Tristan da Cunha

Having left Cape Town we planned to go East until we reached Tristan da Cunha before turning on a southerly heading in order to avoid the low pressures feeding up from Cape Horn and Pacific ocean. I had already been in contact with local fisheries officer there and he asked us to keep an eye out for anyone in their EEZ. As we were plodding on the weather was rather good and we eventually made good way. For those that do not know, TDC, is the remotest piece of land inhabited by people on earth, the territory is British under the St Helena administration, the Island was discovered by a Portuguese sailor back in 1506 and since then the name stuck. In 1961 the volcano erupted and the population was evacuated to Calshot, UK but eventually everyone returned in 1963 because of homesickness.

Tristan da Cunha, coat of arms

Tristan da Cunha, Edinburgh on NNW corner

On the 6th April we made our approach in early morning and the weather was still ok. It started almost calm but the wind increased as we approached. As I anchored off the main settlement, Edinburgh of the seven seas, I was surprised by the wind and current that took hold so had to do a U turn and steam back a bit so I wouldn't be hitting the rocks close to the small port. Eventually the anchor was holding well in abt 10m depth. As I confirmed anchor holding well, crew launched our RHIB and went ashore to pick up the officials from the port.

TDC in the distance

TDC in the distance

Edinburgh of the seven seas

Edinburgh of the seven seas

TDC port

TDC port

Boys are ashore

TDC port, pls note the lobsterboats in the background

The port was quite small and had no vessels in it. The ever changing weather in the Atlantic prevents anything from being kept afloat and intact. The fishery officer told me that the previous day only they had been slammed by 8m waves and that the port turns into a washing machine that churns anything in it to splinters. The lobster boats and pontoons for offloading cargo from ships were all piled ashore by a stationary crane on the jetty.

Lilibet riding at anchor

Lilibet riding at anchor

Lilibet riding at anchor

TDC

TDC

TDC

TDC

TDC

Edinburgh of the seven seas

Edinburgh of the seven seas

TDC flag flying

Soon enough we had onboard the local fishery official and immigration and other locals. They were very interested in the patrol vessel so we gave them the grand tour. In reciprocation they invited us ashore for a quick round before we would head off towards South Georgia and Falklands. We also got a nice stamp in our passports. I bet not many people on earth has it. Still the day was nice but it didn't clear up to show the volcano top of Tristan, it remained with the head in the clouds, literally.

We left onboard operational crew on duty and the rest headed ashore on the RHIB with the agreement that the other half would come ashore in a short while. The main settlement was not very large as the population is consisting of only a few hundred persons. Our first call would have been the pub but as our approach had taken so long we were too late and the lady would open only in the late afternoon so we settled for the post office where we could write postcards and get a cold beer from a can. The post office cum gift shop cum pub was also littered with memorabilia and photos of past visitors, both persons and ships.

Edinburgh "city"

Pic of another visitor from bygone days

Distances to different corners of the earth

TDC architecture

Edinburgh hustle and bustle

Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh pub

Locals

The area I though was a development but turned out to be discarded machinery. Behind is the lava flow from previous eruptions

In the background old lava flow

After that the local fishery officer offered few drinks at his house as we chewed the cud about the local conditions and life in general. It was interesting to know that when the Islanders gets the local community on their nerves or get bored they go to the neighboring Nightingale Island to blow off steam or to calm down and to change scenery. In general many of the Islanders appeared well traveled otherwise, in evidence the fridge was full of magnets from all around the world. We also learned that the locals were only allowed to keep a couple of heads of livestock in order not to deplete the vegetation. One could see trails leading off to various directions and also along in the settlement cows lazed around looking at life going by.

Having enjoyed the hospitality for a suitable time we didn't want to impose and clock was ticking so it was time to call it a day and make tracks. We thanked our hosts and got going. We all piled into a Land Rover and soon enough were on our way down to the port. Before the port was a cemetery I requested to stop at as there was supposed to be a grave of a Finn that had been buried there.

Eventually I found the grave and the stone said Arthur A Soderlund had been buried there after an accident working on the Tristonian fishing vessel Frances Repetto. He had apparently fallen over and hurt himself badly and died. One source says that he was buried at sea, so not sure if there was a body under the headstone. After doing some research I made a separate blogpost about it as the story is quite fascinating.

Tristan Graveyard

Grave of Capt Soderlund

Motoring off Tristan

Motoring off Tristan

Motoring off Tristan

I'm digressing here, so having seen the grave of a great sailor we made it down to port. Thanked everyone for their hospitality and then we also received a box of frozen lobster for the crew to enjoy. I was also gifted a TDC coat of arms that eventually was hung in the messroom wall of Lilibet. We all packed into the RHIB and motored back to Lilibet where I hoisted anchor and started around the Edinburgh and rounded to a southerly course towards Inaccessible Island. As we drew closer we truly realised the island was worth it's name, the vertical sheer cliffs really looked inaccessible. Then a bit onwards we could see the Nightingale island in the distance. 

Postcards

Postcard, Edinburg of the seven seas

Postcard, Edinburg of the seven seas

The evening set in and soon it was dark, the only Island we had not seen was Gough Island that could be thought of the worlds most remote place of work. They change the scientific crew once a year and at same time they replenish stores. It is a popular destination for cruise ships but they're not allowed to land due to possible biosphere pollution so they just launch their tenders and motor around watching the sea and bird life. 

Nightingale Is.

Inaccessible Is

Inaccessible Is