Ship's log - part7

Wednesday, January 19 Our work day was pretty quiet although we had a huge amount of mail to stamp. Ships are so rare, that everybody sends umpteen letters, parcels, and postcards to their families. Given the transportation delay, they would have been better off sending faxes or e-mails.

After dinner, we participated in a fire drill. Of course, as expected, we spent most of the time hosing each other while the team leader was desperately trying to extinguish the flames that were devouring the wreck  chosen for this kind of training drill.

Thursday, January 20 Today was my tour of duty as « Petite Marie ». Do you remember what it means?

I was in charge of the service during the three meals of the day, namely setting the table, bringing out the courses, taking dishes away, doing the dishes, and eventually cleaning the eating house. As a consequence, I did not work at the radio station. Instead, in between meals, I went to the beach with my camera slung over my shoulders.

It was difficult to number the chicks, as so many of them have been hatching since the beginning of the Austral summer. Despite their ugliness, they are moving. At this age, they are particularly vulnerable, and the death rate is higher than most of all the other species. Either they are abandoned by their parents, they drown in the river during a flood, or they are ripped into pieces by the birds of prey. Only half of them will become mature!

Friday, January 21 The ship should have arrived early this morning, but because of changeable weather, she was in sight around 10:00 am. As the departure was set for 4 pm, we had to carry out the unloading in time.

As expected, the departure was pretty sad. The foghorn that dismally resounded while the ship was casting off drew tears from everybody's eyes. Saturday, January 22 I tried to do my laundry this morning, but I quickly stopped since my contracture reminded me of my injury. I paid a visit to the doctor who decided to strengthen the treatment. Desperate times call for desperate measures: I will have two injections a day for one week!

Sunday, January 23 I slept badly this night because of haunting pain in my back. As I was eventually falling asleep, the howling wind which was blowing in gale, and was relentlessly beating rain down against the shutters with deafening noise, inevitably awakened me.

Monday, January 24 This new week begins with a bad omen; my back aches and the weather are apocalyptic! I spent my morning modifying the technical parameters of all of the telephones of the base. It was a good opportunity to visit everybody.

Tuesday, January 25 It came as a surprise to us to see that there was no hot water anymore in the station this morning. The water heater died after many years of good and faithful service. It was the fifth one to die since we arrived. It gives you an idea of the poor condition of the buildings which, for most of them, date back to the year 1960 when the first pioneers settled down on the island.

Alain, who is in charge of keeping these kinds of devices in good working order, fixed it up, and at the end of our work day we were able to have a refreshing bath.

Wednesday, January 26 The weather has been atrocious for four days. However, we have been so overworked that time has flown quickly.

In a few days, the ship will arrive and she will be staying put for roughly one month in order to carry out an important task where everybody will be involved.

I have accumulated so much fatigue over many days that I can no longer fight against my compelling desire to rest in my armchair in the station. As soon as I sprawled on it, I fell into a deep sleep.

Thursday, January 27 When the base awoke from sleep this morning, the French patrol boat “the albatross” was mooring in the front of the bay. The crew landed and besieged our station in order to post mail and make phone calls to their families.

They gave us a lot of work, but they also brought with them, beautiful weather. Indeed, after four rainy days, we took advantage of the splendid afternoon, to go to the beach which has been bristling with more and more chicks since the first eggs started hatching a few weeks ago. What a racket!

Friday, January 28 Today was the turn of the “Aldebaran”, one of the six fishing boats allowed to fish in the French territorial waters, to visit us. She arrived early this morning, in order to repair engine damage. Two sailors took advantage of this port of call to visit the doctor for a few benign sores.

It was drizzling when the ship left her anchor.