Geoff Crowley MM5AHO was originally from New Zealand and was first licenced in 1993 in Iceland as TF3XXT (licence no. 205 in that country). He described the 250 mile cruise in his 10m yacht Contender in August 2010 in the Western Isles of Scotland while participating in the 2010 International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend (ILLW). Along with crew members and operators Alistair MM0HAI and Matt MM1EUI they activated 8 previously inactive and inaccessible lighthouses. They used Yaesu FT-857 (100W) and FT-817 (5W) transceivers. For 80m to 6m the antenna was the ATU-tuned backstay of the yacht’s mast, about 8m long with the top about 10m asl. For 2 metres a 5/8 whip was used. They made about 550 contacts, while surviving severe weather, up to Force 9-10 (severe gale to storm) and over 30 individual sharks which approached the 10m yacht. The lighthouses activated were: Hyskeir, Canna, Lady Rock, Lismore, Green Island, Ardtornish, Rubhna Gall and Grey Rocks. The talk generated a lot of interest amongst the LRS members and visitors. Crew member Alistair MM0HAI was also present and participated in the lively Q&A session which followed. Next year’s target for Geoff and his crew includes Dubh Artach and Skerryvore lighthouses.
For more information on ILLW, go to http://illw.net/
Geoff Crowley MM5AHO and Alistair MacLeod MM0HAI at the LRS meeting.
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Map of the cruise with pins indicating the lighthouses.
Geoff’s 10m yacht Contender.
Sleeping accomodation was comfortable for the three crew members.
The transceivers used were Yaesu FT-857 (100W) and FT-817 (5W).
550 QSOs were made on the HF bands with a wire aerial consisting of the
ATU-tuned backstay of the yacht’s mast, covering 80m to 6m.
Geoff operating MM5AHO/MM.
Geoff MM5AHO (rear) and Alistair MM0HAI operating.
Alistair MM0HAI rowing towards Hyskeir Light.
Coffee break off Lismore Light.
Rubhna Gall Light (near Tobermory).
Many seals and a whale were seen during the cruise.
More worrying were the 30 sharks which approached close to the boat.
This was the largest sighting of sharks in the area for some years.
Picturesque Tobermory on the island of Mull was one of the ports visited.
And of course there were beautiful sunsets over the Western Isles.