[HCARC] Fwd: [SFDXA] International Group to Reactivate the Legendary Yasme VP2VB Call Sign

[DON MURRAY W4WJ]

FYI, 73, Don, W4WJ

From: Bill <bmarx at bellsouth.net>
Date: Friday, March 13, 2020
Subject: [SFDXA] International Group to Reactivate the Legendary Yasme VP2VB Call Sign
To: 'SFDXA Reflector' <sfdxa at mailman.qth.net>, QCWA <qcwa69 at mailman.qth.net>

    International Group to Reactivate the Legendary Yasme VP2VB Call Sign

03/10/2020

On Tuesday, March 10, an international group now in New York will set 
sail to the British Virgin Islands and activate the VP2VB call sign of 
/Yasme/ fame for 6 days, focusing on the low bands with two stations. 
VP2VB was the call sign of the legendary Danny Weil, VP2VB, skipper of 
the /Yasme/ series of sailing vessels that carried the peripatetic 
adventurer traveled from one DX location to another in the 1950s and 
early 1960s. His activities provided the impetus to create *The Yasme 
Foundation* <http://www.yasme.org/>. For the 2020 “Yasme Memorial 
Expedition,” operators will include Adrian Ciuperca, KO8SCA; Martti 
Laine, OH2BH; Niko Halminen, OH2GEK, and Sandro Nitoi, VE7NY. QSL via OH2BH.

A Briton, Weil was, by trade, a watch and clock maker with a sense of 
adventure. His initial /Yasme/ (often also rendered as YASME) sailing 
voyage was to the British Virgin Islands. Yasme derives from the 
Japanese word “yasume,” which means “to make tranquil.” Another giant of 
ham radio history, the legendary DXer Dick Spencely, KV4AA, became aware 
of Weil’s aspirations and suggested that he combine amateur radio with 
his ambitious travel itinerary. Spencely taught Weil Morse code and 
helped him secure the VP2VB call sign, which was to become famous around 
the globe. Spencely secured the initial ham radio gear for the /Yasme/ 
and became a tireless fundraiser for The Yasme Foundation as well.

Ultimately, there were three /Yasmes/. From 1955 until 1962, Weil 
operated from several ports of call in the Caribbean and the Pacific. 
This latter-day VP2VB DXpedition will count toward *Yasme awards* 
<http://www.yasme.org/operating-awards/> and marks the first activation 
of VP2VB in more than 60 years.

This month’s VP2VB DXpedition will trace Weil’s original route in the 
British Virgin Islands under a special license authorization, to pay 
homage to those early years of DXing and to honor the spirit he 
embraced, which inspired a generation of DXers.

Weil’s last expedition in the Pacific included stops at HC8 and FO8 
(Clipperton Island), the latter an especially harrowing and 
life-threatening experience. His new wife, Naomi, was with him at the 
time. The Mexican Navy rescued them and towed the /Yasme/ to California. 
Weil went solo to several more stops in the Pacific before retiring from 
DXpeditioning and settling in Texas in 1963. He resumed his profession 
of a watch and clock maker there and became a US citizen. He was not to 
be heard on the air again — although he kept an ear on the bands. Weil 
died in 2003 at age 85.

The DXpeditions of Weil and of Lloyd and Iris Colvin, W6KG and W6QL, are 
documented in */YASME, The Danny Weil and Colvin Radio Expeditions/* 
<http://www.arrl.org/shop/YASME-The-Danny-Weil-and-Colvin-Radio-Expeditions/> 
by Jim Cain, K1TN, commissioned by The Yasme Foundation and published by 
ARRL.

http://www.arrl.org/news/international-group-to-reactivate-the-legendary-yasme-vp2vb-call-sign


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