ANGEL DE LA GUARDA ISLAND IOTA NA-163 , JUNE 13-15 2002

OPERATION MADE BY PABLO CHEE XE2CHE , ROGELIO FONTES XE2FCR , HECTOR GARCIA XE2DN.

WE CHOOSE THIS ISLAND BECAUSE IS THE BIGEST IN OUR STATE AND NOBODY OF US NEVER BE THERE BEFORE AND HAVING A BIG VALUE FOR THE IOTA AND ISLANDS HUNTERS. WE DISEMBARK IN THE NORT PART OF THE ISLAND, IN A PLACE CALLED BY LOCAL FISHERMANS "EL REFUGIO" WHERE IS PERFECT TO HAVE PROTECTION FROM STORMS OR BAD WEATHER, THERE WE SET UP THE ANTENNAS AND A SIMPLE STATION , LIKE 20 FT FROM THE SEA WATER, WITH TEMPERATURES IN THE 100-110 F.DEG WITH 70-95 % HUMIDITY.

ALL OF US FIRST TIMERS IN OPERATIONS IN ISLANDS, IN A FEW HOURS OF OPERATION WE MAKE MORE THAT 2200 QSO'S ONLY USING ICOM 706 RUNNING 100W WITH 3 ELE TRIBANDER YAGI TH3-JR AND OTHER IC 706MKIIG RUNNING 100W WITH A 3 ELE TRIBANDER YAGI A3S AND A 40M DIPOLE, 12 VOLTS BATERYS POWERED ALL THE RADIOS USING ONLY GENERATORS TO CHARGE , TRYING TO MAKE THE LESS NOISE POSSIBLE AND DON'T DISTURB THE ANIMALS WHO LIVE THERE, SEA LIONS , PELICANS, SNAKES (BIG ONES) AND OTHERS BIRDS. OPERATING ONLY 15, 20 AND 40M SSB 2 STATIONS SIMULTANIUSLY MOST OF THE TIME

ANGEL DE LA GUARDA ISLAND XF1-DN, IOTA NA-163 By Pablo Abel C. Chee, XE2CHE

On June 13, 2002 after many months of preparation we landed on the northernmost tip of Angel de la Guarda Island. But the trip did not start with our landing; it actually started on a warm summer day a year ago about 60 miles north of the island. Hector Garcia – XE2DN- Rogelio Fontes –XE2FCR-, Miguel Angel, a local fishermen and I were trolling for yellowtail and cabrilla fish around “La Poma”, a small island made of pumice rock. Looking south we realized that there was a barely visible piece of land just outside the mainland Baja peninsula. We asked Miguel Angel, whom everyone knows as “El Bolas” in his hometown of San Felipe, about the island’s name. He told us, “that is Angel de la Guarda Island and it is about two to three hours away if it happens to be calm. At first I thought of doing a trip to the Island to fish and camp out for a few days. However, it didn’t take a long time before we all thought about doing a DXpedition to the Island. Bolas said that if we were going to make a trip to the island, it would have to be in the summer months between may and September due to the strong winter month winds. For those who don’t know the Sea of Cortez, the area has it’s own unique weather patterns and can change in a matter of hours. The Sea of Cortez, according to Bolas, has over 16 different water current patterns and the winds can blow any day of the year in any direction but during the winter months the winds usually intensify and last over a week with waves of more than 10 feet.

After a few minutes of trolling, a couple of drinks and after hearing Bolas’ description of the weather and the possibility of going to the Island, we all looked at each other and said…why not. Being a lifetime fisherman Bolas replied, “why do radios when you can fish, the fishing is excellent out in the Island”. We have to understand that between a new a HF radio and a rod and reel set, Bolas goes for the rod and reel. But we all agreed on doing some fishing and a lot of radioing, or Bolas probably wouldn’t go with us on the DXpedition. We decided on going in the month of June of 2002 as the tentative date for the departure, just in time for fishing and before the hottest summer months of July and August.

Earlier this year Hector went to the Visalia DX convention and came back with a lot of information and support from some of the members and ham radio operators that were eager to hear us on the air. Hector said that a lot of people were interested in our plan to talk from Angel de la Guarda Island and he also realized that the ears out there in the ham world were ready to listen in on the DXpedition. After hearing the enthusiasm of other people we filed for a call sign permit and after a few weeks we obtained our call sign: XF1-DN. At this point we were certain that our trip was just around the corner. We set the date for the DXpedition between the 4th and 15th of June 2002 as the permit states. A month before the DXdate we did all the preparations for the trip. We started out by planning for a light expedition of DXlight as we call it, because of the boat’s weight limits. All of our masts are aluminum, three of them total, each of them about 40 ft in length. On two of the masts we planned on using two 3 element Yagis for 10, 15 and 20 meters, and for the other mast we decided on a 40 meter band dipole for short skip communication with our Mexico ham stations. For our power supply we opted on using four batteries to operate 2 or 3 radios at the same time. We also packed an 1850-watt generator with a 12-volt output to recharge the batteries whenever the power would go low. We had the fragile ecosystem in mind when we thought about the power option so we decided on using batteries all night to keep the noise to a minimum at the Island’s ham site.

On the communications side we packed two 706 Icom radios and two 706 mark II radios. In addition to these radios I took a VHF-UHF radio, a marine radio and a 3 watt cell phone to stay in touch with the local or the Mexican Coast Guard… just in case. Sleeping bags, a tent, some fishing poles and a lot of ice, water and food were also on the list.

So the time came, we packed all this into my pickup truck and headed south to San Felipe from Mexicali, the capital of Baja California. We picked up Bolas and continued our trip south through what is considered one of the worst roads in Baja. We arrived around 10:00 pm at Punta Bufeo, which is just southwest of San Luis island about 60 miles northwest of Angel de la Guarda. A few minutes after arriving we packed our things into the boat and took the boat to the beach. Weighing in at around 1300 Kg (about 2860 lbs.) we were ready to launch. But the boat was so heavy and one of the trailer tires so low that I was not about to risk my truck in a low tide and get stuck with no one to help if we got stuck. Usually, out in the middle of nowhere, nobody is ready to help you at 12:00 in the middle of the night. So we left the boat and trailer at the lowest tide location and went back to shore to prepare dinner. After a few hours the tide changed and water reached the boat and everyone was asleep except me. I tried getting the boat out of the trailer but the tide and the swells did not allow me to pull the boat out of the trailer because the anchor line got tied up. So I went to sleep and decided to wait for the next tide to get the boat out with the motor.

The next morning (Tuesday June 13) we had breakfast and waited out till 11:00 am for the water to reach the boat again. Finally at around 1:30 pm with the help of the motor and a strong push we were able to free the boat from the confines of the trailer. I pulled the trailer out of the water, close the truck and off we went to Angel de la Guarda Island.

Our trip started out from Punta Bufeo at 2:00 pm and it took us 3 1/2 hours on a straight course to the island with no waves. It was just perfect considering the weight. We arrived Isla Mejia, which is no more than a mile north of Angel de la Guarda Island, at around 5:30 in the evening. After cruising around these smaller islands we decided that the best spot was a bay in between Isla Mejia and Angel de la Guarda Island. We landed on this bay on the northern most point of Angel de la Guarda Island at about 6:00 pm. The local fisherman and sailboat enthusiasts around the world know the bay as Punta Refugio or Refuge bay. It has the peculiarity that not even the strongest wind will affect the bay’s wave conditions. After a few minutes of landing we unpacked everything before we would loose the sun. The problem was that we couldn’t bring a small gas tank to power a gas lamp because of the weight concerns and the fact that the light broke on the rough ride from San Felipe to Punta Bufeo. But we still had enough time to set up everything before sunset. We started out by unpacking some of the things from the so-called “waterproof bags”. The first thing that came to mind in the 105 degree Fahrenheit temperature was to set-up the shade for the video and radio equipment. We planned on using a pair of 1-inch aluminum masts for vhf radios but that changed instantly as the masts were the only option to set up the tarp as the shade. After setting up the shade we assembled the masts for the tri-banders. Then we assembled the Yagis and the 40-meter dipole. We then hooked up the batteries and radios as well as setting up the DX comm center under the tent. A few drinks in honor of the crew and those whom we were about to hear and we were ready to ham the world. After a few SWR checks XF1-DN was on the air. Since I did not have any experience doing HF, let alone doing a contest or pileup I left the controls to Hector. “This is XF1-DN calling CQ DX from Angel de la Guarda Island, IOTA NA-163 CQ DX, CQ DX, this is XF1-DN, QRZ” Hector said, and in a few seconds we had the first contact, then the second one and so on. After a few minutes we had the first pileup. Personally, after working so hard to be at the Island, listening to that first contact was a great accomplishment and an exhilarating experience. I really had no experience in HF, and I had very few contacts in my two years as a ham, but I was ready to learn fast. So I listened in on Hector’s contacts to learn the protocols of logging the data. After a few minutes Rogelio Fontes (XE2-FCR) and I decided to work 40 meters while hector worked 20 meters. Apparently our two Yagis were interfering in 15 and 20 meters so we were unable to work two radios on these frequencies at the same time. So Rogelio and I worked 40 meters for a few hours against the odds of QRM. We worked most of the day and night shifting from band to band and operator to operator after one got tired or hungry. We also made occasional calls on the 800 MHz band when conditions were good with Sonora cells using a 3-watt amplifier and a 5 dB gain antenna. Bolas, who knew nothing about radios, listened in on the action about 40 feet away, in front of the beach and working the “fishing rod band”. He caught some triggerfish, which he cooked with lemon and made a “ceviche”, which is a mix of onion, tomato, celery, and peppers among other things. On our second day on the Island we received an unexpected guest. It turns out that it is pelican season on the Island and a baby pelican that had a nest about 100 meters away from the camp site walked its way to the tent. At least we knew we were not the only ones complaining about the high temperatures and humidity. So the pelican decided to join us and hear some of the contacts during the day and at sunset the pelican would go back to the nest to greet mama pelican for dinner. After one a half days of operating the Island, the local creatures knew we were up to something, and decided to investigate our crew. If you happened to hear us talking and suddenly heard a QRX it was probably due to an insect invasion. You name it, we had it, insects of all types and sizes. We saw scorpions, sea cockroaches, flies, spiders, and some insects that looked like scorpions but had a thin tail, also venomous. Sometimes we were in the middle of a call and these creatures started crawling up our legs, after a while we got used to their attitude. We had so many insects on our camp that we had a most unwanted list, and at the top of the list the infamous “Jejen”. Up until today we have no idea on the looks of this insect. The only thing we know is that it bites, you can’t see it and after three days you are full of mosquito looking bites. Even using bug spray was not enough deterrent for these creatures they would bite anyway. In fact, Rogelio got bit so badly by these jejenes that his bites turned into blisters apparently from an allergic reaction. Due his reaction to these insects, we decided to call Rogelio “El Jejen” in honor of the unwanted creatures. On the third day of the DXpedition I kept calling while the other stations slept in the morning. Then after having breakfast we decided to start packing due to a change of weather. Hector, Rogelio and Bolas started packing everything up while I kept calling for about an hour. Then after conditions started getting worse on the bands we called it QRT and I helped pack everything back into the panga (the local word for fiberglass boat). We almost filled up the tank with the extra gasoline that we did not use on the generator. Gasoline was our main concern due to the bad weather we knew we were going to use more than what we used to the Island. Due to this concern we reduced our weight by draining all of the water from our ice chests. Then after packing everything into the mostly waterproof compartments and the logs into plastic bags, we took some pictures of the Island’s sign and our friend the baby pelican. Finally, it was time to say goodbye to the Island. We took off heading west of El Refugio Bay between Angel de la Guarda Island and Mejia Island. A few minutes later we realized why they call this part of the Island, Punta El Refugio, or Refuge Point. After leaving the bay the waves started growing and the wind picked up speed. We decided to change course and head west towards the mainland instead of northwest towards our destination. About 20 miles from the coast we cruised at a maximum of 20 MPH with an average of about 14 MPH over 6 to 9 feet waves. By the time we started crossing the Whales’ Canal we were soaking wet. The strong wind and the waves made for a tedious and not so comfortable ride, but DXing from the Island was not an easy task either. So we carried on and tried to enjoy the waves and the pounding water. I left Bolas with the controls and I tried to cover as much equipment as possible. Rogelio poured buckets of water out of the boat while I fixed the bilge pump. After fixing the pump, all the water we had in the boat slowly started to drain out, though water was still coming into the boat by the buckets. After two and a half hours of navigation we finally reached Baja’s shoreline waters. Not as bad as the Whales’ canal’s waves but still 4 to 6 foot waves, it was a smoother ride. By then we were already at half a tank of gas, and still had a long way to our destination. On our way along the coastline we saw about 4 different villages or fishermen camps and two friends of Bolas in another boat along the coast. Six hours after leaving Refuge Bay, we reached our departure and destination beach. Success, we are finally back on solid ground! we all said. But when we opened one of the “waterproof compartments” and it was full of water we immediately looked for the logbooks. At this point we cared more about the logbooks than the radios, which were half dry. Fortunately, the logbooks were inside 3 plastic bags and they were dry. Even though four of the compartments were full of water, we were lucky that we didn’t store any electronic equipment in those compartments. Leaving these mishaps aside, we had excellent moments, some of which I have shared with you in this summary. Being able to go to the Island and see the Mexican flag on the foreground of a beautiful sunset while we made contacts across the globe is just one of those moments that make us forget any of the mishaps. One of the most important qualities we found in our group was the ability to team up against the odds and follow the plan. In two days and a half of transmitting from the Island we did over 2000 contacts and we are proud of every one of them. In fact we are so enthusiastic about Island DXing that we are already planning the next Island. We are ready to hear that far away signal in the middle of a pile up. The signal that is as difficult to hear as a mouse walking 5 meters away. But suddenly the pile up quiets out and you hear the far away station…another contact! So we ask, what do you want to hear next?

On behalf of the XF1DN DXpedition to NA-163, 73’s and we will hear you on the next one…

XE2CHE Pablo Abel Chee Chavez

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