Yesterday (Sunday 29th April), a small group of 5 operators left the main team on Mull to come to the uninhabited island of Lunga in the Treshnish Isles (IOTA EU-108).

G3VFC, G4HUN, M0BLF, M0MJH, M1ACB boarded a tourist boat to Lunga at lunchtime. The boat comes to Lunga to drop off a number of tourists – mainly birdwatchers – who want to take photographs of the island’s large puffin colony. Unlike the tourists, however, we were staying the night, and so we had to bring a lot of gear with us.

Within about an hour of landing, our three tents (one operating tent, and two others for sleeping in) had been erected, as had verticals for 40m and 20m. We were soon on the air using an IC-706Mk2G and an FT-897. By nightfall, we had 822 QSOs in the GS6PYE/P log. (Note the number ‘6’; the team on Mull are using GS3PYE/P.)

This morning, as I type this lying uncomfortably on the floor of one of the tents, the weather has changed for the worse. Yesterday it was bright and sunny, if a little windy. The wind has died down a bit, but it’s now overcast, and we had some rain overnight. Unfortunately, the operating tent leaked slightly, and we suspect the Yaesu rig has water in it, so we’ll only have one rig for the rest of the day, until we can dry the affected rig out. We will be on later today, though; we’re off-air right now because we’re using the generator to cook our breakfast and heat our tea, but we will be back shortly!

We leave Lunga this afternoon, so if you need the Treshnish Isles, you have only a few hours left to work us. Please do call us; we want to get to 1000 QSOs before we leave.