As part of the Polar Bear Bear Express DXpedition, three lucky participants operated on Akimiski Island in the Northwest Territories. This 2000 square mile uninhabited island is the largest island in James Bay and is part of Canada's Northwest Territories. The island is very similar to the James Bay Lowlands. The island is covered with lichens, moss, sage grasses, and dwarf black spruce trees. The island has many shallow lakes in the southern central part, with many rivers flowing to the north. Bottomless bogs, similar to quicksand, are also found on the island. Walking on the island can be compared to walking on a wet sponge. Half of the island is designated as a wildlife reserve. Many different types of geese and ducks can be found here. The island also has a healthy polar bear population!

Included here are a few choice photos and descriptions.

This picture shows three pretty happy hams. Our float plane had just landed. Note the skies. Rain was on the way. Left to right John VE3VGI, Ernest VE3NSZ ( sk ), and Bob VE3LLE.

This picture is very deceiving, it looks like a sandy beach but it is actually a bottomless bog (quicksand)! Our plane got stuck about 10 feet from shore. We threw our table half way out to the bog and John, with a rope around his waist, took a flying leap on to the table and clawed his way to shore. The trees lying on the bog were cut down to build a bridge to unload the plane. It took a shovel, ropes and the power of the plane to get itself free. *Note* The foot prints in the mud were made by a duck!

This picture shows our 2 element, 20 meter yagi, supported by a 30 ft sectional mast. Built by Bob VE3LLE and John VE3VGI, this antenna and sectional mast is lightweight (27 lbs) and was designed to fit into a 4 foot storage compartment on the float plane. Also shown in the picture is our operating tent. Our sleeping tent is the one closest to the lake.

Shown in this picture is the light weight portable charging unit. This unit was put together by Bob VE3LLE and John VE3VGI. It can deliver 50 amps at 13.8 vdc to a discharged battery. Due to our allowable weight on the plane, being cut from 1000 lbs, to 900 lbs. (3 operators,supplies and equipment). The 110 lbs generator and 50 lbs of gas were replaced with our hastily put together charging unit, which weighs 27 lbs and would run the entire expedition on less than 20 lbs. of gas. This saved us 113 lbs and saved one operator from being cut. By the way, the performance of the unit was excellent.

*Note. Take a look at my left foot, it is covered in water from standing in one spot too long. According to the map, most of the island is like this (wet sponge).

We were not alone on this island, note all the deerflies on Bobs leg.

We came to appreciate the huge dragon flies that would catch pests in mid air or as shown in this photo, grabbing a tasty snack right off my chest! It's difficult to see in the photo but the dragon fly has a deerfly in its mouth!

The Polar Bear Express was sponsored by Ontario Northland Railways, Alinco Electronics, and Durham Radio Sales & Service Inc.

Information and photos for this page have been provided by John Harden (VE3VGI) Photos also provided by Bob Elston (VE3LLE).