The end of the hake survey (for me anyway)

I seem to have ended up with a paid holiday in Cape Town, staying in the best location at the Waterfront on the Nansen docked at Quay 6. On Wednesday evening last week, the Nansen limped back to Cape Town from the trawl area at half speed. It took the entire night to get back to harbour and at 8am we were met by the harbour pilot to be guided to our berth. The berthing process was very slow as we were pushed into place rather than using the engine and side thrusters. No-one wanted to take any chances that the engine would fail and inertia would crash us into the quay. Most of the scientific crew went home and only three of us who were not local Capetonians were left onboard with the ship crew.

The view on the way back into Cape Town on Thursday morning.

From the bow of the ship looking towards the Waterfront.



We were back in harbour on Thursday but had to wait for an engineer to arrive from Norway to have a look at the engine problem. In the meantime other less pressing but also serious problems were addressed such as an oil leak onto the deck so the time was not a complete waste. The engineer arrived on Friday at about midday and got straight to work. The ship crew had some small tasks to do but for the three of us scientific crew there was no work. That left time to explore the waterfront and try desperately to avoid the temptation to spend money. The general feeling was that we should have been at sea unable to spend any cash so we should try not to go too mad during our stay at the waterfront. Staying on the ship here is truly wonderful. We have free accommodation where others pay a small fortune to stay, we get meals on the ship everyday and can come and go as we please. It is amazing then that the glitter of being at the waterfront eventually does wear off and boredom sets in. Some days were spent entirely on the ship watching movies down in the entertainment room and moving only for meals and drinks.

Everyday there was a little bit of hope that possibly the engine problem would be found and we would be able to go to sea to do trials but by each afternoon the word was that there was still no solution. The end to this story is that it is Tuesday now, the day before I am due to go home, and the engine is still not working. The hake survey was postponed to a new start date of 19 January but at this stage it does not look like the ship will be ready to sail. My part in this survey is now over. I take leave to be here and do not have extra leave to carry on staying here indefinitely while the engine problem is sorted out. It is sad that this is how the survey has turned out for me because I was really looking forward to the work but these things happen from time to time. The ship is getting old and has worked really hard over the years so these problems are bound to happen. Hopefully this will provide the incentive for the vessel to be replaced.

All that is left now is one final night in Cape Town, to pack my bags in the morning and fly home tomorrow afternoon. Although the trip ended up very different to what I had been anticipating, it has been fun. I got to see some good friends who I have not seen for a while, discovered an absolutely wonderful cocktail called a San Marco Scorpino, enjoyed some wonderful summer days, spent an afternoon on the hop on hop off bus reacquainting myself with the city and most importantly had an extra 10 days in the company of a very special person.

Hayley McLellan who was responsible for an afternoon of penguin watching for Jess and me. Thanks Hayley is was great to see you again and all the best for your anti-plastic campaign!



The next trip starts on Saturday ........ 5 days in the Kruger Park!