Our friend and fellow dedicated islander, Johan Hoffman, passed away on 11 February 2014.
Our thoughts are deeply of Johan as we put together this newsletter for our friends and families back home.
Johan was also our newsletter editor and we include, with this post, the January edition which he last completed for us.
Inside this issue:
News from our Capetonian metkassie, Patty.
2Julian says „What‟s up guys?‟ to the crew of the Supreme Lady.
4Field trip to Tumbledown, by Zach.
5Of muddy boots and dirty paws, its all in my story, Delia.
6Our team gives the lowdown on what‟s happening this winter.
8ZD9M is broadcasting from Gough Island. Who is this bearded mad-man?
9The Weather Stats by Julian.
10The Gough Bunting
Who would have thought? It has been now eight months away from home and we are still going strong but slowly going mad. So much has happened in the past months, with some good and bad memories but regardless of the circumstances we have pulled through and managed to stick together. March has been the highlight of this expedition, at least for me my birthday month! (birthday updates coming later). As an islander, I have come to know myself better, have grown mentally and spiritually. I have realised how much I appreciate my family, friends and people in my life
better than before. I must say I have also learnt to live with people from different backgrounds and to accept them for who they are, Pierre for instance (hides face).
Never the less, it has been great, I‟m looking forward to the finishing line.
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So, they keep asking how often do we go shopping ? What hap- pens when we are free; and all sorts of questions, and every time I have to explain. Well, there is not much going on outside our small house other than the noise made by the beautiful birds and the seals which the field workers are studying. There are no sub- ways or any other buildings, it‟s just our Gough house. We do have our own “pick n pay” though, where we shop for free! .
You fill up the trolley with everything that you need, and pay nothing. We also get to go outside at times and spend time with the wild life. We camp, we fish and take walks; viewing the beautiful Gough. Last month I got the chance to go say “hi” to the seals at the Seal beach with the field workers, didn‟t get to swim though (how I wished) because the beach is rocky and the seals are not that friendly either! Two weeks later, we went to Tumbledown where we were weighing baby seals. It‟s always nice to go outside the base just for a while.
We have cooking skivvies where everyone on the team gets to cook once every two weeks. Then we would have braai days were we get to chill outside if the weather per- mits. We braai the whole cow, YES! The whole cow be- cause we can, hahahahahah! Joys of being an islander .
After dinner we would then watch movies and series in the lounge or gather at the bar playing pool, darts, table- tennis and cards while listening to music and having drinks. We celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and achievements. We also spend time at the gym to get rid of the calories gained!
I would like to thank everyone for making my day special, I had a blast you guys are the best!!
Was woken up with coffee in bed, thank you “sugar daddy”
Who would’ve thought!! By Patty
Crazyiness and Fun!
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Thank u Juju for the steak, it was so lekker! not so sure what‟s happening with your face there hahahahahaha!
Thank you Stevey for the special curry
Who needs Deboinaires when we can make our own tasty pizza‟s? huh? Thank you Ben
Thank you Delia for the awesome cake and the prez- zie
Thank you camera man (Ben) for the beautiful pictures and thanks to the medic (Zach) for making sure there were no dancing injuries
Patiswa blowing out her birthday candles.
We were very fortunate to be visited by three gentlemen on a yacht during the month of Feb- ruary. The yacht they travelled on was named The Supreme lady .They are three guys doing a documentary on all of the United Kingdom‟s remote Islands. Gough Island is one of them.
Visitors from Britain—by Jul’z
The Supreme Lady arriving on Gough Island
Gough Island was one of 20-odd Islands that they are doing a documentary on. They basically went to all of these Islands that belong to the UK, St Helena and Tristan da Cunha amongst them, and filmed the birdlife and other topographical features to use in their documentary. If we are lucky, or for them unlucky - G59 will also make their acting debut on Britain television.
Fellow South African-Gavin Mc-Cleod. He was the skipper onboard the Supreme Lady
They went back to SA after staying about 8 hours on the Island. They did not want to take any chances with Gough‟s well known weather. From SA they will take the
flight back to their home country. We had a lovely braai and showed them how we South-Africans do a braai.
Thanks for the visit guys, we hope you had a nice journey back to SA.
Who said living on a remote Island is boring?
Well they are definitely wrong. Living on Gough Island is exciting and sometimes we hardly know what is going to happen next.
There are definitely many highlights and challenges. However, one thing I enjoy doing to keep myself happy and occupied apart from doing my job is to learn my fellow Islanders‟
jobs. This might seem strange to some, but this enables me to broaden my knowledge and allows me to appreciate other people‟s jobs.
In my efforts in learning other people‟s jobs, on the morning of the 21st February 2014, I accompanied a Field Assistant, Ben, on his field trip to the seals‟ location called Tumble- down (just after Seal Beach) to weigh the seals.
The place is about 4 kilometers from our inhabitance. It was a very cold morning,
however, as we continued to weigh the seal pups, I began to feel my body temperature rising and did not feel the cold anymore. Together we managed to weigh 100 seal pups. I had so much fun; how- ever, my body was aching all over and only recov- ered a week after the trip.
As previously mentioned, these types of experi- ences allow one to appreciate other people‟s jobs or the manner in which they do things. The most fulfilling though, is seeing the love that the Field Assistant has for his job and for the fragile animals. Therefore, empathy is a very essential trait or skill that I wish everyone can strive for, not only for technical experiences, but to also appreci- ate the diversity and similarities in people‟s ex-
periences or encounters.
By Zach (Medical Orderly)
Field Trip to “Tumble Down”– Jack of all trades!
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On team 59, while we have been making our plans for the winter months ahead and checking off the must-do island lists, March has qui- etly gone by. On the last day of the month, Patty cele- brated her birthday and got all of us unusually smartly dressed up for the evening.
Steven has been carefully watching the engines as we start to turn up the base heat- ers. Pierre has brought to
the team Sunday afternoon pancakes and an excited buzz to the radio waves across the Atlantic.
Zanele and Patty keep us all up to speed with changing hair styles, as well as being stylish on the beach helping to weigh seal pups. This month, Ben and Zach had 100 seal pups weighed at their 100 day mark. There have
been fitness challenges issued by Julian and new gym buddies forged.
Muddy boots and dirty paws - by Delia
The Grey Petrels building a nest in their burrow.
A Tristan Albatross brooding its chick on Gonydale
For Ben and I, the field assistants, it‟s been weekly trips to Gonydale and spending some time away from the base, sleeping in a tent and cooking our food outside on a little gas stove while we watch the birds - awesome.
After much anticipation, the two of us made the trip hiking to the island‟s furthest western point, to finish our island counts of incubating Tristan Albatross and while we were feeling like the whole island was ours for the taking, we stopped a little while on the island‟s high- est point, Edinburgh Peak. In the weeks since then, the Tristan Albatross chicks have been hatching. The chicks are a constant source of fascination, their still very small heads bob- bing under their parent‟s guard. It‟s a far bet- ter version of the dashboard bobbing head novelties.
The Grey Petrels are back at Gough for their winter breeding sea- son, and it‟s been especially cool for us to see so many Grey Pet- rels here. On Marion Island, for example, finding a Grey Petrel in its burrow is a little like finding a buried bar of gold in the mud; or recovering Marthan‟s lost seal devices in the Gentoo Lake.
Hiking across the mires
Who forgot to pack the mugs?
We‟ve now marked out the grey petrel nests that we will monitor this winter and look forward to seeing where these birds forage; how their chicks will manage the winter and the consequent onslaught of mice that the cold weather brings.
Like the Tristan albatross, the chicks of these petrels are especially vulnerable to being eaten by mice as there is little other food for the mice in winter. The constant scrambling of mice running over the tent at night is a worrying reminder of how much is at stake at Gough. If you didn‟t already know this, the island is thought of as one of the world‟s most important seabird breed- ing sites. Gough Island has 22 species of breeding birds; four seabirds that are listed as endangered species and four species of birds that only breed on this island! If you want to read more about the devastating effects of introduced house mice on Gough Island, take a look at the ACAP website www.acap.aq
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We are looking forward to the winter months on Gough. Beware, family and friends, we have picked up some strange island quirks - much of our conversation is of news, food and TV characters.
▲PIERRE Margarine or butter?:
Commenting on Cyclone Helen; “We‟ll be safe be- cause we eat butter”.
JUL‟Z: ► What’s in the oven?
Leg of lamb with salad dressing. It‟s a secret recipe
(I don‟t read the Huisgenoot).
▲JULIAN: On Suits or prison break- Lewis or T-bag?
Harvey.
▲ZACH:
Night-owl or hamster?:
Night-owl.
◄ZANELE:
High heels. No question required.
◄ZACH:
How do you feel now about almost running out of T-bone steaks?
I plan on having two per week.
I‟m pacing myself.
◄BEN:
When did you last have home-baked bread?
Yesterday. With tiny pieces of pineapple.
Thanks Pierre!
▲BEN: Limit on how many TV series episodes per night? 0.5
◄DELIA: Ice-cream Flavour? Rum and Raison.
Is it Ice-cream night tonight?
STEVEN: ► Limit on TV episodes per night?
ZANELE: ► Best winter
meal?
Curry.
◄PATTY:
Are you eat- ing Ice- cream this winter?
Yes! With Pierre at 12 at night - that‟s 2am South African Time!
PATTY: ► Michael Schofield or Harvey?
It has to be Michael!
Forgive me Sarah?!
▼STEVEN:
Lamb curry and split-pea
soup!
Mike or Jessica? Donna.
Q: Pierre, we know you from your last expedition to Marion Island. Any thoughts on how the Gough expedition experi- ence differs from that on Marion?
Gough is a nicer island, the climate is better. A million more birds. An older base but well maintained.
(Ed. And Pierre scores some brownie points here). My office is very cosy, has a great view and I love the fact that I can open the window and listen to the bird calls outside. Espe- cially the Gough moorhens calling continually to each other.
Q: Do you snore?
A: Not at all. I do however make defensive noises to keep the pirates away and my fellow islanders safe.
Q: Essential items to bring to this island?
A: Humour. Practical jokes, a sense of adventure and family support.
Q: Most interesting radio contact so far?
A: Sydney, Australia. Usually a very difficult contact. My Marion Island favourite was with Hawaii, literally on the op- posite side of the globe.
Q: What’s on your to-do list for over-wintering on Gough?
A: Work related - there is a workshop next door to the radio room, and I‟d like to get in there and pack things out. I‟m busy with a radio propagation survey between Cape Town, Marion Island and SANAE; seeing which frequency is best for which time of day. Also, to start setting up and testing ALE and SELCAL between the DEA Base, islands and SANAE.
Q: What about non-work stuff?
A: I want to maintain and improve my fitness. I had three gym partners. But one of them has dropped us.
(Ed. No! I haven’t dropped you. I’m so way ahead of you.)
Q: The future?
A: Someday, with lots of preparation, my wife and I would like to do a tour together.
Q: Your call sign is ZD9M. What does it stand for?
A: The ZD9 is the international allocation for the Tristan and Gough Islands and the M is something from my old call sign that I carried over to this one. As with my tour on Marion in 2010, I will be putting Gough Island on the map with regards to amateur radio.
This is what he had to say about coming to Gough to join G59:
Welcome to the
team Pierre!
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GOUGH ISLAND SEATEMP AND CLIMATE STATS REPORT
Date Sea Temp Date Sea Temp Date Sea Temp
01 13.1 11 13.1 21 SWELL
02 13.0 12 13.5 22 SWELL
03 13.2 13 13.3 23 13.2
04 12.6 14 13.7 24 13.7
05 13.0 15 13.5 25 13.5
06 13.2 16 13.3 26 13.4
07 13.2 17 14.0 27 13.2
08 13.0 18 13.4 28 13.2
09 13.4 19 14.0 29 13.5
10 13.2 20 14.0 30 13.5
31 13.6
Ave. Max Pressure 1018.0 hPa Ave. Min Pressure 1010.4 hPa
Ave. Pressure 1013.9 hPa
Max Pressure 1030.0 hPa
Min Pressure 988.9 hPa
Ave. Max Temp 17.2 ºC
Ave. Min Temp 11.2 ºC
Ave. Temp 14.2 ºC
Max Temp 23.8 ºC
Min Temp 7.0 ºC
Ave Humidity 79 %
Max Humidity 96 %
Min Humidity 55 %
Max Wind Gust 44.3 m/s 159.4 km/h
Total Rainfall 102.4 mm
Highest in 24 Hours 64.2 mm Total days with rain 18 days
Total days >1mm 6 days
Total Sunshine 124.0 hours
