The Crew from the MDXA 1999 Beaver Island DXpedition
L To R.."Shoeless Jim Cordes KI8JD" Jim likes to run barefoot!...Tim KC8BZE..Jerry W8MSK..Dave WD8DJB..Gale N8GS..Brian W8BRI..
Last but Not Least-"Chuck -"I ate too much again" - LeMarbre W8VOM"
This was a great dxpedition! Many Hams were able to "Work The Beaver" due to the efforts of our Crew!
Tim KC8BZE and Dave WD8DJB *standing* are hard at work on Beaver Island.Dave was on the Island for the entire week,he even kept the signal on the air after most of us had returned home.
Our Cabin,we got a kick out of the name of this cabin,"Mama Beaver". We had 7 crew members in this rustic but comfortable cabin. When I went to use the Head,the sign above it read.."In This Land Of Fun And Sun,Never Flush For Number One".
A View Of The Ferry Departing From Beaver Island
Here Tim,KC8BZE is pounding the brass,Tim kept us very active on CW.
Brian W8BRI,was very active on this DXpedition and worked well into the night!
Chuck W8VOM and Jim KI8JD are shown here hard at work. Chuck handled Promo on the Link repeater and there were many New Hams on the repeater that were interested in our dxpedition. Jim provided Promo on HF and had a good roll going with his great Travel Guide of Beaver Island! Jim also made many contacts on HF and he was on the Island for most of the week.
Here is the Carolina Windom,we also had a Triband Beam,6 Meter Beam and Ringo Ranger.
The Great Ship Vomit Comet...As you can see,this is a large craft! The Voyage to Beaver Island was Incredible!!! The voyage took about 1 1/2 hours in 6 to 8 foot waves. Beaver Island is 26 miles out into Lake Michigan,a far cry from the "tame ride" to Mackinac Island. The seas were so rough the ships crew took shelter in the Head! I kid you not when I say people were doing cartwheels down the isles. I saw a grown man cry and his wife comforting him. I would say at least 70% were very sick. They say that the Great Lakes can be worse than the ocean,I dont know about that but it was rough...very rough!
There are many rewards to activating an Island. Above is a "Sun Rise" on Beaver Island. I know,I know..many of you say this is a Sun set but you are wrong! This photo was taken in the early AM by Dave WD8DJB and I will take his word for it.
