Bouvet Island 3YØZ and DX Engineering Look Toward the Future

With the 3YØZ Bouvet Island DXpedition crew safely home, the Hams at DX Engineering wish to express our gratitude for their efforts and to reaffirm our support of their continued pursuit of activating this most challenging of DXCC entities.

Looking back on the 31-day voyage, team co-leader Bob Allphin, K4UEE, wrote on March 4:

We have been to Bouvet Island, and as a result, we have a better appreciation for the challenges we face. It is a dark, dismal and dangerous place. Yet, when the sun shines, it is magnificent.

The most difficult thing to reflect upon is the final day offshore, when we saw the island, crystal clear in calm winds, less than a mile away. The conditions were perfect for our first reconnaissance flight and possible landing of men and camp infrastructure. But, during the violent night before, the Captain had made the decision to abort. In retrospect, his call was clairvoyant. The mechanical, propulsion failure on the ship that occurred would have brought disaster, if it resulted in some of our men being stranded ashore.

Looking ahead, the team is undertaking the difficult task of finding a suitable vessel and hopes to return to Bouvet Island in the next year or two.

When that time comes, the 3YØZ team and DXers around the world can count on DX Engineering to provide assistance as needed. Rest assured that DX Engineering’s custom designed and fabricated 90-foot top-loaded 160M vertical antenna and antenna support structures will once again be ready to make the return trip.