A few of us tossed around going to the coast for California QSO Party, but it ended up being the Point Arena crew again, with the part-time addition of W6DIA, who operated mobile from Morro Bay area. It ended up being a low-key operation.  N6EY had a twenty-foot collapsible flagpole as a mast and a new speaker-wire dipole he had made for QRP, and I set up the Buddipole because it was convenient.  We were staying at the Silver Surf Motel because dogs were allowed there, and we set up operation at a picnic table in the grassy courtyard.  We had a few curious glances and some questions, but we probably talked more about our dogs than radio to passers-by (there were quite a few people vacationing with their pooches).

We didn't get set up until around noon on Saturday, as we had driven over after work on Friday, and Jason and I had gone on the lighthouse tour in the morning. The weather was beautiful, the dogs were amiable--what could be better?  I had a bad barrel connector between my Buddipole coax and an extra length of coax, so I had some difficulty getting the SWR into range, and even after that, the antenna seemed mute.  Swapping out the barrel connector seemed to do the trick, and I worked mostly California stations on 40m until it was about time for dinner.  We had to break down the antennas there, though, so the guys wouldn't be a hazard, and I was a little too tired to set it up again when we got back, so it wasn't a stellar effort.  Probably the most fun was had by the dogs on the beach the next morning!