The "Braveheart" is an ex Japanese research vessel of around 134' long with a high bow for breaking into heavy seas. It is capable of a 9000 km journey at a speed of just under 10 knots and it is well appointed with all the latest navigation and satellite equipment. Life on board was fascinating. The ship was designed for Japanese sailors and Murray, who is well over 6' tall had to duck as he navigated down the companionways The bunks down below were compact and comfortable. Going below to sleep was hazardous if the ship was pounding into heavy seas or if anyone else came toward you in the tight companionway. There was a shower on board in a compartment in the aft deck. Hard to use in rough weather. Very exciting if you drop the soap. The ship's galley is small but Nigel, the ship's owner was an excellent cook. Nobody was allowed in his kitchen. "If I catch one of you teddy bears in my kitchen, there'll be hell to pay" he roared. Meal times were usually split into two shifts so that ZL9CI could stay on the air with half the team.

 The end of the day, just after midnight was the time for "What's happening?" and "How was 15M tonight?" and "Did you hear that amazing pileup on 40M?" The banter lasted about an hour and then the guys slowly disappeared down below for sleep. The computer operations room was in the bow next to the anchor locker where we had a PACTOR terminal driving a small transceiver into a 40M dipole up in the rigging. Another laptop was used for writing E-mails. Sleep only lasted five or six hours until one of the ship's crew woke up the morning shift for breakfast. Breakfast was usually quiet. Most of the team needed another ten hours sleep. But the pileups were just a fast Zodiac trip away in the dark to the island. We always knew what was in store for us.

 The ship was a happy one with Nigel (The ship owner), Tim(Captain), Bruce (First mate), Peter (Engineer), Matt (Nigel's Son) and John (Deck hand) looking after the ship, helping us with anything we needed and running us back and forth to the Island. Believe it or not, they did our washing with the ship's automatic washer and dryer. The aft deck was big enough assemble a 15M yagi on and it had a BBQ table if you wanted to sit out there for a meal. It wasn't used a lot in Campbell Island's 6C degree weather!

From time to time, it was suggested that we should "go for the record" by well meaning amateurs around the world That meant concentrating on the record totals of the VK0IR DXpedition. The team discussed "That Record" about half way through the DXpedition. Our operations strategy was sound and the objectives we had written a year earlier were achievable. The overwhelming opinion of all the team was to carry on as we were, allowing as many amateurs as possible to work us on as many bands and modes as possible. If we passed the VK0IR record, it was a bonus. The real objective of ZL9CI was to have fun doing what we were doing and to help as many as possible to obtain a "new one" We all agreed and never wavered from that objective. We received several messages of congratulations from the VK0IR team as we left the island. At the end, as we closed down, I was personally pleased that we didn't surpass the 100,000 QSO mark. I am glad we left the carrot dangling there for another team sometime in the near future. It will surely happen!

Suddenly it was all over on January 24. The end was swift and a bit sad. The ZL9CI team had achieved all of it's objectives. Our New Zealand Pilot Chris ZL2DX on 20M had the pleasure of the last QSO. We were worried about the weather as the barometer had been dropping for 30 hours and very bad weather was on it's way. In the end the weather wasn't as bad as we expected but there was some anxious moments and exciting times lowering the big yagis in the strong wind gusts that hit in the morning. But that's all part of the fun. It took just 9 hours to dismantle the antenna system, eight stations and ancillary gear and get it back on board the Braveheart. Perhaps a measure of how much we want to get home. Lee sent the last Press release by PACTOR from Campbell Island a few hours before we left at 6PM. The final logs containing 96,004 QSOs were uploaded to the log server as we sailed out of Perseverance Harbour with a magnificent rain cloud sunset off the stern of the Braveheart.