[Nodxa] KH8SI Swains Island

[John Papay]

All,

I returned home this morning from an experience of a lifetime,
a dxpedition to a brand new country in a very remote part of the
world.  Swains was an island that not many will ever set foot on.
I was honored to be part of the team that went there and put a
brand new one on the air.

The dxpedition was made possible by Kan JA1BK.  He found this
country and he led the campaign to have the dxcc rules changed
back to what they were so that Swains would count.  He was
relentless is this pursuit.

The dxpedition was nearly scrapped when our transportation seemed
as if it were beyond grasp.  We were considering leaving Pago Pago
to return another day.  But at the last minute a solution was found
that would get us to the island for about four days.  We went up on
a boat from the Tolelau's and came back on the MV Cili out of Pago Pago.

The culture in the Pacific Islands is quite different than it is here
in the States.  Things are simple and there is not much western influence.
They just got a McDonald's on Pago Pago and there is a Pizza Hut and KFC.
Checkers was just opened.  But other than that, there is no trace of what
we have here.  Shops and restaurants are local rather than chains.
But American Samoans are very patriotic.  They can't understand why we
have Mexican Americans or African Americans.  They are American Samoan's,
not Samoan Americans!  Many of their sons and daughters join the military.
There are churches everywhere.  It is a simple life and family is the
focus of life there.

The weather on Swains was very hot and humid and we had some equipment and 
computer
trouble.  CW was slow because the keyer would not ramp up on the speed.

I'll be able to tell more at the meeting.  Hope to see you all there.
Congratulations to those who made a qso!  I also made a lot of qso's from
Larry Gandy's (AH8LG) qth .  There was lots of mail waiting for kh8/k8yse!

John k8yse

John Papay
john at papays.com