... and so I was at sea for nearly a month...

I am sure no one expected to hear from us so late, but we are full of surprises… I intended to write from St. John’s but the report took a fair amount of time and the lovely weather did not help, really. All my memories of St. John’s were wrapped in more cold than you can imagine, so seeing all that sun and warmth after all the fog we had enjoyed during the survey forced me to check my priority list.

But let’s start from the begining. The trip to land went well, although it was very windy. Once I learn to edit videos I will be able to show you some spectacular waves. We came across yet another iceberg and a few ships. 

The last iceberg

We were very close to land at about 20 h on Sunday, but we had to combine our arrival with the departure of a cruise ship so the pilot could assist both ships in a single trip. He is based three hours away from St John’s so he had to optimise his time.

Very soon the pilot approached us and jumped swiftly on board. I always find impressive how easily they jump from their boat to our ladder.

Entering St. John’s harbour is no joke. I took a picture of the map for you to see. It seems there is plenty of space but bottom topography is complicated and the lane is really narrow and speed must be kept at a minimum. But everything went well and we docked without a scratch.

Nearly there!

The pilot probably climbing already.

Entrance to St John's harbour

Don’t think we can run out as soon as the ship docks. First the agent must come on board to go through the ship needs during its stay and then we need permission to go to land. Besides, not everybody gets time off. The bridge is active during the mornings, and the rest of the day there are sailors with watch duty and of course, the kitchen carries on. 

Docking. Alberto in the foreground.

Biologists on the other hand are free during our time in land, and I can tell you there was no waste of time. Myself? I squeezed some time in between graphs and tables to go for a couple of walks, but they were enough for the report to have to be finished at the airport. 

Our home for a month, docked in St. John's

R.V. Vizconde de Eza left for Flemish Cap yesterday and if everything went according to plan they must be fishing already. We wish them a successful survey, without injuries, breakdowns or bad news. 

 

Thank you very much to all the people that made the survey possible, not only on board, but also at IEO, the Secretaria General de Pesca and the company running the ship, Remolcanosa. And of course, thanks to the readers, it was great fun to hear from you and to confirm that even though we couldn’t see further than our own noses with all that fog, we weren’t invisible to the world outside.

We will continue uploading material, but it will depend on time availability on my side, so put an alert on this site!

See you around!