Kayaking /MM on Hermit Lake
June 2015

I went kayaking on Hermit Lake this afternoon. I brought the little
D-Star handie-talkie and worked England, California, Florida, Ohio
and Prince Edward Island.



I brought the Raspberry Pi and the DVAP setup in a Pelican box
with a MiFi card. I put the box in the front of the kayak with
the handie talkie between my legs. I set the Raspberry Pi
and DVAP to reflector 30C and left the shore.




I called "W1PID/MM on Hermit Lake in New Hampshire." Right away
Larry KB8GUI near Dayton answered. He was pretty amazed to work a kayak.
He kept saying it was a first for him. I told him it was 78F and beautiful out on
the lake. As soon as we signed, my old friend Ron VE1AIC in Prince Edward Island
called. I used to live on the Island and worked with Ron for 10 years at Canadian
Broadcasting Corp. What a thrill to say hello again.

I came around a large island in the lake and headed toward a floating peat island. The shore
was dotted with wild irises.



Next I called Rick G1ZGZ in England. "That's novel," he said when he found out I was in a kayak.
I saw a large swirl in front of the boat and looked down. A giant snapping turtle was swimming
directly under the kayak. He was at least a foot and a half across.

Next on the list, I chatted with Chris in Tampa. He was originally from New England and was glad
to hear about the 78F temperatures here. His air conditioning had gone on the fritz in 90 degree Florida
humidity.  As I circled the peat islands a large blue heron took off and flew about 50 feet in front of
the bow. It was magnificent. I headed back to shore.



Before landing I received one last call... this time from K6SMO, Paul in California.
He'd heard me talking and was curious about the maritime mobile.

D-Star is perfect for world-wide communication from the kayak.
It's usually perfectly clear, it's compact, and plenty of fun.