Page 96 - 2003 - Atlantic Islands

process would be dangerous. To minimize the peril, the captain demanded that only

7 passengers should be carried per Zodiac. We also used the Marina Deck rather than

the side gate for the disembarkation and for reboarding the Orion.

While we waited for our turn to get aboard, we were watching all the birds in the

anchorage area and Kay was taking pictures wildly, but effectively too. We saw Arctic

Terns in winter plumage and Antarctic terns in summer feathers. What handsome

birds both species are with their smart black caps and short, full wings, diving into

the water heads first on their hunting expeditions.

We also saw Yellow-Nosed Albatross skimming across the waters and they had the

same wonderful eyebrows as all the other albatross we have seen in our travels.

The Orion was anchored about 300-400 yards offshore of the island but more

challenging than even that fact is the approach to Tristan. The Zodiac travels in and

then enters a two-sided breakwater area where the sea is only a little calmer and

then must make a 90 degree right turn into the quay, sidle up to the landing site and

get itself tied up properly so that the Zodiac doesn’t tip over as the swells come in.

The swells can be 3-5 meters high which makes getting on and off the Zodiacs

treacherous except for the wonderful AB seamen who are strong and sure-footed.

They often actually “lift” us out of danger.

From the decks of the Orion and on the Zodiacs as well we could see what a

forbidding looking place Tristan is, except for the tiny soft green stretch where

Edinburgh of the Seven Seas (city’s full and fabled name) sits. For us, the central

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