[FQP] Thanks for the wonderful FQP !

[Steven Blary]

Hello Everyone!

First a big THANKS TO EVERYONE involved with the FQP -- the
organizers, log checkers, write-up authors, Florida stations both
fixed and mobile,and out of state stations!  It takes us all to have
a successful party and by my standards 2006 was another great year!

I guess the short story are the numbers -- 785 miles, 15 counties
activated, 242 SSB contacts with 43 multipliers all on 20 meters. 
For my annual solo effort I believe that these are my best totals
yet, but still alot of room for improvement. I need to spend less
time driving and more time CQ'ing.  I haven't figured out a good
method of logging while driving so while cruising I usually search
and pounce instead of CQ'ing.  I'm thinking of a digital voice
recorder next year.  Then I'll have to CQ all the time since I won't
have a convenient way of checking dupes.

For me the drive is a large part of the draw.  None of the family
wants to come along so it's 20 hours of PEACE and QUIET Hi Hi!  I
started the contest Saturday on top of the levee of Lake Okeechobee
in Martin County hoping to take advantage of the extra height.  In
addition to the levee's height I used my home brew Buddie pole up 12
foot on a painter's pole.  It worked, FB however I really couldn't
tell if it out performed the mag mounted 20 meter ham stick I used
for all of the other counties.

After leaving Martin I headed south to work my way around the bottom
part of the Lake.  I had to take the same detour through the sugar
cane fields.  That set me behind at least 30 or 40 minutes.  I
finally got back on track and stopped a new location in Palm Beach
and will probably use that location next year too!

>From Palm beach county it was off to the interior of the state in
Hendry county. Hendry is a "drive through" county for me and a short
detour to the west allows me to operate in Lee. After the detour I
continue south.  Driving through "Jurassic Park"  is always
interesting.  The long stretch of hwy 29 that cuts north to south
through the central portion of Collier county has large 8 or 10 foot
fences on both sides of the roadway to keep wildlife (or maybe
me?)safe.  The fences, the wilderness of Big cypress National Park on
the other side, and the isolation from people and civilization all
remind me of JP!  

I managed to miss the afternoon thunderstorms until I was on Loop
road in Monroe county.  Loop road is the only "road" in mainland
Monroe county that I'm aware of and it is in Big Cypress too.  Loop
road is about 26 miles long, dirt with plenty of wildlife to view. 
However the storm hit and it was close to sunset so my stay in Monroe
county was not as long as planned. 

The ride through Miami-Dade and Broward counties were uneventful. I
finally pulled into my driveway in Martin at 11:30pm behind schedule.

Sunday was a beautiful Sunday drive in the country across the top of
Lake Okeechobee.  I use this leg of the FQP as an excuse to check on
Punta Gorda's recovery from hurricane Charley in 2004.  Last year it
still looked terrible 8 months after the storm.  This year much
better -- a lot of stuff still missing, a lot of new places, and
almost all of the debris is gone.  Had a great lunch in Sarasota
county and got lost and missed Manatee and Hardee counties
completely! My plan Sunday was to be in my driveway at 6pm and I only
missed it by 12 minutes!

Thanks to all for a wonderful weekend and I'm already looking forward
to the next one!

73
Steve Blary, N1XC

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