Savannah – I’m at home in Savannah for a few days and Sunday ended up being laundry day. The plan of the day was to enjoy the day’s IMSA racing live for a change instead of catching up via YouTube or the DVR a few days later, but I had some time between finishing laundry and the races starting… what was I to do? I found a nice shady spot at a local park and fired up the mobile station. All I heard on 40 Meters (& MHz) were nets and 20 Meters (14 MHz) had terrible QSB (fading), but I found two lighthouse stations and a museum ship station to put in the log. I may not have logged a bunch of stations, but I had three good QSOs that combined my love of Amateur Radio and History.
- 14.267 – KC2ATK – John at East Point Lighthouse (USA 262) in East Point, NJ
- 14.345 – N1QLL – Jerry at Nash Island Lighthouse (USA 527) and Petit Manan Lighthouse (USA 597) in Maine
- 14.283 – WA3BAT – Jerry at the USS Olympia (C-6) in Philadelphia, PA
I love logging historic ships like the USS Olympia and today was the second time I’ve had the honor of logging her. She’s truly a historic ship – she was Dewey’s flagship at the Battle of Manila Bay and afterward served in the Caribbean, Atlantic, and the Mediterranean. She served as a training ship at the Naval Academy and as a barracks ship in Charleston, SC before being recommissioned for service in World War I. She is now the oldest steel USN warship afloat and is the only remaining USN vessel from the Spanish American War. The Independence Seaport Museum is now conducting fundraising to dry dock and repair her hull; I hope they succeed because she deserves to be saved and continue serving as a reminder of one of the forgotten periods of our history.
