My first day finally arrived with some anticipation but also with some excitement. This was the day I was to set sail onboard a commercial trawler for the first time. This was my training trip for my new job as an Instructor for the South African Albatross Task Force Team.
After two trips to sea had already been cancelled for various reasons, I could not quite believe that it was really time to go. We arrived at the docks to see for the first time the vessel I was going on. At first it looked a bit like a rust bucket full of oil and grease, but that opinion did not last for long.
We collected our two blankets and pillows and boarded the vessel with our luggage. We were taken to a much larger than expected, very comfortable cabin that sleeps four. We were then given a quick tour of the ship and were soon very comfortable on our home for the next nine days.
We set sail at 7.30 pm into pretty good sea conditions (luckily for me, as I have been known to get sea sick!). The first few days were spent improving my bird identification (as my background is in fisheries). After a few tips from Barry (South African ATF) and John (who is a new Namibian ATF member), I started to get a bit more of an idea and things began to get easier.
The third day came along and we decided it was time to give the actual data collection a go. This was all good and fair until I saw where I was to be sitting to collect this data! Put it this way - it was right at the back of the boat, on the small ledge called the catwalk!
Firstly, you had to negotiate the straight upright stairs and then fit yourself through the gap in the railing, while the vessel is rolling from side to side and finally place yourself on the narrow ledge. After doing this a few times you get used to it, but I must say it was always a little scary! The data collection went well and we were extremely lucky to see a northern royal albatross (wow, what a stunning and very large bird!). Unfortunately, for Barry he had just gone downstairs to fetch the camera and so he missed it!
Some of the other birds that we saw on our trip included great shearwaters, sub-Antarctic skuas, shy and black-browed albatrosses, Wilson's storm petrel, Indian and Atlantic albatrosses, a little egret (yes, that's correct), sooty shearwater, white-chinned petrel, giant petrel, Cory's shearwater, gannets, pintado petrel and a Franklin's gull (a North American species).
Our trip went from Danger Point along the east coast up to just North of Robben Island. We were lucky to have eight days of great weather, one of these was basically flat as a lake, and then only one cooler day with a large swell and some rain! It gave me a small idea of the weather I may expect in winter and wow, was it cold! A warm shower was definitely welcome.
The food onboard was great and I must say, being a woman you are definitely treated well and the crew seemed to find it a bit of a luxury. The cook would even go as far as giving my plate an extra wipe before dishing up and the crew would always move out of my way when I wanted to go up or down the stairs (even if they were two or three stairs down already!)
I must say my first sea experience was very good and I learnt a huge amount. All in all it was an experience many people will never get and one that I will remember and laugh at for many times in the future!