Simcoe Island - ON-022

It was a great day to be out operating portable today.  The weather here in Kingston was mainly cloudy and windy, but still warm enough not to have to wear a jacket outside.

Right after coffee this morning I took the ferry to Wolfe Island, which surprisingly is already using the alternative winter dock on Wolfe Island due to really low water levels.   After a short 8 Km drive I arrived at the small two car cable ferry to Simcoe Island, which was also having some major issues due to low water.

Simcoe Ferry in smoother water than today!

The ride over to Simcoe Island was really rough and I'm pleased to report that my Ford Ranger received a free car wash on the way over with all the heavy spray coming over the bow.

After a 10 minute drive I was at the very far end of the island, very near the Nine Mile Lighthouse.  I parked right at the end of the road and set up my 31' vertical and more radials than ever before.  Radio of the day was my IC-703 with its 10 "screaming" watts.

The bands were really busy today and the SFI numbers were excellent.  We had the Worked all Germany contest, JOTA, the W / VE Island QSO Party, and the NY QSO Party on the bands all at the same time, so lots of action to be had.

First station in the log was DL0TS, a club station in Lierderbach, Germany, this was at 1500 utc, and after that the contacts just kept coming.  I was impressed with the IC-703, it really gets the signal out, and more often than not I got the DX station on the very first call. 

After two hours in the chair I had this feeling I was being watched, but there is nobody around there at all, the site is extremely quiet and peaceful.  In fact I didn't see another person there all day.  Looking over my shoulder I was greeted by a line of about 20 brown cows all looking at me.......wondering what the hell all the noise was I suppose!

After a quick bite to eat and a drink it was back at it.  By 1830 utc there were 30 QRP contacts in the log and it was time to head home. It was a really good day, and a welcome break from the house buying that's been going on around here lately.

The only downside to the whole day was the number of LIDS who chose to tune up right on top of either a QSO in progress, or a station calling CQ.  Why do people do that???!!!

And lastly, it was nice to hear all the youngsters on the air today with their JOTA stations.  Let's hope more than a few of them catch the ham bug!!