a briefing at 10.15. We head back to Stoneycroft just as the sun is setting and get back just as the rain starts.

Sunset at Old Light

Saturday 10th May
It certainly has rained overnight and we wake to a wild day - heavy grey skies and a fierce wind. Everything is packed and will be collected by the man on the quad bike. So it's off to the tavern for one of our Lundy traditions - a full English breakfast on the last morning. After breakfast we all assemble for the briefing which takes some 20 minutes - about three times longer than the flight to Hartland Point. The helicopter today is G-HDTV, an Agusta A109 (operated by Castle Air) which holds seven passengers - one with the pilot and six in the back. Some 48 people and luggage are due to go off the island and about 43 to come on to the island (also of course with luggage), It's a twenty minute turnaround so it's going to be three or four hours of too-ing and fro-ing to complete the exercise. We are due on flight 5 at 13.00 so we while away the time saying our farewells to the staff in the shop and tavern. Just before 13.00 we are called to make our way to the helipad. The wind is unbelievable - but within a few minutes we are being strapped in and whisked back to the mainland. Looking down on the raging sea we pity anyone on board a vessel of any description today. Landing just seven minutes later at Hartland Point we head for the recently erected Departure/Arrival building where we while away an hour or so to await the arrival of everyone off the island so that we can board the coach back to Bideford. The lane from Hartland Point to the A39 Atlantic Highway some four miles away is but a few feet wider than the coach so it seems to take an eternity, but eventually we arrive back in Bideford in mid-afternoon and are soon re-united with our car, the luggage and radio gear loaded, and off to a nearby hotel where we are booked in for three nights.

Summary
The IC7000 proved to an excellent rig, particularly as it covers 160m through 70cm obviating the need to take seperate HF and VHF rigs as we have done in the past. Although a QRP fan, there was no doubt about it - having 100 watts at your disposal makes life a lot easier especially working the weaker stations. The wire dipole supported by the "roach" pole stood up well to the winds on Lundy and the use of the slotted open wire feeder coupled with the AT7000 atu ensured matching on all bands from 160m through 6m. Although the 2m SOTA beam has stood up well to the weather Lundy has thrown at it, I'm toying with building a more robust antenna for our 2015 visit (see below). All that remains to be done is write out the appropriate QSL cards and submit an entry to G3XMM's GARES accumulator ladder for G4CIB/P.

Equipment

• Icom IC7000 Transceiver
• LDG Electronics AT7000 ATU
• Watson "Power-Mite-NF" Power Supply.
• 80m Dipole fed with slotted open wire twin feeder
• Glass fibre "roach" pole
• 70cm HB9CV
• 2m 3 element SOTA beam
• 6m dipole

Lundy 2015
Next year's visit will be our 20th stay on the island and to celebrate, we have booked two weeks 30th May - 13th June in the same property, Stoneycroft. More information nearer the time.

Brian (G4CIB) and Leta (G4RHK)

Back to list of visits
or read about Brian and Leta’s preparations for their next visit