Shown above, 14DA181 Marc is one of the DA-RC’s leading Inland Water Island adventurers. On August 15, 2026, this guy set out for a weekend of IWI action, with plans to activate two diminutive islands hidden within the beautiful waters of Lac de Lavaud-Gelade…
Located in France’s Creuse department, Lac de Lavaud-Gelade is a wild artificial reservoir covering around 285–300 hectares.
Created in 1943 within the Millevaches Regional Nature Park, the lake feeds water to nearby Lac de Vassivière and forms part of a protected Natura 2000 ecological zone.
Surrounded by pristine countryside and crystal-clear water, it’s an impressive setting for a weekend of island adventure.
Everything was going according to plan—until disaster struck towards the end of Marc’s first activation.
Here’s his report…
Excited, we set off at 4:30 a.m. for our target area, about an hour’s drive away…
It’s a part of a region I know well and absolutely love.
The islands scattered across Lake Lavaud-Gelade are surrounded by clear, pristine water, and the lake is teeming with fish.
We arrived at around 5:30 a.m. and, after a quick breakfast, launched the boat into the shallows.
The small craft was heavily loaded; between the fishing gear and the radio equipment, there was quite a weight on board!
After a 20-minute voyage across rippling shallows, we reached picturesque La Vaud-Gelade Island, where we established our base camp…
From there, I headed towards the first island of the day, Vergnolas (23008L).
It only took a few minutes to reach, and I quickly set up my portable station: a homemade Skypper antenna, an all-mode mobile CRT-7900 transceiver and car batteries—not forgetting the essential sun umbrella!
The first CQ call as 14DA/23008L went out on the International Call frequency, 27.555 MHz USB, at around 8:30 a.m. with unfortunate results…
Tragically, operators could hear me, but alas, I couldn’t hear them as the CRT-7900 was “deaf”.
Quickly, I switched over to my old radio—the one that has accompanied me on island adventures for the past 20 years; the perfect backup.
I’d hoped to spare it from the sweltering WX, but I had no choice.
Thankfully, it soon allowed me to log the first few stations, despite the poor propagation conditions, and get my teeth into some nice DX.
Impressively, there were plenty of Italian friends in the log, along with a few French stations…
These included 1WM608 Lara, 14DA049 Fred, 1AT123, 14EK150 Alain and 14AT049 Dom.
Most impressive, however, was the idyllic surrounds and fresh air.
The sky overcast and the temperature a pleasant 24–25°C, it was ideal for operating in the outdoors, particularly in such a tranquil setting.
Elegant Waterbirds such as grey herons and great crested grebes, kayakers and rising fish were a special part of the surrounds of my portable station.
By late morning, however, the temperature had risen considerably, and I could really feel the heat on my skin, despite the protection of the parasol…
At 11:50 a.m., I logged the final station of the activation with plans to travel by boat to our next IWI DXstination—and almost immediately, the radio stopped working completely.
Strangely, there was both no transmission and no reception as the transceiver sat in silence.
Worse still, the rig’s case had become extremely hot, accompanied by the unmistakable smell of something burning.
Unfortunately, there was now no option but to call time on the day’s radio adventure on Vergnolas Island and postpone the planned activation of 23007L until another day…
Hopefully, an opportunity will pop up for me to return in October, with a new or repaired transceiver and a little more luck with both the equipment and propagation!
Thanks very much to everyone who called in, and my apologies to those I wasn’t able to hear.
A QSL is available direct:
MARC, 94 IMPASSE Pompon-Le Méry, 23000 La Saunière, France
73 de 14DA181 Marc
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