V62P - V62S - Polap Atoll - Satawal Atoll

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V62P from Polap Atoll, IOTA OC - 155 and V62S from Satawal Atoll, IOTA OC - 299 News:
All my flights went according to schedule. On my way, I was Dave's (AH6HY) guest in Honolulu for the night of Oct 26. We spent a very nice evening together, chatting about amateur radio and IOTA, and coming to know each other better. I am very grateful to him for all his support.

I arrived in Weno yesterday afternoon just before 4 pm, and all my luggage made it as well. My contact picked me up at the airport and we went to purchase some supplies for my anticipated voyage. Following this, we met with some of the local leaders who know the Chief of Pulap and were interested to find out more about my project and the benefits for the local community there. It is 8:30 am now when I'm posting this message from the hotel where I'll stay at least one more night.

I am scheduled to meet again with the local leaders on Monday morning. Their support is absolutely necessary, and I hope to get it. The boat that is supposed to take me to Pulap will arrive in Weno tonight. It will have to be refueled Monday, and I'm not convinced that it will sail out the very same day. Meanwhile, there shouldn't be any problem to purchase on Monday everything else I need and want to take with me for the voyage. However, we'll have to work hard getting the generator.

My contact told me that since captain Callistus was from Satawal, he knew very well their Chief and they had a close relationship. Consequently, he didn't inform the Chief of my project in advance, because he thought that it was unnecessary. Now that the captain is out of the picture, my contact suggested to me that I should just show up. I don't think that this is a good idea, and so I'm working to obtain the Chief's permission prior to arriving on the island.

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V62P Polap Atoll V62S from Satawal Atoll News 30 October 2023.
My contact and I decided that he will approach the local leaders this afternoon all by himself, and if the discussion is fruitful than he will come to pick me up so that I can meet them subsequently. However, if his discussion with them is not fruitful, then I will have to change my destination from Pulap to Puluwat, where my contact knows people in the community. My operation will be the third one from OC-155. The first activity was from Puluwat by DF6SL/KC6 in Feb 1979, and the second from Pulap by V6O (Lanny, W5BOS), in Oct 2004.

Regarding Satawal, it seems that there won't be a problem for the locals to receive me, but I must negotiate tomorrow with the boat operators the length of my stay. I told them numerous times that I need to be there for a minimum of 5 days, and that I can stay longer if convenient for them, up to 10-12 days. Despite of what we have already agreed upon prior to me coming down here, it is apparent that they want to wait for me there rather than come back to pick me up at a later date. This is why we need to have another, hopefully "final" negotiation tomorrow...

I picked up a 2kW generator, a 30m long power extension cord, and a power bar. The boat doesn't allow me to transport the gas in plastic canisters. Instead, it will provide me with a large metal barrel that will hold the quantity I need. Regarding the intended gifts for the locals, I learned that medical supplies are provided free by the state government to local communities, but are extremely expensive when purchased directly. Consequently, I was advised to focus on purchasing school supplies instead, since this will be more beneficial for the locals given what I can get for the money spent.
V62P V62S.

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V62P V62S News:
2 Nov 2023 (12 UTC or 10:30 pm)

The plan was for Pat and her group to go through all calculations and provide me with the travel options this evening at 7:30 pm. However, I was told that they were still working on their transportation schedule, aiming to help me as much as possible – working to find people interested to travel to at least one of these islands.

Meanwhile, I learned that they announced today that are organizing transportation to three of the western Chuuk islands which are part of the IOTA group OC-155. I’m only guessing that their plan may be to use this opportunity in order to take me to Satawal after their drop off the rest of the passengers. I will definitely be the only passenger going to Weno. However, this is to be confirmed tomorrow.

I was also given the green light to purchase different supplies that I’ll need to take with me on the islands. Despite the fact that I don’t have yet a firm trip schedule, I was encouraged by this and spent a few hours shopping around. I also got oil for the generator, and will put it tomorrow.

1 Nov 2023 (13 UTC or 11 pm)

NFC scheduled a working dinner with me at 6:30 pm. Pat, Cora, captain Mariano, and Mark – their manager here in Chuuk, were all present. We had a very nice discussion, in which I summarized the scope of my project, indicating the logistical aspects that I need them to provide me with.

Pat indicated that they want to honour this project, which was initiated with her predecessor (Peter Sitan), and which was confirmed by late captain Callistus. The cost of transportation for a complete charter is $40k. We worked the past months on the premise that they will be able to do it for $20k. However, in order for this to happen, there would have to be a combination of charter service with regular service, on different legs of the voyage. The regular service can obviously be done with there is a sufficient group of people interest to travel to the islands. It is like a puzzle in which several pieces must come together nicely.

One such groups that hoped that will come on board to the western Chuuk islands is most comprised of people from the public utility company, working to provide solar power on these islands. Unfortunately, they cannot take the trip prior to November 15, and plan to stay on various islands up to 12 days, which creates a time problem for me.

This being said, they will work on this tomorrow, and will provide me with the available options. The good news is that captain Mariano is originally from Satawal, and so he can contact the Chief in advance and secure his permission for me to go there. We also discussed the fact that the Deputy Mayor of Puluwat, Hernit Ikea, has been receptive to my request and offered to talk to their Chief and find someone to host me while on their islands. While the details are still to be worked out, everyone is on the same page in that my destinations are Puluwat (OC-155) and Satawal (OC-299).

31 Oct 2023 (12 UTC or 10 pm)

The municipality boat is busy over the next couple of weeks providing health / hospital services for all the communities in the large Chuuk lagoon. After this, it will leave on a contract to Mortlok islands, so it won't be able to assist me in any way during a convenient timeframe.

Meanwhile, the boat that I am supposed to travel on, which is named North Star, has finally returned to Weno today. It transported the remains of captain Callistus to his native island, in the state of Yap. It didn’t make any stop on the way.

The company operating this boat is NFC. Pat - their CEO, and Cora - their accountant, arrived this evening from Pohnpei in order to carry out some interviews for job positions, as well as other business matters. They will be very busy tomorrow, but I hope that they will be able to make time to meet with me and discuss the existing options.

The President of FSM - originally from Chuuk, his wife, and other dignitaries arrived from Pohnpei with the same plane with which Pat and Cora came. They had dinner at the restaurant of the hotel I am lodged in, with numerous guests. Lots of security measures at the hotel.

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V62P V62S News 3 November 2023.
NFC guys worked tirelessly in order to be able to accommodate this project. Today is a national holiday, as the people here celebrate the Independence Day of Micronesia. However, their staff in Weno is still in the office for another hour or two as they are taking bookings for a trip to the western islands, required only to assist me. I am very grateful for their understanding and consideration. Here is what has been discussed and how my scheduled looks:

8 Nov - Depart Weno on North Star, direction western islands of Chuuk. The boat will carry passengers and cargo.

9-10 or 11 Nov - North Star will stop at as many islands in that group as needed, depending on the final list of passengers and cargo. All these islands belong to OC-155. At each island, passengers and cargo must be transported to the atoll by motor canoe, since there is no harbor to dock to. Once all drop offs are done, the boat will head to Satawal. This portion will a charter for me only, as they have no other passenger or cargo for that destination.

11 or 12 Nov - Arrival in Satawal. I will disembark and the boat will return to Weno.

16-17 Nov - The boat will travel again from Weno to the western islands with a crew belonging to the state utility company, who has work to do on three of those islands.

19 or 20 Nov - The boat will pick me up from Satawal and take me to Puluwat.

24 Nov - Depart Puluwat.

25 Nov - Arrive in Weno and fly out the next day.

Mark, who is the Assistant Manager here in Weno, will meet with the Chuuk utility company on Monday morning, in order to discuss with them the possibility of better accommodating their project and mine. Their field team left yesterday for the Mortlok islands, with another boat, where they arrived today. Once they finish their work. they will be return to Weno, and after a short break, will head out with North Star to the western islands.

It appears that in order to accommodate the second part of my project, the utility company crew must hang in there on the western islands for a few extra days. The plan is that following Mark's discussion with the head of their project on Monday, he will bring me into the picture. If they agree to help me out, I am prepared to compensate their crew for their extra time. Additionally, I will ask them to look into possibly leaving a bit earlier for the western islands.

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V62P V62S News 8 November 2023
North Star is scheduled to depart at 5 pm. I visited it yesterday and beside captain Mariano there will be 7 crew members. The boat is about 30-40 m long, I will find out more about its specs from the captain once we leave. It is very basic for passengers, in that it has two fully covered large areas in the back, one at the deck level and one below. This is where the passengers will sleep, on hardwood floors, but have some chairs in front where they can sit down during the voyage. Passengers are supposed to bring something to sleep on, like a mat (locals used carpets made of palm-leaves), as well as a pillow and a blanket. Worth noting, both areas have air conditioning, but also some small windows which can be open if needed. It is very warm here and humid, but it will be cool on the ocean, particularly consider that the air conditioning will be running. There is also an open area

Mark said that he will lend me a pillow and a blanket, but we still need to find some sort of a mat. I looked for one yesterday, in the stores, but without success. I’ll try again today. think that with something like a palm leaf carpet I’ll pretty much laying on hardwood floors, not very good. Passengers are supposed to bring their own meals, prepared at home, but I will eat with the captain and his crew, which will be doing some cooking. The boat cannot dock at any island, since there are no entries large enough for it. Instead, the locals need to come to the boat with motor canoes and carry everything to the shore.

I am not allowed to bring gas canisters on board. The gas will be transported in a large 200 L metal drum, and I’ll take 100 L with me. When we arrive at my destination, the locals will bring empty drums and siphon the gas in them with a pump. I was told that it is routine for them, so… will see how it goes. It rained yesterday from 6:30 am to 6:30 pm, 12 hours non stop. It was mostly pouring, and so I hadn’t been able to transport anything to the boat yet, since I didn’t want everything to get soaked and stored on the boat like that. I purchased some heavy duty plastic bags to protect each suitcase and each box I have for the locals.

Once I depart Weno, I was clearly told that I won’t have internet anywhere, on any island. The only communication between Weno and the islands is via SAT phone at the admin office. I am not fully convinced that this is correct, but I have been warned, and so I am prepared for it. While on the boat, the captain has HF communication with Weno and SAT phone as well, for emergency.

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V62P V62S News 9 November 2023.
Regretfully, we didn’t leave last evening as originally scheduled. Instead, the captain decided to postpone the departure for one day in order to give time to a low pressure front moving slowing towards the western islands of Chuuk, exactly in the direction we will be heading, to advance. It has been raining here for two full days, and he was concerned that the ocean will be a bit too too stormy. After sailing to Bouvet, it was difficult to accept his verdict, but… it’s a different boat, different crew, different conditions all together, and ultimately he is in command.

There are passengers and cargo that need to be dropped at 5 islands before he will head straight to Satawal. Arrival at each island must be done during daytime, in order to be able to download there everything needed. This is why the voyage will take quite a while. He told me that, to be on the safe side, I should count on arriving to Satawal on Nov 14. I told him that this is far too late for me and asked him to do some “miracle” to reach that island sooner. He promised that he will try his best to arrive by Nov 13, but your guess is just as good as mine.

The plan is to stay on Satawal for 6 full days. I will overnight at the house of the Chief’s son, whom the captain told me that he knows very well. Then, 4 full days on Puluwat. Fingers crossed!

I mentioned in an earlier post the two large rooms with hardwood floors that passengers will sleep on. Well, I slept last night on the boat, but I got a bunk! That not only offers more privacy, but I manage to make it pretty comfortable. The crew gave me a carpet made of woven palm leaves, which I folded in three. On top of it I put a bed sheet, folded in four, which I borrowed from the hotel along with a pillow. Finally, on top of that I put a nice blanket, folded in two, borrowed from Mark. This is a 90 ft power boat and the noise of the diesel engines, even running idle, is pretty loud, but I was able to sleep. The bunk is in a passing through cabin, which does have an air conditioning unit. The unit functions, but there is no freon in it, which is why it actually operates as a fan, hi.

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V62S from Satawal Atoll on 21040 now.

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V62S from Satawal Atoll on 14040 now.

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V62S from Satawal Atoll on 24940 now.

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V62S Satawall Atoll News 18 November 2023
After four full days of operation, the log counts 4000 QSOs, fairly equally shared between SSB and CW. My operating times were very accurately chosen, most definitely not erratic, which is how they were recently described on the IOTA Forum. My eating, rest and sleep schedule was entirely based on the propagation forecast, as I tried my best to be active during all potential openings to Europe and North America on 12, 15, 17, and 20 m that didn’t overlap - in which case I had to decide on one or another band and I saw fit, after tests. Sometimes, the propagation ended up being great, other times just fair, and I also had my share of lows too.

The vertical antenna is placed right on the beach and the equipment is a small, nearby hut, used by the local men to congregate each evening and drink tuba, which is fermented coconut water. The Chief allowed me to settle there, which is why I also sleep there at night, on one of the benches. The locals, however, continue to assemble there for hours, and they usually produce a fairly high level of noise. However, that is nothing compared to the systematic noise generated by pileup chasers, who don’t care what the operator does, and instead just keep transmitting their callsigns endlessly. They shold know better, but it has become part of the hobby, hi. FYI, I never operated with less than 300 W. On a positive note, the Japanese hams have been very cooperative and allowed to me to focus on Europe and/or North America when I requested so. In return, I put the time and gave them a chance on the respective bands in due course.

The island has a solar power system, but the battery packs are ancient and don’t hold. As such, it can only be used during daylight, on sunny days, starting almost a couple of hours after sunrise and until at least one hour before sunset. However, after the power unexpectedly dropped on my a couple of times, I decided to run exclusively on the generator in order to avoid potential equipment failure. There is a lot more to say, but I’m going to leave it for some other time.

The boat arrangement has obviously changed since I was dropped off (I'm sure that you didn't miss the sarcasm). According to the "latest", I will be picked up on Wed Nov 22 my time, and so I will likely operate until 23:30 UTC on Nov 21. Then, I will be taken to Puluwat, where I will only be allowed to remain for a maximum of 3 full. I am very upset by this significant schedule change, primarily because after I will be in Puluwat for 3 days, I will have to stay on the boat as it goes to a few other islands. This will make me return to Weno on... Dec 2! I’m trying to address a number os issues starting with how can I obtain a visa for the additional days, since my last day to be in FSM had to be Nov 26. Once this issue can be addressed, I will have to re-book the plane tickets, but before I do that I also need to confirm with the boat operators the very exact time I will arrive in Weno - because it has significantly changed in less than a week.

Meanwhile, I cntinue to argue with the boat operators for more time on Puluwat, as well as to remain there while they are doing the charter for the utility company crew. However, I don’t know if there is any chance for them to accept my poposal. If they leave me on Puluwat, they will have to return there from some considerable distance away in order to pick me up before finaly returning to Weno. Instead, they want a compromise, which requires the utility corporation team to stay with me on Puluwat for three days, and then me to join them as they continue their progress to Weno, never needing to return before arriving there.

Since I will be operating from Satawal for a total of 8 days, I hope that everyone interested in OC-299, as well as those who took advantage of this operation to collect new bands by contacting V62S, will have been able to do it. Consequently, I would very much like to ask all chasers who already have OC-155 confirmed to consider refraining from contacting V62P in order to give those who still need it a chance at logging it. Additionally, I would also like to ask those who do need OC-155 to refrain from making multiple contacts. Note that I am not going to reinforce this in any way. My experience with V62S indicates that I must change bands and modes in order to give the most of you a chance at contacting OC-155. This is why I’m leaving this entirely at the chasers' discretion. I will try all possible openings, hopefully one will work for you. Thank you, in advance, for your kind understanding and consideration.