Caldey Island Dxpedition September 2008

Following a trial visit to Caldey island in May 2008 seven members of the group went to Caldey island for a full Dxpedition. The plan was to spend 7 days on the island to activate it for IOTA with the special event station callsign GB2CI and to take part in an HF and a VHF contest over the weekend of 5 and 6th September 2008. The trip was memorable for us for many reasons that can be seen in the photo gallery.

None of us appreciated that an island just 3 miles off of the mainland of Wales could become cut off due to bad weather and sea conditions but this did happen with only one trip back to the mainland possible during our 7 day stay to purchase emergency food supplies. At the end of the stay we were nearly stranded on the island because the schedules mail boat did not run, only contact with the mainland and a good deal of palm greasing brought a ferry boat to our rescue.

The island proved to be an ideal location for HF with fantastic propagation to the USA, we were often told that we were the strongest signal coming out of the UK. We nearly did not have any antennas because we had not taken poles on this trip because the May trial visit had located some poles on the island that we had be assured that we could borrow. To our dismay when we arrived the poles were not in the place that we had expected, on investigation we discovered that one of the monks in the monastery had cut up the poles to make a fruit cage. After frantic phone calls and some sleuthing work we managed to locate sufficient poles to erect our A3S tri band HF beam and our brand new 6 element 6m beam. Unfortunately the pole for the 6m beam fell over the day after it was erected because the weather was so bad that the ground was soaked and the wind pulled out the stakes so we did not make any contacts on 6m. We also erected a 2m beam but the pole for that was taken to the island but the location was not good for 2m contacts.

We considered the Dxpedition a great success, we worked 1500 stations on HF with many stations contacted being ones with modest equipment and very pleased to work a new IOTA island. The number of calls could have been greater but we were spending time to chat with people rather than a quickie QSO. 2m was not so successful with some 30 contacts made.

Click on the thumbnails below to view one of the pictures

Waiting to go

7am and we were waiting on the quay side at Tenby for the mail boat over to Caldey Island. We knew that the mail boat had not run on the previous day but to us land lubbas the sea looked calm and we could not see why it should not run. It did run but we were to find out why there was a quetion mark over it running. We all got extreemly wet on the 20 minute ride to the island.

Loading the ferry

The mail boat was not very big and we had lots of equipment. What we did not know was that there were 20 or so other passengers going to the retreat on the island. Our equipment filled the front of the boat so it was a packed trip.

Transport on the island

Having arrived safely on the island the transport supplied with the house that we rented was found. All of the motor vehicles on the island are MOT failures because the normal rules do not apply on the island. Our vehicle was no exception being an ageing Dihatsu Four Track that had seen better days but proved to be more reliable than it looked. All the equipment was taken to the house in four trips.

The HF beam

The weather on the day that we arrived was too bad to erect any antennas. We also had to spend a lot of time chasing round the island to find poles. We had expected to find poles in one of the many sheds on the island but one of the monks had decided to cut them up to make a fruit cage. Eventually enough poles were located and the antennas were erected when the weather was a bit better.

6m Beam

The 6m beam was a brand new antenna and erected on the lawn close to the HF beam. Unfortunately the weather was very bad on the following day with very heavy rain that soaked the ground so much that the stakes for the 6m antenna guys were pulled out of the ground and it fell down. The famous phrase at breakfast was "What was that that just whizzed past the window?" - it was the antenna!

The broken 6m beam

Terry had purchased the 6m beam and before we had made a contact it turned into this scrap metal.

Bryan straightening the 6m beam

Bryan did straighten the 6m beam elements but it was not re-erected

2m Beam

The 2m beam was erected at the back of the property where the ground was a bit higher. It was very overgrown and it took all of us to help erect the mast.

The team putting up a 160m long wire

They say that you need a long wire for a good 160m antenna so we spent an enjoyable afternoon getting a long wire (200m) from the house to the distant sand dunes. It was more difficult than we expected because the bank at the back of the house is covered in bushes and the wire was lost or trapped in them many times. Eventually the team managed to get the wire to the dunes, unfortunately the antenna did not prove to be the good antenna expected.

The GB2CI station

The station was set up in the dining room, the main equipmet was a TS850 with a KW1000 power amplifier. We also had an FT950 a couple of FT897s and a 200W 2m power amplifier

Opertaing GB2CI

In the foreground Dick is operating the 2m station and behind him Terry is operating the HF station. For the weekend contest the 2m station was moved upstairs.

Operating 2m contest station

Dick operating the 2m contest station

Map of Caldey Island

This is a photograph of the map display on the quay. The house that we rented is shown to the east of the island.

The house from the sea

The house that we rented is fairly close to the beach. This picture was taken from the ferry coming into the quay.

View from house towards the quay

This is a view from the house towards the west. In the distance is the only landing point on the island and beyond is the Atlantic, next stop the USA.

Home cooking

Bryan was our main chef although several people tried their hand at cooking. This is one of the delicious meals.

Bryan mending a coax

One of the other uses of the kitchen was to mend coax cables. Bryan is a dab hand at this job.

The Monastery

The main tourist attraction on the island is the monastery, it is set in the middle of the island with a tea shop, post office and the inevitable gift shop.

Light House

There is a fine lighthouse on the island.

The club

The island has a club that people who are staying on the island can join an visit on the evenings when it is open for a drink. We were the only customers on the two occasions that we visited but learned a lot of history about the island.

Rita

Don was the first person to meet Rita, one of the islanders, she was checking the meters in the island water supply. She is an amazing person who plays the organ at the monastery and has a house with an aviary. She needed some help so we did some re-wiring and computer support for her.

Duck used for ferry

When the tide is low the ferry boats cannot use the quay so a Duck is used to take ferry passengers to the shore.

The Caldey group

One day we all went out to take a group photograph to be used as the main picture on our QSL card. The group from left to right are: Andy, G8ATD, Dick, G4LBH, Don, G4LOO, Bryan, M0BIK, Ian, G1JCC, David, G4MVU, Terry, G4UEM.

Bryan entertaining us in the rain

Shortly after taking the group photograph the heavens opened and we all sheltered in the shack on the quay. Bryan entertained us.

Waiting to leave

On the day that we were due to leave all of the equipment was taken to the quay in expectation that the mail boat would arrive for its daily visit and take us home. Terry's expression says it all, we had just been told that the mail boat was not going to run that day.

Ferry boat arriving to take us home

After some negotiating with the ferry skippers an arrangement was agreed and a ferry boat arrived to take us off of the island.

Loading the ferry to go home

We were all relieved that we could actually get off of the island and it was all hands to get the equipment aboard.

Going home

After 7 days of great DX and many problems to overcome we were all pleased to be going home.