Belgian hams bid to broadcast from Rockall

Five Belgian radio amateurs are to attempt a landing on Rockall to set up two stations to speak to thousands of other enthusiasts around the world.

They are also hoping to achieve a world first by shooting a video on the rock, more than 240 miles west of mainland Scotland, and streaming it live on the internet on each of the three days they plan to spend there.

A Scottish cameraman is also going to be in the landing party and, if conditions are good and the technology works, hopes are high of the first live TV news broadcast from the rock.

Rockall, the summit of an ancient volcano, stands about 60 feet above the Atlantic. Landing on the rock is very difficult as it is steep even on its easiest side. The area is infamous for its high seas and very changeable weather throughout the year.

Led by Patrick Godderie, 42, an electronic engineer, and Theo Vanderydt, also 42, a member of the Belgian special forces, the radio amateurs and their support team will fly to Stornoway at the end of the month. They will then sail out via the island of St Kilda in the Elinca, a 67ft steel-built former BT Challenge yacht owned by Isle of Lewis-based boatbuilder and charter operator Angus Smith.

Innes Smith was among those who got on in May 2008

The group has been training regularly in rock climbing, sea survival and rescue techniques as well as practising how they will take their 1.5 tonnes of equipment and supplies from the yacht to the ledge at the summit.

“This has been planned for eight months. We should be able to handle most emergencies and have had a doctor training us how to carry out medical procedures including stitching wounds. Because we will be outside the range of a rescue helicopter, we have had a lot of preparation to do,” said Patrick.

They will set off from the Western Isles around April 27 and plan to land on the rock two days later. The five radio hams hope to stay on until May 3, broadcasting from two sets and sleeping in their specially-designed shelter, by which time they hope to have made thousands of two-way radio contacts around the world on shortwave.

“Rockall is the ultimate challenge. Although we regularly go on other islands, they are not as difficult as this one. Two Scottish radio hams got on in 2005 and got 260 contacts but they only managed to stay on for a couple of hours. We hope to do a lot better because we’re better planned.

“Our main aim is to promote amateur radio. We have so many other means of communication nowadays but there is something very special and personal about shortwave radio. Among the 1.5 tonnes of gear we will take onto Rockall, we have special equipment to fix our antennas, generators and shelter to the rock and with the satellite links we hope to stream footage on our website.”

The shelter has been specially designed for the expedition which will be erected and fixed on the narrow ledge and from which two radio operators will work at a time. It is designed to cover 2.5 metres by 1.5 metres but can be extended, shortened or heightened, as necessary. “We do not know the exact dimensions on the ledge but we can adjust it if necessary. We hope to be able to get back onto the yacht to sleep but, if not, three people at a time could sleep in the shelter.”

Greenpeace on Rockall in the 1990s

Patrick also said that the unnamed professional cameraman travelling with them, who is a Scot, would also be able to send pictures and there was a real possibility of the first live news broadcast from the rock. “It will depend on everything working properly and the weather being fine but we are hopeful,” he said.

There are real risks involved and Patrick says that they are aware that some people may feel they are putting themselves in too much danger. “My own wife is afraid that when she takes me to the airport to go to Stornoway she may not see me again. It was when we saw the video of Tom McClean landing on the rock, which you can see on our website, that we realised it could be done. If you are properly trained then nothing is impossible. We have worked on this for eight months, planning and training.” McClean, a Scottish adventurer, stayed on the rock in a capsule for 40 day in 1985.

The Belgian group is able to monitor wave conditions in the Atlantic by computer. Early May is the likeliest time for conditions to be most suitable. “The waves are about 3.5 metres at Rockall today and we can cope with that. It is sometimes more, sometimes less.”

Their intention is to raise both the Scottish flag and the Belgian flag. However, they say there is no underlying move to add to the various disputed claims for Rockall by declaring it Belgian property. They insist the expedition is about promoting amateur radio by getting the most two-way contacts and their own individual achievements.

Several countries have laid claim to the storm-lashed outcrop. It was reported two weeks ago that Britain had lodged an application for the thousands of square miles of the seabed around it which, it is feared, could put it on collision course with Iceland and the Faroes.

The submission to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (UNCLCS) in New York makes a unilateral claim for part of the North Atlantic zone, known as the Hatton-Rockall basin, after the breakdown of years of talks between the UK, Ireland, the Faroes, and Iceland. The UK is now said to measure its extended continental shelf, which under the UN regulations can stretch up to 350 miles offshore, from the outlying island of St Kilda, not mainland Scotland.

Last year, Yorkshireman Andy Strangeway, who has landed on and slept on each of Scotland’s 162 sizeable islands, took another international party to Rockall on the Elinca. Although six of them swam and clambered on, Strangeway himself was unable to get onto the rock because of the conditions. He has vowed to try again this year or next.

Meanwhile, Patrick Godderie is convinced that they have reason to be optimistic of success. He said: “The secret is planning. We have many plans. If plan A does not work, we have plan B and so on. Returning home without a successful landing on Rockall? That is plan Z.”

The expedition’s website at www.rockall.be will be carrying regular updates.

Contact me on blog@maciver.co.uk or leave a comment. Iain Maciver, journalist.