Updates from the Peter I Team! Last updated: Monday -- February 6, 2006 Per: http://www.peterone.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 Feb 2006 We now have the email working too....just in time to QSY to the Island.....Peter I is on the radar at forty miles, so we will arrive in four hours or 2100 local. First flight is scheduled for 0700 tommorrow. The container is unloaded and the first fifteen loads are queued on the deck, ready to go. Wx is foggy and cold. Hoping for it to clear tomorrow. Fingers crossed! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update to the update: We have arrived at Peter I island and it is foggy and cold and very windy. It popped out of the fog at 21:35 local when we were only 1.5 miles away and it is about 34 degrees and the wind is 40 mph right now. It is really cold out on the deck. The Island is one of the spookiest sights we've ever seen and looks very forboding with the fog and the wind. Huge rocks and glaciers are intermittantly visible. We will need to wait for the weather to clear to go on. It is now 10pm local time and if it clears we will begin going onto the island tomorrow morning. Everything has gone very much according to plan and we are very happy. 73's to all from The Peter I team! 4 Feb 2006 We awoke to calm seas this morning and have enjoyed a pretty smooth ride since. We now have over 2500 QSOs as XR9A/mm. As we crossed the Antarctic circle today at 66degs, 33 mins South,the Captain threw a party to celebrate. He made a speech and welcomed us to an elite club. We toasted with pisco sours (the official Chilean drink). This was followed by lunch and then a safety briefing and walk-thru from the helicopter pilot. His name is Aldo and he is assisted by two mechanics. Gerard F2JD will also assist with the helo operations on the island, while Carlos NP4IW and Al K3VN will assist on the ship. Tomorrow, Sunday, we will move the container contents to the 1st deck and stage for the helo flights. First four men ashore will be Erling LA6VM, Bob K4UEE, Ralph KØIR and Bob N6OX. The plan is to set up OP B and make it self-sufficient before building the main camp. This way if WX deteriorates, we will have a "foothold" on the island with two stations QRV. If WX is OK, we will proceed with building the camp before going on the air. Our current ETA at Peter I is Sunday, Feb 5 at 2300 hours. Our first reconnaisance flight will be at first light on Monday morning about 0700Z weather permitting! Current position at 2100 hours Feb 4th is 66deg, 52 mins S, 79 deg, 24 mins W. 73's to all from The Peter I team! 3 Feb 2006 Beginning yesterday afternoon we encountered long swells that gently raise and then lower the boat.. It was a fairly comfortable ride. Today the seas have changed a bit and are averaging twelve feet. The ride is a little more uncomfortable, but not a problem for most of the team. We are experiencing winds speed of 33 knots with gusts higher...direction is from the SSW. Outside air temperature is 36 deg F. Current position is 65 deg 2 min S. Lat and 65 deg, 44 mins West at 1900Z on Feb 3rd. We have almost 2,000 QSOs on two radios using an OCF Windom antenna and a 4-BTV. Callsign is XR9A/MM. The Team is in good spirits, only two are having trouble with sea sickness. Training is continuing on the use of the Icom 756 Pro III's and Alpha 99 amps and with Writelog. Last night after dinner we viewed a video and discussed once again how to erect the shelters. Most of the team has hands-on experience with shelter erection from previous training, but six have not. Tomorrow will be spent moving our equipment from the container on the lower deck to the main deck and staging for helicopter airlift! Current ETA at Peter I is midnight, Sunday, Feb 5th. This means the earliest we could begin setting up the camp would be the following morning on Monday... weather permitting! 73's to all! 2 Feb 2006 We have been at sea since 0100UTC. Seas have varied between calm and rough and currently are 6 - 9 feet. We opened the container and began organizing our grear for landing on Peter I in a few days. We're currently on the air with one station at 100w and are working on getting a second station up along with two amplifiers. One antenna is up and, as soon as the wind dies down, the second will be up as well. Everyone is OK and in good spirits. At the time of this report we're 3 miles offshore Deception Island. Present ETA is to be at Peter I on the mornign of February 5th, weather permitting; landing there is also a "weather permitting" issue. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Some nice film clips and pictures posted 05 Feb on web showing ship and voyage to Peter I. 73/GL Larry, K4WLS ---------------------------------------------------------- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options ----------------------------------------------------------
