My most recent new one was 5 years ago, Z60. I am missing Crozet and Scaffolded Reef. I will be in the hunt for Crozet in Jan. Since Scarborough Reef is claimed by 5 Countries now, and under water even at low tide, I doubt it will ever be on again.
Are there facts I'm unaware of to back up BS7H being underwater at low tide, or is this speculation? The DXCC rules are clear that an island must be above water at
high tide to qualify as an entity. I normally call 'em countries, but not those rocks. Scarborough Reef wouldn't qualify by today's criteria, but was grandfathered to stay on the list. If those rocks are no longer above water at
high tide, much less low tide, then this entity should be deleted. Under those conditions, there's nothing there to activate. This is important to both of us, since working Crozet would place you at #1 HR and me needing only N. Korea for #1HR.
I've said several times on this forum, I don't want countries/entities being deleted just because they are very seldom activated. But if they no longer meet the criteria that was in place when they were added to the DXCC list, they should be deleted. If Scarborough Reef is below water at
high tide, it's time for those guys at DXCC to strike it off the list.
The DXCC Rules...
https://www.arrl.org/dxcc-rules (Under List Criteria)
Island: A naturally formed area of land surrounded by water, the surface of which is above water at high tide. For the purposes of this award, it must consist of connected land, of which at least two surface points must be separated from each other by not less than 100 meters measured in a straight line from point to point. All of the connected land must be above the high tide mark, as demonstrated on a chart of sufficient scale. For the purposes of this award, any island, reef, or rocks of less than this size shall not be considered in the application of the water separation criteria described in Part 2 of the criteria.