NEWS UPDATE by 3Y0J team

1. We prepare for the first vessel deposit which is due next month.

​2. The logistic team which Gjermund LB5GI is leading are working on several important topics

a.) preparing a safe way to land the operators and the equipment on Bouvet. A flexible system that allows for various conditions will be engineered, constructed and soon tested at a beach in Norway with enough swell. We are working on several different systems to adapt to the conditions. One system consist of 2 zodiaks, buoys, anchor, capstan and rope to safely land the dinghy with and without personell/equipment. 

​Gjermund and Rune LA7THA are working with some experienced Norwegian professionals within the maritime industry in Norway to test this system live.

b.) prepare a winch system for lifting the equipment up from the beach to the cliff at Cape Fie. Again we prepare for a flexible system that can adapt to various shapes and height of the cliff, we will use both electrical and non-electrical systems, and also manual systems. The most bulky item is the diesel generators (75 kg). System to be engineered, constructed and tested in Norway soon. Effort is being lead by Rune.

c.) a system to assist us in bringing the equipment from the cliff up to the camp roughly 200 ft up at 70ft ASL being planned.

This will help us when bringing 4.5 metric tonn of equipment, fuel and water up to the camp.

​3. We are currently reviewing the antenna layout once again. InnovAntenna being our main sponsor. We’re working on a staged approach to allow setting up the camp also during very short weather windows with a setup that will be expanded with more stations and antennas until we reach the full setup. Adrian KO8SCA is currently preparing for testing the tribander yagi.

4. Erwann LB1QI is leading the ancillaries systems and is working on the tent selection. Heated or not heated tents?

5. We are working on the station setup, but so far we have not selected the exact setup – we have several options on the table when it comes to radio and amplifiers.

6. Safety has a high attention in the project, and we will do what we can to avoid accidents and injuries. Bill KO7SS is taking the lead on Safety. Bill is dedicated to oversee all planning and operations wrt safety. We will run risk workshops, discuss safety, safety procedures, mitigate risk, construct emergency shelter, prepare evacuation plan of personell, evacuation of injured operator from camp to vessel etc

In a while we will start with zoom meetings – there you can follow our journey to Bouvet. You can get the latest news, discuss with us topics, get feedback, interact with operators, Q&A and more

Check out our website for this feature – you can buy access for unlimited access to the meetings – and at the same time help us in fundraising.

Press Release #5 from 3Y0J team

3Y0J DXpedition to Bouvet Island, November 2022

We are happy to announce that Northern California DX Foundation has voted to grant $100,000 to the upcoming 3Y0J DXpedition to Bouvet. This is an all-time high donation and matches the previous donation given to Bouvet projects. The 3Y0J team is very grateful and honored in the trust NCDXF has shown by supporting our project.

The DXpedition will be carried out by “Amateur Radio DXpeditions”, a Norwegian non-profit organization created for the purpose of conducting DXpeditions. With an overall budget of $650,000 this will be the most expensive DXpedition ever. With the NCDXF donation we hope to succeed in the fundraising as our first payment milestone for the vessel contract is approaching. By end October we will pay 30% of the vessel contract, and by that time we must have regained confidence that we can succeed financially. We critically need upfront donations to be able to make it. While we have a solid plan, a “young and strong team”, a dedicated crew and vessel Marama – we need your upfront support to go there and make 120,000 QSOs from Cape Fie at Bouvet.

3Y0J WEBSITE / 3Y0J FACEBOOK PAGE

3Y0J 2022 team consists of:

Adrian KO8SCA, Axel DL6KVA, Bill KO7SS, Dima RA9USU, Erwann LB1QI, Gjermund LB5GI, Ken LA7GIA, Laci HA0NAR, Mike AB5EB, Rune LA7THA, Sandro VE7NY. The twelfth operator will be determined later, there is a plan for that. Stay tuned!

The 3Y0J team are delighted to inform about our continued effort to activate Bouvet island. After cancellation of the previous attempt due to the ill-fated sale of the vessel Braveheart we decided to continue the effort and search for a suitable and affordable vessel.

Today we announce that we have signed a contract with an expedition vessel with a proven track record and experienced polar crew that will take us to Bouvet in November 2022. The vessel is MARAMA and is fully booked for the 2021/2022 season. The cost is significantly reduced compared to our previous Braveheart charter. With the signing of the vessel contract we will start fundraising immediately. On this journey to Bouvet we have assembled a team of 12 operators and we plan to spend 20 days around Bouvet. The QTH at Bouvetøya will be Cape Fie at the South East part of the island, the only feasible part where a DXpedition can safely setup the camp on rocky ground, we will not set camp on the glacier. We will have a wide area of 150 x 800 ft to setup the camp and the antenna farm.

Back in April 2020 we started our effort to activate Bouvetoya – a Norwegian DXCC in South Atlantic Ocean and also known as the world’s most remote island. In close co-operation with NPI we received the needed permits in September 2020 to activate Bouvetoya, which also included a helicopter permit. We also together with NPI researched and was provided photos that showed a beach landing was possible. In November 2020 we were approached by Intrepid and we joined our efforts. After the sale of Braveheart in June we informed Intrepid that we would continue our effort to activate Bouvetoya and search for a suitable and affordable vessel. Last week we were ready to launch the vessel news to the team members. As we sent out this information it was leaked to Intrepid group which caused Intrepid in a hurry to send out a press release the following day that they would go to Bouvet. The act of the team member came as a big surprise to us, the same did the announcement from Intrepid as they were informed we would continue the project.

As of today we still hold the only valid amateur radio team license specifically issued for the purpose of activating Bouvet (3Y0J). With the NPI permits, the license, the signed vessel contract and a new expedition vessel we’re ready to move forward. The team of 12 operators will fund much of the budget but we also need the global DX Community to support our mission and help us make this important activation of the #2 most wanted DXCC entity. It is only through this kind of support that we can achieve our mission of making 120,000 contacts or more from Bouvet in November 2022. Without support there will be no activation.

In closing, we especially wish to thank our many Foundations, Clubs and Individual donors. Without this kind of support, operations to the world’s rarest entities would not be possible.

You can soon follow our plans from our website 3Y0J.NO (please note change of website to .no ) and the 3Y0J Facebook group.

Thank you,

Ken Opskar LA7GIA, Co-Leader
Rune Oye LA7THA, Co-Leader
Erwann Merrien LB1QI, Co-Leader