SY Hullu Poro

Following the Intermar e.V. morning net yesterday, Uwe/DF5AM, Lothar/EA8DES and myself agreed for a test connection from Gran Canaria to Lanzarote. Silvia/DM1SIL also joined  from the south of Fuerteventura.

I did run the calculation with VOACAP and a snapshot of the results can be seen in the picture below. It basically provides you with the best frequency to be used at a given date/time for the distance you want to cover. We agreed to try 7195kHz as we had a high probability that this should work.

It worked in one direction. Both Silvia and Uwe could hear me very well with a strong signal but vice versa was just noise and I could not hear anything.

This result is not a surprise as experience shows that receiving while at berth in a crowded  marina is hard. There are too many sailing masts absorbing the incoming signal. We agreed to run another test at the time we are out on the ocean again.

As a HAM radio operator on High Frequencies (HF = 3 – 30MHz) you depend on these external factors and the challenge is to “cooperate” with the propagation conditions of electromagnetic waves influenced by many factors. 

Fair winds…

?!?…Horn, Fog Horn, Signal Horn, Calima Horn…?!?

Some of our boats have a horn installed, which we mainly use under foggy conditions. On my passage from Póvoa de Varzim to Porto I had the fog horn in automatic operation all time as there was thick fog along the Portuguese coastline on that day. Visibility was min 50m and max 300m and my eyes became tired quickly during hours of sharp lookout. My main concern at that  time was not other big ships but the numerous fishing buoys in that area and small fishing vessels without AIS and radar.

Yesterday I heard the sound of some horns here in the marina of Las Palmas. They came form some big ships outside the port, where they lie on the roads or enter/leave the harbour.

The Southeast winds have arrived as projected and mentioned earlier. They will peak in the night from Sunday to Monday at around 30 plus knots. In conjunction with these winds the weather forecasts also issued a Calima warning bringing sand and dust from Africa to the Canary Islands. My naive assumption that Calima will stop at Lanzarote and Fuerteventura made some people laugh. Looking at the photos above it all becomes clear:

1. Calima is spreading much further than I anticipated.
2. Visibility at sea is down to couple of miles.
3. Calima horns are on.
4. Air quality is very poor.
5. No biking during these days. Lazy sugar days! 🤪
6. Boat & rigg washing after Calima gets on the To Do List.
7. Beautiful photos with a Calima patina shared within the Intermar e.V. community, which always cares for any kind of weather.
8. Et cetera.

As per the weather forecast the worst Calima shall be over although the peak winds are still expected. This is good news and hopefully becomes true.

Let’s capture the moment in line with our Mission: “The mission will focus on going with the wind while enjoying time and its moments over and over again in constantly changing nature. The moment – and not the journey – will be the reward.”

Fair winds…