Letters from Bouvetoya
Most of you know that I am leaving for Marion Island at the end of March. I am the expedition leader for the trip. In my absence a lot has been done. Thanks to a beautiful red head, Genevieve, my deputy leader, for handling a lot of work in my absence. Also to my sister Louretha and my friends Ross, Craig and Paul for helping Genevieve. I will never be able to express my gratitude adequately.
Last but not least, let me thank the Norwegian Polar Institute for giving me the opportunity to take part in this expedition and to my fellow Bouvet citizens for an unforgettable time and experience.
Murphy’s law state that everything that can go wrong will go wrong. This whole expedition we experience many obstacles, which we conquered. Last week our email system collapsed, or rather the PC that ran the system crashed. Fortunately the G.O. Sars, a Norwegian fisheries research vessel, was in the area and could deliver software for an email system. I must compliment the crew of the GO Sars for their efficiency at delivering a parcel to us, it was very impressive. The ice cream cake and Norwegian chocolates was also most welcome.
We have already started breaking down camp and packing up equipment. Weather conditions have recently been bad, which has not helped us. The weather has even influenced the radio; over the past couple of nights all I have received was a lot of QSB.
All this will be added to my already big and forever growing cache of memories. Again thank you to all for making this an extraordinary experience and I hope to work all of you again in future.
3Y0E signing off,
73
Petrus
3Y0E/ ZS6GCM
Petrus
You started to operate HF, how is it for you, do pile ups make you tired?
I have always enjoyed learning/ experiencing new things. It is very enjoyable to make contact with different people from all over the world. Pile ups are emotionally draining in the sense that it robs a lot of people from the opportunity to make a contact. It would be rewarding if there were a more efficient way of handling pile ups.
Name a thing you miss least/ most on this isolated island:
What I miss least are spending time in traffic and using money. I miss my family and friends most and also my dogs on the farm.
What is the worst (next to it’s climate) and the best about the island?
All that I experience about Bouvet is the best and that includes the climate. The Sub – Antarctic never has good weather conditions. To people like us it is part of experiencing the extremes.
What do we do in our spare time:
Weather and work schedule permitting I like take lots of beautiful photo’s. When possible I also enjoy reading. At the moment I am trying to read The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine,MD and The 21st Century Brain by Steven Rose.
Nico
Who am I and what do I do on Bouvet?
My name is Nico de Bruyn, I am affiliated with the Mammal Research Institute at the University of Pretoria as a full-time PhD student. My research is focused on southern elephant seals at Marion Island. The experience at Marion Island allowed me the opportunity to join this expedition to Bouvet under the auspices of the Norwegian Polar Institute. Due to earlier experience with seabird work on my first year at Marion I am responsible for the penguin work while here, but in such a small team (5 people) we all help wherever we can, thus a large amount of seal work and other odds and ends (such as camp maintenance) forms part of the day.
What do we do in our spare time?
Although the work keeps us pretty busy both in the field and back in the camp, I really enjoy doing photography with any spare time. If the weather is really poor thus not permitting the use of my camera outside, I spend my time working on my PhD analysis and write-up. A few chapters of a good book send me to sleep in the evenings. I have just finished reading “The Lost Men, The harrowing story of Shackleton’s Ross Sea party” by Kelly Tyler-Lewis, a most humbling, yet inspiring read. Fantastic! I have now started reading C.S. Lewis’ “The Great Divorce”.
Martin
Who am I and what do I do on Bouvet?
My name is Martin Biuw. While I am Swedish by origin, I am working for the Norwegian Polar Institute. Here at Bouvet I’m responsible for the tracking studies of penguins and seals at sea. Over the past 10 years I’ve worked as a seal biologist at several subantarctic islands and in the Antarctic, mainly studying the at-sea movements and diving behaviour of elephant seals. One important part of our work here at Bouvet is to deploy instruments on elephant seals that are capable of measuring water temperature and salinity while seals dive. This way, we can collect important oceanographic data from remote regions where few such measurements exist. As Nico said, in such a small team everyone helps out with everything, including making sure our little camp stays together in the sometimes harsh conditions.
What do we do in our spare time?
I could say that there isn’t really that much spare time. I think one of the charms of being in a place such as this is that you focus on the work, but the work is also the source of relaxation in a way. Spending so much time literally in the colonies of the seals and the birds is a blessing, and no matter if we work, have a small lunch, or just sit back for 5 minutes taking some photos or video, or just simply take in the fantastic wild scenery, it’s all part of the same thing, and this is for me the ’subantarctic’ or ‘island experience’.
Greg
Who am I and what do I do on Bouvet?
My name is Greg Hofmeyr. I am a marine mammal biologist based at the Port Elizabeth Museum (Bayworld). My first trip South was in 1992 when I went down to Marion Island as a field assistant for the Mammal Research Institutes pinniped programme. On that trip I fell in love with the Subantarctic and with seals. I have since completed a number of trips to Marion and Bouvet. I am presently completing a PhD on the behaviour of southern elephant seals. On this Bouvet trip I am involved in the research programmes on Antarctic fur seals and elephant seals.
What do we do in our spare time?
As the others have noted, spare time is very limited on Bouvet. We are here for such a short time and so are making the most of it in terms of our work programmes. We spend a considerable portion of our time maintaining the camp since the harsh weather and melting ice under the tents takes a toll. We also take turns to cook, and can state that my fellow islanders are great chefs. When not working or engaged in camp activities, I enjoy photography and observing the behaviour of the wonderful seals and seabirds at this isolated but beautiful place.
Aline
Who am I and what do I do on Bouvet?
My name is Aline Arriola. I am a biologist and I am doing my PhD at the Sea Mammal Research Unit at St-Andrews University, Scotland. On this expedition I am under the auspices of the Norwegian Polar Institute. Even though I was assigned as a field assistant specifically for the penguin research, we are all involved with work carried out on elephant seals and fur seals.
What do we do in our spare time?
As the rest of the team has described, the spare time is minimum. The fieldwork and keeping the base running is a full time job. Working with the animals and in such an amazing place is a great job so I enjoy every part of it as if it was my spare time. When the day allows I enjoy taking photos or just observing the wildlife. However some late nights are spent working on my PhD, there is no better place to write-up than in such a beautiful, isolated and wild place!
I will start this article with answering some questions that get asked on the radio. We are a team of 5 people doing work on the Island. Martin Biuw (Phd) - expedtion leader and a Swede, Aline Arriola (MSc) - Mexican, Greg Hofmeyr (MSc) - South Africa, Nico de Bruyn (MSc) - South African and Petrus Kritzinger (PN) - South African. We are employed by the Norwegian Polar Institute. We are only the 5th expedition in recent times to visit Bouvet Island.
The next question is what rig I use. The transceiver is a Icom IC - 735 and the antenna a Hustler 4 - BTV trap vertical. It is ground mounted with radials. Both transceiver and antenna were organised through Bernie(ZS4TX). The position of the antenna: 54° 24,536′ S 3° 17, 236′ E. Installing an antenna on Bouvet was problematic. I had to punch a hole into solid ice to drive in my ground stake. The radials are not exactly laid out flat due to the very uneven surface. The fact that we are living on the edge of seal and penguin colonies also does not making things easy. The seals have wrecked my wiring a few times, which has led to me securing the wires under tons of rocks.
To answer the question about the permanent hut that was constructed on the island previously. It was very likely demolished and thrown out to sea by an avalanche or rock slide. This happened at some stage since the previous expedition in 2001/ 2002. The only relatively flat and ice-free surface is an apron of land on the western side of the island called Nyrøysa. We are limited to this area by impassable cliffs. Its dimensions are approximately 2 km by 500 meters. In front is the Southern Ocean and at our backs is the Keisarryggen, a glaciated mountain.
Daylight hours extend from about 4 am to midnight. At times we have worked 16 hours in a day. And on one occasion we had dinner at one in the morning. The weather is typical sub-antarctic conditions: cold, very windy and lots of snow. Being situated on the western side of the island is not too conducive to good working and living conditions, since it is the windward side.
73’s
Petrus, 3Y0E/ ZS6GCM
Letter #1
We left Cape Town on the 4 December on the SA Agulhas. Some really bad weather slowed us down and we only arrived at Bouvet Island on the 12 December. Plans to fly from the ship were aborted due to mist and rain, strong winds and big swells. At 15:00 SAST the weather cleared and on very short notice we were on our way. We and our supplies were dropped in a big haste, as the weather was deteriorating again very quickly. In a very short time we were all alone on a very unfriendly place.
Greg Hofmeyr, one of the biologists on the team, mentioned earlier on the ship that it hardly ever rains on Bouvet. Needless to say it poured, with a strong and very cold wind to help it along. The only permanent structure on the island had been demolished and washed out to sea weeks before our arrival due to a avalanche. Erecting tents in gailforce winds was not pleasant, and especially not with frozen hands. We managed to erect a storage tent with great difficulty and then a smaller 6-person camping tent. After a dinner of energy bars and water, all 5 of us went to sleep in the smaller tent at 1:00.
The next day we erected the rest of our tents including the Weather Haven, a big 16 X 16 foot tent manufactured in Canada, especially designed for extreme conditions. Carrying everything from where it was dropped took some time and lots of physical effort. After a very long day, dinner was finally eaten served at 1:00. A few more days passed before I was able to erect the Hustler 4-BTV antenna and the Icom IC-735. The radials had to wait yet a few days more.
The majority of our work has involved research on fur seals, Arctocephalus gazella. We have been catching them with a hoop net and deploying various devices on them (PTT’s, TDR’s, VHF’s and other fancy names). These devices measure the depth and duration of dives, and the duration of the alternating periods that the mothers spend at sea and with their pups and their positions at sea. We have also weighed and tagged newborn pups and have done counts of seabirds.
On the night of the 21st we experience really bad weather. Three of our living tents were totally destroyed by winds of 70 - 80 knots, which were accompanied by pouring rain and wind chill of -30°C. At least the Hustler survived all of this. Converting wooden crates into sleeping quarters was the only other option available to us. Our camp has started to look like a refugee camp. Our activities over the last few days have encompassed long hours of hard work, stormy nights, repairs and maintenance on the surviving structures followed by more hard work and late dinners.
We are really living!
Petrus - 3Y0E/ ZS6GCM
Petrus and the crew,
hope that you have loads of contacts and that the ham fraternity will be amazed by the rookie…….hi.
Keep well and keep up the good work.
May you go from strength to strengyh.
Johann ZS3AAK
Petrus and team. I wish you all the best with your work on this remote island. Be God with you and bring you all safely home. My best wishes to Nico in his recovering. The amateur radio community is listening for you guys so don’t hesitate to ask for help !
Enjoy your time on the island !
Thanks
Eric - PY2EMC
Hello Petrus and Team, today i have the lucky to work you on 20 meters..a really lucky day for me of course is a new one !! want to give you the thank for that..only strong man’s can support severe weather and isolated conditons like you..hope you can make happy more hams like me. !!
best 73 with the wish that God take care of you !!
Tom-ZP5AZL
Hello Petrus,hope u r enjoying the island with all the mishaps.C ya in Feb or March
Hi Petrus and Nico (and everyone else)! Glad to hear you’re having a wonderful (even if cold and blustery) time there! I’m in the Falkland Islands now - reminds me a lot of Marion and Gough - Nico, I hope the seal bite wound is healing okay! Oh, and congrats on the other bit of news I heard…
Petrus, howzit?! Thanks so much for the badge! Please keep an eye out for any interesting kelp …hehe. Well, enjoy the last couple of weeks there, and have a safe and fun trip home! Crid