Tom  (K4AEN) and I (KK4R) took out his sailboat, Miss Adventure, for a maritime-mobile effort.  The weather was excellent, and we got a late start setting up the rig due to sailing around until the threat of rain finally drove us below deck.  We have taken Miss Adventure out for other events over the years, including QRP QSO Parties and Field Day mostly.  This year Tom made a simple modification to the antenna, a 40m dipole, that kept the legs a little more spread out and free of the rigging.  The positive effect far exceeded the effort to do it, so we had to wonder why we never bothered before.

   We sailed out of Hampton, VA, past the big ships at the Naval base at Norfolk, and eventually anchored in the Lafayette River overnight.  We ate well, slept comfortably, and made contacts easily.  The rig was Tom's K3, which makes nearly a complete station.  All we needed besides the rig was a balun, paddles, a laptop, and cables.  With the antenna behaving so well, the only issue with operating from the boat is power.  Running QRP is not a problem, but the voltage would not hold up at 100W.  We were only able to run 70W or less.  Next time we will have to reduce the resistance between the battery and the rig.

Rob