Ship's log - part8

Saturday, January 29 This morning, the sun was reticent about showing up clearly through the heavy fog that blurred the island. After struggling all morning, it finally got over it. When we went to the maritime markers, the beach below was bathed in sunlight.

Sunday, January 30 What a sad day! It has been raining since we woke up, so we had nothing to do but stamp hundreds of envelopes for the stamp collectors from dawn to dusk, sheltered in the radio station.

Monday, January 31 Today was another day. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day. Although I was not behind in my work, I had to take advantage of this nice weather to carry on outside work. When winter is here, it will be too late for that.

I went down to the beach in the afternoon to troubleshoot a telephone land line.

The beach was bristling with thousands of ugly, but always moving, chicks.

At the end of this busy day I went to the sport room and ran for one hour on the treadmill.

Tuesday, February 1 I did not forget to take my camera with me this afternoon, as I set off toward the beacon that needed to be painted. When one goes somewhere, even if it is for the job, it is good to be prepared to shoot. Fauna is so unpredictable that there are always beautiful pictures to be taken. Luminance is so changeable throughout the day that the same landscape looks totally different by the hour.

I did have good inspiration because Yvan and Adam, who passed by on their way to a quiet, secluded, tiny cove, named « la Chaloupe », talked me into accompanying them to the creek.

We had sunbathed there, and spent hours observing seal elephants that were casually swimming in the cold water of a river, absent-mindedly looking at these three strange bipeds equipped with cameras.

Wednesday, February 2 Typical weather from Crozet today: rain, rain and more rain! When I stepped out of my door, I saw such a deluge, that I turned back and stayed secluded all day in the station with Erick. I helped him prepare his backpack, as he is going to set off tomorrow for a three-day hike.

Thursday, February 3 We still had changeable weather today! After showers of water and snow in the morning, we enjoyed generous sun during almost the whole afternoon. I took advantage of the situation to put a last lick of paint on the beacons.

Friday, February 4 As a matter of routine, when I am alone for some days at the station, I am confronted with a lot of problems. I really don't know why the fax machine decided to expel all the documents I put into it. I really don't understand how come the radio transmitter decided to disrupt two or three times in a row without any particular reason. Anyway, I had to stop my regular job at the radio station, and tried to hammer out a solution. When Erick is back I will devote all my time to these problems and try to find a definite method of troubleshooting.

Saturday, February 5 It was impossible to take advantage of the incredibly mild temperature for I was stuck alone in the station. I just had a break after dinner to go down to the « Bollard » and take some pictures.

Sunday, February 6 The weather was as execrable today as last Sunday. Unceasing rainfall beat down on the roofs of the buildings of the base, and there were gale-force winds. The best thing I could do was to do my laundry, clean my bedroom and iron.

Erick and Yvan came back from their hike around 2:00 pm, soaked to the skin.

Monday, February 7 We decided to move our departure for our hike forward owing to the nice weather this morning. We set off on our expedition around 3:00 pm in the sun. Because of the absence of wind, the temperature reached more than 18°C. Even the water of the rivers seemed almost mild.

At the end of the afternoon, we settled for a sunbath on the wooden terrace of the cabin. We let our eyes linger on the scenery while sipping a fresh beer.

Tuesday, February 8 Unfortunately, the rain and wind resumed just after we awakened. We visited the picturesque surroundings despite this poor weather, but as it was getting worse we finally returned to the cabin. We felt some anxiety about the water of the river that almost rose to the level of the terrace. It would not be surprising if we awoke tomorrow with our feet in the water…