Story 26DX/CU006 Story from 26DX/CU006 activity. 26DX/CU006. Sheep Island (EU005) Once again I was happy to take up the challenge of being active during the “Original Islands Festival”. I was hoping to activate 2 Islands during the weekend; however I didn’t have it all my own way. Sheep Island was first up and after some preparation work dropping batteries and antenna gear on the island earlier in the week; I took the gamble to go early on Saturday morning on foot. I took the rest of my gear with me on a small trolley, which was quite a task in the soft mud. Once on the island I put the antenna up and got the radio hooked up. The band was pretty quiet and the sun was beating down. I found Peter 161OD/O120 who gave me a good radio report, so we were set to go. A steady flow of contacts, without a major pile up was fine with me. Although the conditions were very qsb and sporadic, the log was looking like the trip was worthwhile. In fact, the log was looking very similar to my other logs from IOTAs. The Hunters were out in force. I did go through spells of no activity and took the time for Tea and food, and also getting some photos for proofs. I also took a walk around the Island. The Island closest to me was also on air by 26AT/CU004. So we chatted locally while waiting for conditions to improve. With or without propagation, I was stuck on the Island until at least 18.00 local, as I needed low tide to get off again. At around 17.00 local, I started to have problems with my radio/Batteries. I was receiving some poor reports about my audio and my radio kept shutting down and then coming back on. I checked all connections but could not find the problem. The last entry in the log was 30DX401 and then the radio went dead. I could not find the problem so decided to break camp and dismantle the station. I left the Batteries and the antenna mast on the Island with the idea of returning another day to pick them up. I had over 100 stations in the log and claimed the activation was a success. Unfortunately, the second island did not get activated because of the radio problems and the antenna mast was still on CU006. I can tell you though that I did get quite badly burned by the sun and also had mild sunstroke. Warm Sun and cooling breeze are not a good mix for being in the open on an Island. Lesson Learned. Thanks to all involved in the weekend, Hunters, Hunted, Managers, web geeks etc: De Trevor 26DX015 return