Greetings form the Island… Although it’s not the one we planned, but it’s close. But first things first and in episodes (due to the limits in e-mail sending via amateur radio). I’ll try to put it chronologically and not to miss anything – and there are things that are worth telling… and things that need to be taken care of.

It started well – like the old times. There was no orchestra though, but our departure was assisted by press and TV that were crammed in a fishing boat seeing us off in a port. Later it turned bad immediately. It turned out that we must refuel the petrol and tank up water in port Grand Baie before we can sail to the ocean. We took as much as we could, but water only, because the fuel pipe was damaged. Our chef Mike made a delicious meal and nothing – we kept waiting in a port. It was Saturday afternoon and our captain was running back and forth from deck to the Coast Guard. At last at 4 pm we found out that there is some signature in the documents missing concerning our catamaran and that the Coast Guard can’t let us go (that’s the first version). We called a company that rented us the catamaran “Josephine” and we made a scene. We were aware of the fact though, that on Saturday and Sunday as well, there is little that can be done with our document… In the evening company’s owner with catamaran’s owner came to us and they all explained themselves. It turned out that we were lacking not only a signature but the whole document without which we could not sail. Of course nobody took the blame! We let go and we went to celebrate Wlodek SP6EQZ’s birthday.

Along with the pessimist’s version, we are still waiting in the port Grand Baie. We refuel the petrol with already fixed pipe. Mike, Italian (Nb. catamaran owner’s son), is showing his best in the kitchen field. The day passes by without anything interesting, it rains all the time. There is no animator among us… And yet there is something: as a fulfillment the renting company is taking us for a trip to a nearby island. There is a boat trip, watching a waterfall and dinner – grilled seafood. On our way back we see a bus with a word TYTANIC written all over it in big lettering. Is that a sign? We go back in the evening and on our boat we meet travel office’s representative and one of the ministers that was our guest in a port. They are both consent that all the formalities will be done soon and that we’ll be on our way at 10:30 am as latest. The hope is back, we go to sleep.

After a hasty morning, tanking up water again, with a document delivered to us by a ship-owner – we set off. It is not 10:30 am but 2 pm, there are no fireworks, only two people seeing us off at the coast. Just before the departure our hearts sank – Coast Guard’s pontoon swam up and the officers came on board. They checked our documents once again (as if they’d never seen them before), they saluted us and swam away. We breathed with relief and finally set off! With slight disbelief and amazement we observed as the crew tied up cupboard’s doors with rope in the kitchen and mess and with a kind smile on their faces they gave us anti-seasickness pills. Now is the time to introduce our crew: captain – Didier, skipper – Segon, Mike – chef and provider, Jo-Jo who we call Jozek – cabin boy. Four people plus eight from our team – a dozen. We sail using engines (we have two, one at each brim), but the crew already starts unrolling the sails. First the mainsail – the bigger one, then the smaller in front – the jib. The boat speeds up, GPS shows 11-12 knots. We calculate again the time needed to reach Agalega and the days wasted in a port. It figures that we couldn’t get there on time! The wind strengthens, we speed up, the waves get stronger and we can feel them hitting the sides of our catamaran – it’s rocky as hell. Seasickness starts getting us. We feel uncomfortable, but we stand still – the first one to run out is Jozek. Then it’s every one of us. The only comfort is the thought that the distance between us and the Island is getting smaller and smaller. We try to go to sleep.

In the morning I was waken up from a dream or a lethargy by an odd noise. One of the engines stopped working. Weird! So far we were sailing using the sails when the wind was strong or using two engines along with the sails when the wind weakened or when we had to load the accumulators that give power to all the ship’s equipment. The generator was set to an engine on the right brim and it was the one that broke down. Nobody had the energy to go check what had happened. In the morning we heard that there is no more of an engine or, more precisely, its transmission. In worse humours but with a strong wind we kept on sailing quite fast. At 4 pm we lost the main sail that couldn’t stand the wind blowing and was ripped off of the boom. The captain tried to contact the Coast Guard with his HF radio and although we could hear them talking with other units through a speaker, nobody could hear us. Well, the radio was working properly near the port. The captain decided to change the course. He pronounced that in such a state the catamaran is unable to continue the trip to Agalega. We had sailed about 220 nautical miles and initially we had total of 590 to go. The nearest land was St. Brandon archipelagos that was about 90 miles away but the wind was blowing unfavorably from the front and we had only the jib and one engine. Sailing as quick as 4 knots we headed to St. Brandon. Didier said that at 6 am we should manage to contact the Coast Guard. We dragged ourselves to the cabins. I slept in a cabin during the first night only. I spent every other night in a mess where I had more space, fresh air and where I could control the situation. I fell asleep but at 2 am I was waken up by noises. The crew was running brim to brim with some papers clutched in their hands. Three other boys came up and we saw that the fun part is over. While running, Mike told us that they are looking for power for a pump because water is flooding the room with the only running engine. There is no power as the unsatisfactorily loaded accumulators are dead at this very moment. The only independent aggregate that is still working generates 230VAC. At last the crew pulls out the pump from one of the bathrooms and uses it to get rid of the water from the engine’s room and later from the bilges in both brims. We are exhausted but we sail further with one engine and one sail. The wind takes us north. 

In the morning I was waken up by Didier shouting to a microphone. It is 6:10 am so he must be trying to connect with the Coast Guard. After half an hour he gives up. There is no connection. To cheer us up we are told that the jib got ripped at night in two places, what we can easily tell ourselves. We have no sails. We are heading towards St. Brandon on one engine, with wind blowing from the front, with the speed of 2 knots. Didier’s route that he marked on a map and his calculations says that we would reach the land in 4 days! If we manage to keep our engine, of course… We discuss the case for a while and we get to work. We get our boxes out, take the seals off that are left from the customs and we set up an antenna for a band at which the Coast Guard is working. We can use the whole pole as there are no sails left. Although we quickly set up an antenna on Monday to try out some connections but it was far from the sails and it didn’t work due to strong wind and the catamaran rocking. Anyway the antenna kept on tearing and with a high speed (at the time) fixing it wasn’t safe. We take out Witek’s radio station that we know how to retune from the amateur bands and we set it to the provisory antenna. The captain calls the Coast Guard but instead of them the one that answers is the fish vessel “L’Espoir” that promises to help us contact with the Coast Guard. 10 minutes later we contact them directly. It’s midday. We sail very slowly, every now and then the Coast Guard is asking for our directions. After two hours we are told that a fish vessel with a charming name “Quo Vadis I” is heading our way but after counting the courses and our positions it turns out that we will meet sometime about 2 am. During the breaks between the connections with the Coast Guard and fixing the constantly tearing antenna we execute some amateur connections under the private sign ending with /MM which means working from a nautical unit. Thanks to our friends from Africa our work frequency is placed on DX Cluster that is used by hams all over the world via the internet and we soon contact stations in Poland. We ask them to inform our pilot Slawek SP2JMB by mobile phone that we are fine. He knows best what to do is such situations. Before we set off we gave him all the information needed including phone numbers to our families. When Slawek found out about our problems he was driving his car and he turned back to his home and quickly connected us with directly. We gave him all the important information: for our families that we are fine; that we are forced to finish our expedition due to catamaran’s damage and that probably we’d have to come home empty handed. All our friends whom we managed to contact sent their greetings and they were very sorry for us. Only some of them mentioned that they regret it turned out that way as they were very much hoping for the connection with us from 3B6. Seasickness was rather gone at the time so Mike made us a full meal (spaghetti as I recall). Before few of us wanted anything more than a stale bread and water. And so, while talking with radio amateurs, the Coast Guard and Quo Vadis and with a Coast Guard’s plane that was also sent in our direction, good mood was coming back. At midnight sharp we met with Quo Vadis and we agreed on a radio that they will start towing us at dawn.

As planned, at 6:40 am Quo Vadis that was circling around us started towing us. Meanwhile, taking advantage of the time when the engine was off, we renovated throughout our provisory antenna. Sailing three times as fast we set off on our own, still working engine, being towed by Quo Vadis, heading towards Isle Raphael in St. Brandon archipelago. We passed good information to Poland and in great moods started to look for a land. It is funny what a psyche can make to a man… The catamaran looked as if it was run over by a tsunami. Due to no low-energy power we had no water in the bathrooms since Tuesday, the only thing working were the pumps in the toilet; because we had to frequently remove water from under the deck, electric pumps were everywhere. The only freezer was the one on the stern, where we placed everything we could from the fridge that was powered with 12VDC. Nobody had the time or energy to take care of the rest of the rotting food. In order not to kill oneself on a wet deck, Jozek kept spreading some papers. Both engines’ rooms were open so going out at the stern one had to watch out for oil and petroleum stains. From 10 am with cameras and video cameras in our hands we were watching the growing amount of birds flying over our heads – just like in books! After 11 am we saw a point at the horizon and at 12 pm we belayed to a big fishing boat called “L’Espoir”, which, we were told, means “Hope”. We saw a pontoon with officers wearing life vests and the Coast Guard started visiting: first the Quo Vadis, then us. They wrote a report with the data from our passports and told us that in order to get to the land we need OICD ministry’s permission. As we had no such permission, we had to wait onboard. There was nothing that could spoil our moods. Especially with Mike getting back to his job – Quo Vadis’ crew gave us some big fish. Today was the first time I swam in the ocean, it was wonderful.

We got the permission to get down on the island and the motorboat took us there. What a great feeling! We were taken to the so called guest rooms, which means two rooms with bunk beds, four people in a room. At least the floor wasn’t moving… There was a bathroom with a shower, with one handle only, but it was a running water (later we found out that it was rainwater, at least when it rained). We sprinkle ourselves one by one and we take a tour of the island. There live: a manager with his wife, two meteorologists and five officers from the Coast Guard. Wasting no time for ICTA’s decision concerning connections executed from the island we ordered transporting the equipment from the catamaran to the island and we started building our first TH3 Junior antenna. If we didn’t get the permission for work from the island, we’d still be able to inform Poland about our situation bending the rules and using the /MM sign. After dark (6:30 pm, local) we went to bed totally exhausted.

In the morning we found out that we got the license to work from St. Brandon and the new sign 3B7SP. The truth is it was an oral permission but we asked to send it to the Coast Guard on the island and we started building our antennas. Before dark we managed to set up two phased verticals on 7 and 10 MHz and vertical dipoles on 14 and 18 MHz. We started working with our first station connected to the TH3 Junior antenna set up the day before on three bands. The first connection was made with SP3NEN on 2007-06-09 at 11:31 UTC! Till the end of the day (dusk at 6:30 pm) we prepared other antennas to be launched.

We get to know the island. Apart from people there are some hens, one rooster, many birds (two kinds: white and grey), hermit crabs and rats! They say there were no rats here before but in February there was a cyclone and the rats swam here from other islands. There are hundreds of them, they are not afraid of us and it seems as we’d have to get used to them… From the dawn (6:30 am) we start our work. We split to groups: one is setting up new antennas, the other is plugging generators and setting up stations. We get an agreement with meteorologists and so we’ll get electricity from them to one of our stations between 6am and 10pm. The station will be working from our guest house with TH3 Junior antenna. We set up dipoles on 21 and 28 MHz and Titanex on 3,5 MHz which was finished after dark. Meanwhile we negotiated with the L’Espoir fishermen the price for a kilogram of lobsters – we agreed on 4EUR for a kg and bought 35 kilos. We ate them for lunch and dinner with the Coast Guards and meteorologists. The manager with his wife set off for a southern island earlier in the morning. Tired, we activate two stations at 17:11 UTC on CW 20m and RTTY on 17m. We work non-stop till morning. The rest went to bed.

We keep on building our air force. We set up other antennas, e.g. a dipole on 24 MHz – we have 80% of the antennas on the island. Bogdan SP3RBR who is commanding the antennas’ set up complains that the island is too small and that we won’t be able to set up all the antennas especially not the receiver 42K9AY on 160m. We activate fourth station, so we have them all. One station is working when we have power from meteorologists, from our guest house and three work non-stop using antenna area. This is the first time that we try to connect PactorII modem that would let us send e-mails via radio. The main purpose in accessing the mail is to send our logs to Warsaw server and to send such information to PC World Komputer website. First try goes well but the transfer is very low – about 180 bytes per minute. With such speed we managed to send only 2 files instead of 10 that we prepared. Disaster! As a reminder: Pactor connects via radio with the nearest radio relay centre (we use ZS5S in Durban) and on given frequencies in amateur band it sends digital information in a narrow channel. Radio relay centre has its typical internet connection and it sends received e-mail to the general server from which it is sent further to the addressee. The system is called WinLink2000 (WL2K) and, sadly, it has its weaknesses. An e-mail can’t have any attachments – plain ASCII text only. To send a log, knowing that there will be problems with transfer’s speed, we prepared a special log sending format. We send only a sign of a station we worked with, the main frequency of a given band (2 or 3 signs) and emission type (1 sign) for every connection. Such an e-mail has a proper header and a footer and is transferred to our server where it is checked automatically and loaded directly to the data base. Everyone has access to the data base via internet on the expedition’s web page: www.godx.eu in “log online” tab where you can check if the given sign is already saved in a log. It allows radio amateurs to make sure that their connection has been counted and so there is no need for them to call us again “to make sure”. Additionally the information about next received e-mails with logs is placed automatically on our web page to let know when was the last time the data base was supplied.

Before supper, for which we had delicious fish called babuun, I tried once again to send other logs. Without success. Additionally it turn out that Pactor disturbs other station’s work so effectively that it is hard to work. We decide to stop sending the logs. We will only send the information to PCWK. Pity. It is my personal defeat as managing log sending on island and their processing on the server was my job. I also prepared such photo processing that I would be able to send them by e-mail in low resolution but logs are the priority so I don’t even think about the photos. I go to bed fed up.

We work in the air on high speed. At 11:30 UTC (1:30 pm in Poland) he have already 12 360 QSO which means connections. Our goal – 40 000 QSO seems real. Working in air on such an expedition is very hard. And I don’t mean tiredness or other difficulties that we have to face, but operating itself. All available ham sources announced our expedition so radio amateurs from all around the world waited to connect with us and to “score” this country. A country for a ham means something else than a nation – it is a given area that has an unique sign on the list of DX countries. And imagine that, after starting the work in the air – after giving a so called general call, there were thousand stations calling us giving their call sign! It is really hard to catch at least a few letters from a sign. Catching a whole sign at once would be a miracle. Such tumult of calling stations is called a pileup. We manage a pileup using so called split. We transmit on regular frequency that was given yet before the expedition on our web page but we listen in a range of frequencies that is over our transmitting frequency. E.g. while working in 14 MHz band with RTTY emission with 14,084 frequency we listen from 14,0865 and up to 14,095. Using that method we are able to weaken the pileup and instead of a thousand stations we catch a sign among tens. The sooner we get the whole sign and we exchange the reports, the more connections we have in a log. On the other hand we were informed that some people are calling us from the first day of our activity and yet they were unable to make a connection. There are 3 millions of radio amateurs in the world so it is certain that we can’t make a QSO with everybody…

We had chicken with rice and shrimps for dinner. Delicious! So far the food is not a problem, but it might be soon. We were going to Agalega that is lived by 200-300 people and the food was assured and paid for including a dedicated chef. Mike was supposed to feed us only during the trip. We landed on an island lived by 7-9 people without much food supplies. Fortunately Mike takes care of us outside the catamaran as well. He cooks us meals twice a day using his supplies, fish and seafood that he gets from the fishermen from L’Espoir. There is little chance we’d die of hunger…

After 8 am (UTC) we managed to send overdue logs from June 10 and 11; maybe it won’t be so bad with actualizing them on the server in Warsaw. Everyday we send the information from 2-3 days to PCWK webpage so soon we would be up to date. Today we are planning to set up a receiving antenna on 80m (3,5 MHz) called 42K9AY (i.e. four square K9AY). It is an excellent antenna with changeable directions. We are preparing elements for the antenna set up, we are working at all stations, when Mike comes with the information, that a fisherman requested the day before has been waiting for us in his boat since morning to take us fishing. It doesn’t seem good that he’s waiting that long, so I decide to go fishing. I take a camera, a video camera, a towel and sunglasses and I go to the seashore. I try to convince someone else to go with me, but everyone is very busy with their stations, so I go alone. Mike and Jozek join me and the three of us sail with the fisherman. We sail about 500m to the ocean, we throw an anchor and we start fishing. We have pieces of fish as a bail quickly cut to pieces by our fisherman, the rod is a roll of fishing line with a hook and a weight. After throwing a bail we have to make sure that it goes way down to the bottom (about 10m), otherwise the fish won’t catch it. It’s not even a minute when Mike takes out the first fish called captain. I caught the third fish and had a total of 7 fish, including the most delicious called babuun. We caught about 30 fish within an hour but most of the time was wasted on the procedures: placing a bail, waiting for it to hit the bottom, anchoring the boat, rather than fishing itself. The fish here are caught in no time! I take some pictures and film for about 15 minutes. Before we head back I ask if I can jump out of the boat and swim for a while in deep water; the ocean around the island is very shallow – maximally reaches the waist, but I am told that it is very dangerous due to the sharks. I let go without regret – I’ll swim in a pool in Warsaw… We hit the shore, where Danusia SP9SX, meteorologists and two officers are waiting for us. All of them are very curious what we caught. Mike says that nothing (the fish are hidden in a special box built into the deck – it’s a fishing motorboat). Nobody believes us. Jozek brings in two plastic boxes packed up with our fish. We have lunch and dinner for everyone. I leave the luggage at home and I run to help setting up the 42K9AY antenna – I’m very late. Before dark the antenna is ready. It works marvelously – you can choose the direction for listening (4 cardinal directions) and suppress interference from other directions. You can easily tell that most of the interference comes from Europe and East Asia!

Mike doesn’t let me take some fish from the tray for supper and he says that I have to wait because he’s grilling me one of the fish that I caught, he says it’s the tastiest one. The fish really is delicious. Now I know how to fish, so we won’t be hungry!

It’s Thursday, we keep on working on full speed. We already have 24,5 thousand QSO and we are only half-done. It’s worse with log sending to a server in Warsaw. We have no good propagation, every now and then the connection with the ZS5S relay centre is broken. We hardly manage to send the information to PCWK and a few log files. The queue of the files to be sent is growing… Something has to be done with it! We are getting ready for the weekend during which many hams have more time, so we are expecting a dramatic pileup. Under Bogdan SP3RBR’s commands we managed to set up an antenna for 160m (1,8 MHz). We were supposed to fix an already done Titanex V160 that measures 27m but with such windy weather it wouldn’t turn out nice. Instead of that Bogdan came up with the idea to place a combinative vertical  that would be set on a meteo station tower (luckily the meteorologists didn’t say a word) using a 12m fishing rod. After adding some wires from the tower to the bottom we should gain a quarter-wave antenna on 160m which means electrical 40m. We are all excited because at different times of the day, at different bands, we find interesting “openings”. An opening means in our slang suddenly appearing convenient conditions for long-distance connections. A band that is quiet for the whole day (is closed) becomes suddenly open and we have a QSO with USA’s west coast and South America. Such opening lasts for an hour or two hours so we have to be careful not to waste such an opportunity.

Today for lunch and dinner, of course, we had fish that I caught; naturally we didn’t manage to eat them all yesterday.

I didn’t mention yet our evening ritual, which is a sked with pilots and hams in Poland. We have an appointed connection with our pilots on 14,133MHz frequency at 15 UTC (i.e. 5 pm in Poland, 7 pm here). They give us all the important information that they get from around the world concerning our expedition. We ask them to deliver important information to Poland – for our families, companies and friends as well. Very often during a sked we are called by some Polish stations that send us congratulations, some hints, other’s expectations and world’s opinion on us. Sometimes we are called by somebody’s wife or son – it’s really important to exchange even those few words with one’s family. Those who don’t have such an opportunity have to wait till they return home.

Today the last antenna was made – receiving on 160m. We used ¼ of 42K9AY antenna on 160m which couldn’t be built as whole, the island is too small! Our goal was the northern of Agalega Islands where we had about 5km of space just for ourselves. Bogdan planned there a beautiful antenna field with adequate spaces between each antenna. In order not to interfere with other antennas, they should keep the distance from each other for minimum of 2 lengths of a wave. In case of a 160m antenna this distance should take 320m, and our Raphael Island is only 180m long! The antenna spread planned by Bogdan was a great improvisation and a compromise between us and the conditions that we have here on the island we landed on. That is why our greatest problem during the work is the interference of other station’s work. We have band filters but they only minimize the negative influence of the compromised location of our antennas. Because of that everybody is upset that they can’t work in comfortable conditions and break next records in the number of connections per hour, but instead they have to fight with catching the sign among hundreds of calling stations, natural atmospheric and radio electric interference and, unfortunately, interference from our own stations. Andrzej SP3RBG and I while working with RTTY emission we basically get only some parts of a correspondent’s sign in a free time when our colleagues aren’t working. Every now and then there’s somebody angry at such mutual work difficulties. I hope that we manage to finish the expedition in good health and without hurting each other…

And so before weekend we set up the antennas for all bands – we are ready to work. We draw a work table for the weekend, everybody gets some time to work at given station, frequency and emission. Every day we save the logs at one computer (we haven’t installed the LAN web) and we analyze work’s statistics. We make conclusions and, having in mind all the hints given by pilots, we draw a game plan to allow working with us at all bands and all types of emissions. Later, depending on propagation’s conditions, we modify our plan. The most important and at the same time the worst is the fact that we are unable to send the information for PCWK nor any log files. The queue of files to be sent is so big that we decide to stop sending logs. Maybe tomorrow we manage to send late information for PCWK.

We are working for the whole night. Tired but satisfied we exchange information about how much we had done of our plans. The situation is poor at 160m, we managed to do only a few tens of connections due to terrible cracking coming from the equator i.e. the direction that we are listening to. Maybe tomorrow would be better. Let me introduce expedition’s members: Danusia SP9SX, Witek SP9MRO and Robert SP5XVY work phonically on SSB, Wlodek SP6EQZ, Bogdan SP3RBR and Krzysztof SP3MGM work mostly on telegraphy with CW emission but they also support the SSB work when it is needed and Andrzej SP3RBG and I SP5BFX work with digital RTTY and PSK emissions and also on SSB, but most of the RTTY work is done by Andrzej. When we have nothing to do at the station we realize individual vacation plans. We can choose between fishing in fisherman’s boat and at the same time touring the neighborhood, swimming in the ocean and sunbathing, visiting nearest islands during the tide and talking to meteorologists or the Coast Guard. During such talks I found out that it is worth to see a nearby island called “bird island” and I decide to go there today during the morning outflow. I put on my shoes for reef walking and before 8 am I’m on my way through the ocean that at this time goes way down about one meter. After half an hour, floundering in water that reaches my thighs, I reach the island. There I find a few more birds but they are similar to ours and there are no thousands of them, as the officers told me. I take some pictures, film for a while and go back. The most interesting thing while coming back is seeing a coral snake of which I take some pictures, of course. When I’m back the officers tell me that it was poisonous, but I have to check it in Poland. The bottom of the ocean and the reef aren’t as interesting as those in Red Sea. The dominant colour is beige, very rarely you can find a colorful fish. During our fishing trips we saw big rays (we have pictures) and a turtle that we couldn’t catch up with in our boat. In the evening Witek SP9MRO organizes his birthday that he celebrates today. Mike installs a second grill, there are grilled fish, meat, rice, cookies and crisps from our emergency store and also beer and wine and two champagnes. All the island’s residents are partying with us, we have a great time – we sing “happy birthday” in Polish and English, we make jokes. The party is going on. Krzysztof SP3MGM who has the best ear and voice starts Polish festive songs. Everybody sings, locals help Poles with chorus and they also set the rhythm on carton drums. We ask them to sing their songs. After a short while it is us who help them sing Creole songs. The dancing starts… The next day Antoine, one of the meteorologists, will say that this island hasn’t seen such a party before!

It appeared that the island I visited yesterday wasn’t the “bird island”, it was "Poulailler"! The “bird island” is called "Puits a Eau" and it is the next one a little more on the right. I decide to make it up for myself and I go for a trip with Wlodek SP6EQZ during today’s outflow. We put on our shoes and at 8 am we go into the ocean once again. After 50 minutes we reach the proper bird island. Now I can tell that’s the right one! There are thousands of birds in the air. We go further taking care not to step into a nest and there is one every meter, one next to another. We can hear an endless scream of the birds – it seems as they don’t like strangers coming to the island. We take tens of pictures and we film. Wlodek gives me his video camera to film him with the birds. When I am filming, Wlodek nearly touches an egg with his index finger and then the bird attacks us. First it hits Wlodek’s head with its paws, then it makes the same movement with my head. It wasn’t dangerous but surprising. We take some more pictures and we decide to go back. In my mind I keep holding an image of an Alfred Hitchcock’s movie…

E-mail transmission can’t be launched. Faith and propagation don’t let us do that, as when we have a good propagation it appears that radio gate that we want to use is already occupied. When we are waiting for it to be free, the propagation goes bad… Bad luck! It’s a pity because I’m up to date now with my story. Robert SP5XVY goes fishing today morning and Danusia SP9SX with Witek SP9MRO are going later in the afternoon. Again we have many fish that are already a little too much for some of us. As every day I collect logs during lunch time and I make a sum up. For the day the number of connections executed by our team is 34 849. It is clear for everybody that only a cataclysm could prevent us from realizing our goal of 40000 QSO till Thursday. Today we get an official confirmation of our return that is given to us by meteorological radio station. A boat is coming to get us Thursday afternoon. We have to plan the dismantling of the antennas and removal of the stations with regard to make the most of the conditions and to work till the last minute at least at one station.

I started the day at 5:45 waking up from a short sleep and going to a base where 3 of our stations work. I worked till 9 am and after the change of the operator I spent my free time on a trip. The aim was the island "Petit Raphael" that is situated south from our "Ile Raphael". It is unsettled and very much destroyed by the cyclone from February. The meteorologists told me that it was once bigger and there were trees on it, but now it is sad to look at a ruined and empty land (or a reef, not land, to be precise). I was planning to go there alone, but Robert SP5XVY joined me just before departure. We were walking with water reaching our waists. The officers promised that, if we couldn't go back before the ocean's level goes up, they would come for us in a motorboat. Full of hope we started touring the island. To tell the truth touring wasn't the main goal, as it was collecting interesting and colorful shells that were spread all over the island. After I left the water I carelessly got out of my wet clothes and I left my T-shirt and shorts on the shore. Robert took his backpack with him. I picked up so many shells that without a hat I borrowed from Robert I wouldn't be able to bring them to the shore. We got back before the inflow without the Coast Guard's help needed. I collected our stations' logs at noon; we have an impressing amount of connections: 38569 QSO!

We got the information in the afternoon that a boat that is coming to take us is called "Patrol One" and it speeds up to maximum of 30 knots. Our trip back to Mauritius should take 10-12 hours. It's the optimistic version and we will stick to it. Not to finish with only good news I have to tell you that Mike announced, that he has already transported all the fuel from the catamaran to the island and, according to our calculations, it would suffice for work only until Tuesday. If we don't do something, we would have to stop the work earlier than we thought.