[POSTPONED] –
We received a document from the Mexican Navy, in which they tell us that we did not correctly comply with the application procedure for access to the island. Unfortunately, this omission caused the Naval Sector of Islas Marías to cancel our access or rather that he did not give his endorsement to carry out the radio amateur activity. For this reason, the DXpedition to Islas Marias (Puerto Balleto) will be rescheduled for when the hurricane season ends, which begins in May and ends in October. We are sorry to give you this news; you and we are left with a bad taste in our mouths for this terrible mistake that we hope not to make in the future. In our favor I will say that it is complex to know which is the first door to knock on. Officially XF1I, it is postponed.
[APRIL 16] – A team consisting XE1YL, XE1AY, XE2JT and XE1SY plan activity (from April 20) as XF1I from Isla María Madre Puerto Balleto NA-244P – a never before activated IOTA group. Translated from QRZ.com is the following:
Since August 2018, the XF1I team has been working with the federal permit system in search of an opportunity to operate from the Marias Islands, something that was rejected twice. Luck helped us and in 2019 a decree was made that extinguished the Islas Marías prison that worked from 1905 to 2019 and became a national park, as a learning and environmental education center
The COVID-19 pandemic affected all the conversion processes from Penitentiary to National Park and it was not until 2022 that all the ideas of Islas Marías were landed by the Federal government. Thus, in June 2022 we began the procedures to obtain permits to operate as radio amateurs from Maria Madre Island, in the Puerto Balleto area.
Today we have completed all the necessary procedures. CONANP permits. Permit in Islas Marias. SEMAR permits. Callsign of XF1I. Marine transportation.
The most complicated thing was the permit to stay for more than 3 days on the Island, since the tourist packages are 3 days and 2 nights.
