3Y0K - Bouvet Island - Peter I Island

**4L5A** · 12-10-2023, 05:24 PM

With this we start fundraising for our 3YØK Bouvet trip. At the time of our announcement we hold the only valid DXpedition callsign for Bouvet 3YØK, and we have signed on all contracts. We’re seeking donations to cover our $440,000 budget where today we already have secured 67% of the funds. Thus we need in the order of $150,000 which is significantly less than all previous DXpeditions to Bouvet. Some clubs and individuals have already donated – and we really appreciate it!

The team of 3 operators and 4 men support team will depart from Falkland island and will spend 14 days motor sailing to Bouvet. The vessel is a 65 ft steel motor sailer and is a former passenger vessel that has been refitted since 2020. After being refitted it will be considered as a new boat with all new interior and machine (5000h), two new masts, sails, genset, anchor, chain, all new hydraulics, EIRP, 12 men solas lift raft, radar, eco sounder, autopilot and increased fuel capacity and will be polar rated and with 5 water tight sections. Despite it is 65 ft, the storage capacity is likely better than Marama as in addition to main deck has one large roof deck. We have scrutinized the equipment list and have significantly reduced the total weight from a whopping 7 ton to a slim 2,1 ton that includes fuel. We have already prepared a detailed loading plan and we know exactly how many barrels, skibags, boxes and pelicases to bring onshore and how to pack it. Our landing plans have been optimized and given our previous experience in landing we have a mature and realistic plan to go onshore that again will be a staged landing. We will be using 3 dinghys, where two dinghys will always be in the water at the same time. The Captain have been supporting private, government, film companies & tourist expeditions to high latitudes continually since 1997 and his crew is young in their 30s, but also experienced in these waters.

We have contracted 30 days around the island, and 21 days on the island, and the Captain have agreed this to be a performance clause. There exist liquidated damages in the contract should this be breached. DXpedition planning involves not only selecting radio, amplifier and antennas. DXpedition planning is also about risks, budget, finance, cash flow and contract clauses. We are the first one to know that there are unfinished business at Bouvet, and we have a strong desire to make it happen again. We have thus worked hard after the previous attempt to come in the position to announce a return to Bouvet and with our low cost project, dedicated and experienced team and duration, we have prepared ground for a feasible Bouvet project without breaking the bank.

Among other we will only use lightweight Honda generators, and we will go lightweight but with amplifiers and yagi from 20-10m. We would like to reveal our plans for a dedicated North America camp. During our previous attempt we scouted an area ½ mile west of the main camp. This area offer low angle take off to NA and will make our signals much louder all over NA compared to previous time. We will be able to setup a dedicated camp at the hill with clear take off to NA west coast (unobstructed view).

It will not be possible without your generous support and we are seeking donors to help us cover the remaining $150,000. Please visit our website for more information

Thank you,

73, 3YØK

**4L5A** · 12-13-2023, 03:10 PM

We're seeking operators who want to dedicate some of their time being a remote operator at 3Y0K. George AA7JV will design, test and supply us with 4 remote radios that will be accessible via Starlink to any operator worldwide.

We're seeking remote operators:
Who has DXpedition experience
FT8/CW operators
Team players
Dedicated
Preferably experience from remote operation Want to dedicate their time to remote operation and want to be part of the Bouvet team

You have to commit to operate like any other on island operator - but you don't have to travel for 50 days.

We're looking for remote operators all over the world in different time zones.

You want to experience how it is to operate from Bouvet, and have fun while running the Bouvet pileup!

There will be a smaller operator fee for remote operators.
Please contact us for more information - send your experience and motivation to kenneth@opskar.no

73, 3Y0K

**4L5A** · 12-14-2023, 09:43 PM

We’re building an organization of 25+ experienced DXpeditioners committing to and capable of executing some of the rarest and most difficult entities to activate. In the pipeline we have two exciting DXpeditions planned.

3YØK DXpedition to Bouvetøya January 2025 (#11 most wanted)
We will stay up to 21 days on the island
A team of 3 operators + support team of 4 persons + remote team
Budget $440,000 where 2/3rd of budget is already secured
$150,000 in support still needed
ALL PERMITS IN HAND

We have signed a contract with a vessel owner with a proven track record in Arctic and Antarctic waters. The experienced Captain has been supporting expedition teams since 1997 and before that has been managing his own fishing trawler for decades. We’re also teaming up with Peter as responsible for landing us safely on the beach, similarly to what he did this year. We are three persons with previous experience from landing at the island. Peter’s experience, skill and determination is again an important factor for success!

We have been through some 3YØJ lessons learned where everything have been scrutinized to improve the next attempt. This time we plan 3YØK based on our previous Bouvet experience! We will go only with smaller Honda gasoline generators, and it will be a lightweight DXpedition but still with some yagis and amplifiers. Weight is reduced from 7 ton to 2 ton. Peter will be leading the support team of total 4 younger persons, that comes in addition to the radio operators.

We will also engage a remote team where AA7JV George will be involved with tons of remote experience from his Pacific trips. George will design, test, and supply the remote radio system adapted to Bouvet environment and we’re grateful for his contribution. The remote radio system will be Pelican Cases with radio and power supply, where we will taking four remote radios and 5 radios with amplifiers for the local operators. In addition to the 7 members that will be on the island there will thus be additional remote members providing you with QSOs.

Operators: Dave WD5COV, Emil DL8JJ and Ken LA7GIA

Media Officer: James Gallo KB2FMH

**4L5A** · 01-02-2024, 02:15 PM

3Y0K News 2 January 2024
NEWS UPDATE 3#
To date we have secured $22,000 of the remaining $150,000 needed to reach the expedition budget. January and February are critical months to achieve the needed funding to make the expedition viable.

We will begin the purchase of equipment not committed as donations and continue to solicit sponsor agreements, but every dollar helps, Century Club Donors will receive a special Thank You regardless of being in the log or not.

Coming in late February / early March we will have the vessel inspection to verify its seaworthiness for the long journey from the Falklands to Bouvet. At this time, we must make the first $100,000 deposit presuming the boat passes professional inspection so funding is time critical, please help if you can, with whatever you can.

We will also be procuring the custom-made tents to survive the harsh environment found from our previous activation of Bouvet as well as proper antenna systems. As earlier posted, we have a commitment from RF-KITS for five of their newest 2KW solid state amplifiers. Thanks to them for such a generous offer!

Up to June we will complete the testing of the remote equipment on a South Pacific expedition by some of our friends in the DX community and begin training the chosen remote operators. Note that the remote will be FT modes - all SSB and CW will be from the island only.

All other equipment, radios and antennas will be tested under duress to ensure all work without failure on Bouvet.

The next steps are to optimize our landing plan relative to predicted weather conditions, put the finishing touch on our logistics plan and prepare all equipment and supplies for shipping to the Falklands.

By Late August or early September, the container will be packed and sent to meet us at the boat in January or February of 2025.

The good part of all this is that all equipment, hard supplies and logistical materials will be used for our Peter I expedition the following year, greatly reducing the costs for that adventure.

And remember, this is not Only an expedition for DX, it is also good for IOTA, POTA and LAFF so there will be four unique things to gain from just a single contact. Unfortunately Bouvet or Peter I are not in navigable shipping lanes so there are no Lighthouses to offer.

Further updates will be posted as things progress and milestones reached.

See you in the Pileups-

James, KB2FMH / Pilot and media officer

**4L5A** · 01-16-2024, 11:45 AM

3Y0K Bouvet Island News 16 January 2024
LANDING CONCEPT by LA7GIA, Ken Opskar
What is the current 3Y0K plan for landing the equipment? Learning from the 3Y0J mistakes is essential to achieve success.
Last time we planned based on little to no information about the landing conditions. This time we base our plan on our own real experience - three of us already did many dinghy landings, and we know the waters.
This time we go with a lightweight but still powerful setup with amplifiers and yagi. We have removed all the heavy equipment like e.g 250 kg winch system that wasn't suitable, heavy diesel generators, tools, 300 liter paraffin, excess water, guys stakes for tents, heavy antenna/mast system. There is no social tent, as we're there to work the pileup, and we go with some smaller personal Norwegian winter rated tents that will also be emergency tents during first landing. These tents will be sponsored by a Norwegian manufacturer! The team will make the tent selection next month.
We have split the 1900 kg equipment, fuel, food and supplies in 3 stages where stage 1 and 2 is 750 kg each and stage 3 is 400 kg, where last stage mainly consisting of spare parts and more fuel. Breaking the numbers further down we see that each of the seven persons that will stay on the island have to carry 100 kg for stage 1 and 2 and 50 kg for stage 3. The 100 kg equals 5 trips with 20 kg each trip!
Again, if you were a 3Y0K operator you would have to carry a little over 100 kg that would typically be 1x 23 kg barrel 1x Honda generator 22 kg 2x fuel cans 36 kg 1x antenna skibag 16 kg 1x misc bag/box 13 kg The barrels contain, electronics, radio, amplifiers, food, etc. There is absolutely no doubt that the experience we have makes it possible to detail out exactly what we need to carry. Again would you think it is feasible to carry this amount of equipment, food, fuel and supplies? On the return we would have significant less weight to carry down from 1900 kg to only 1200 kg!
With $30,000 in donations, we still need your support to pay the $100,000 vessel deposit that is approaching. If you want to see Bouvet activated please consider supporting us on

**4L5A** · 03-10-2024, 04:32 AM

I want to share some updated information about 3Y0K Bouvet

Our plans are firm and we have everything setup for the January 2025 trip where we plan to depart early January.

We have set all contracts we need which includes vessel contract but also a logistics and landing contract, and we’re the only group with a valid DXpedition license for that period. No other group has a valid license, as such there is only one team with an official plan and with all license and contracts in place.

However, the fundraising has been a bit bumpy and this has impacted the Bouvet DXpedition negatively. All major EU clubs have supported us with the amounts we have asked for, but some major US clubs are on the sideline. Due to this we have made the following decisions

* Bouvet vessel inspection and deposit have been postponed with two months until May 2024
* ALL purchases have been postponed until May.
* The remote RIB operation has been cancelled, there is no time to deal with that. The 7 man team will operate locally on the island with 6 radios and amplifiers and there will be NO remote radios.
* Budget has been cut to bare minimum of what we need and reduced to $400,000, we can only spend more money if we get sufficient support.

The team needs more support, and with the adjustments we still need *a minimum of $85,000 to make it to Bouvet*. We ask all individuals to continue to support our mission to activate Bouvet and Peter I Island. Our Peter I DXpedition plans are on track. We have a letter of commitment from the owner of the vessel and we are waiting for the landing permit to be issued by NPI. We will execute Peter I through an experienced expedition company with previous experience from Peter I Island. The expedition leader and the pilots have landed several times on Peter I. We expect to be in the position to sign the vessel contract shortly.

However, at this stage it is important to understand that Bouvet is the priority and should we have to postpone or cancel the Bouvet DXpedition due to lack of donations, this will also similarly impact Peter I. We are in a good position to execute Peter I as we have signed a sponsor agreement, and together with the 19 operators participation fee we have already secured 80% of the Peter I budget.

But, Peter I DXpedition will not take place unless we raise sufficient funds and activate Bouvet. We will use March and April to see how much of the $85,000 we can raise, and will make a decision in May depending on the funds raised.

73 Ken, LA7GIA

**4L5A** · 04-01-2024, 08:00 AM

We have made some further adjustments as Allan EA3HSO is replacing Dave WD5COV as a Bouvet operator. Dave has to withdraw due to family reasons.

We will update our website to reflect the latest changes with the removal of the remote radios, the current Bouvet operation is thus planned with only local radios. Our four men support team together with the four crew members will be assisting us setting up and running the camp. This will add operating time for the 3 operators that will seek to have 3-5 radios running simultaneously. We still plan for a 2nd QTH dedicated to run NA stations, this QTH will provide better take off and will contain two stations and bands 40-10m and this will also give us antenna separation to run in band. The main QTH is still a good QTH for 160/80 to North America. Our setup is simple but yet powerful enough to achieve a good result, similar to other trips we have conducted. With the sponsored lightweight 1500 W RF Kit amplifiers we will have enough power on all modes.

The team have self-funded $280,000 of the trip but we still need $75,000 to go to Bouvet to finance the entire $400,000+ budget. We’re seeking further donations to reduce the risk involved for the small 3 men team. A final decision will be made in late April depending on the funds we have raised at that time, and we’re still considering other options. If you want to see 3Y0K Bouvet activated for up to 21 days, please consider to make a donation in April.

LA7GIA, Ken

**4L5A** · 04-12-2024, 02:18 PM

3Y0K donations have been temporarily suspended.
Unfortunately, the financial risk for the small team is too high and we will spend the next few weeks in April to assess the situation and decide what to do. We will explore all possible options and will revert with more info once we have reached a conclusion. We will not collect donations in this period.

Announcement

3Y0K - Bouvet Island - Peter I Island

3Y0K - Bouvet Island - Peter I Island

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