At sea to the Tristan Archipelago

March 12, 2018

It is 4 days at sea to the Tristan Archipelago from South Georgia Island. Three islands make up the archipelago – Tristan da Cunha, Inaccessible Island, and Nightingale Island.  Everything comes at a cost, and the unseasonably good weather in the Falklands and South Georgia is going to be paid for between South Georgia and Tristan da Cunha. The forecast is for rapidly deteriorating conditions tomorrow. In the meantime, the swell is relatively minor, the winds are only 11km per hour, and the temperature is a balmy 4 degrees Celsius. There is very little in the way of birdlife around the ship, and no whales have been spotted.

March 13, 2018

The low-pressure system has caught up to us, and yesterday was only swells of 3 metres or so, the second night and day have forecast swells of 6 metres to 10 metres. It is a comparatively warm 10 degrees Celsius today.

The sick bags deployed on the bannisters of the staircases and every deck should be an indication of things to come tonight and tomorrow.

Only the occasional wandering albatross and a few shearwaters around the ship. Whales are difficult to spot given the whitecaps.

March 14, 2018

After a bouncy night at sea in the Roaring Forties, about 8 am on the third morning a freak wave hits the starboard side of Le Lyrial and my balcony, destroying the steel seats and table, and taking out the partition door that separates my balcony from the next cabin.

I’m still in bed when a troop of tradesmen walk through my cabin to secure the balcony door after one of them falls through it by leaning on the door handle on the balcony outside. The partition between balconies that has been damaged isn’t the one that I would have thought, which is between my cabin and the empty one next door. It is secured by ropes that have been loosening in the wind and waves.

Just after I’ve called the tradies to secure the door on the other side of the balcony, two more freak waves wash through the balconies, taking out another couple of partitions. It must be serious as the Staff Captain (First Officer) comes to supervise the removal of the partitions and the safety of the tradies. By the time they’ve finished, there are no more partitions remaining on the starboard side of Deck 3, and there is some damage to the overhead light fittings of the balconies.

The forecast is for the swell to ease in time for a more comfortable final day at sea to reach the Tristan Archipelago, but in the meantime, the starboard side is copping a pounding, with my windows getting a regular wash from the waves. It’s not particularly cold, with another day of 10-11 degrees Celsius.

On Deck 6, the occasional wave is large enough to break over the bow, wash the windows of the Bridge on Deck 5, and proceed to wash the windows of the bow-facing observation lounge on Deck 6. If you get seasick easily, don’t watch this video!

There are some leaks around the ship, the outward opening doors of the lounge on Deck 6 are taped shut, and towels are placed around on the floor around the doorway to absorb water ingress. Deck 6 with its lounge and bistro are closed for the day and deserted. Elsewhere, the lifts are all stopped for safety reasons, and the storm doors on Deck 3 and 4 are closed. The main lounge on Deck 3 has about 8 people and is otherwise deserted.

Conditions are easing a bit by mid afternoon, and Le Lyrial is not receiving the same pounding from beneath the ship with concurrent strong winds that had been causing the whole superstructure of the ship to shudder. There is the occasional wave washing over my balcony, but the swell is abating somewhat.

March 15, 2018

Bright and relatively clear conditions today on the way to the Tristan Archipelago. The swell has dropped to about 3 metres, and the outside temperature is a balmy 18 degrees Celsius.

 The tradies are busy re-installing the partitions on the starboard side of Deck 3, still under the supervision of the First Officer, and even the Chief Engineer comes for a look. The repairs to the outdoor lighting will take a while longer, and I’m guessing replacing the ripped netting on some of the balcony ceilings will take longer again – probably a job for a day in port in Cape Town.

The maintenance team are busy all day repairing door seals around the ship and spots where the ocean found a way in, particularly on the upper decks. Given that we were only on the edge of this strong low-pressure system, sailing through the middle of it would have been a doozy.

We are less than a day’s sail away from the Tristan Archipelago, and there are now more seabirds around the ship. There have been a couple of juvenile wandering albatross circling behind and beside the ship, and a few spectacled petrels, which nest in the Tristan archipelago.

Commandant Garcia attends this evening’s briefing before we arrive in Tristan da Cunha to explain the weather conditions we have been experiencing. The low-pressure system that we left South Georgia early to avoid has extended a ‘tongue’ of low-pressure up to the northeast that we have sailed the edges of. We are literally a thousand miles away from the centre of the low and have still had the occasional wave large enough to wash the windows of the Observation Lounge on Deck 6. For the ships following us on the route (MV Plancius amongst others), it must have been unpleasant.

It looks like we might get a calm enough swell to land at the Tristan Archipelago, but Commandant announces that we will do a sail-by of Inaccessible Island first thing tomorrow morning. I think I have bragging rights as the only passenger or naturalist on board to have landed at Inaccessible Island previously.