| News of Cruise Liner Visits have been moved to a new page in the visits section : see Cruise Liner Visits |
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Nine of Cups Safe arrival
tristandc.com published a picture and short account of the visit of this yacht below in early December and we have now received a New Year message to confirm their arrival in Cape Town and invite us to provide a link to their website which has a lovely record with pictures of their Tristan visit. Check it out at www.nineofcups.com They send best wishes for Happy 2007 and fair winds :
from Marcie, David and Jelly
Aboard Nine of Cups, Royal Cape Yacht Club, Cape Town, South Africa
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| Christmas Holiday Shipping Arrivals to remove oil rig The specially chartered trip of MV Kelso arrived at Tristan da Cunha on Friday 22nd December, with an advance party from the Titan salvage team accompanied by an environmental assessment team. The 3180 tonne salvage tug De Hong, built in 2000 in China, chartered by salvors Titan sailed from Cape Town on 24th December and arrived on Friday 29th December. |
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Tristan Photograph chosen for Camogli Society Christmas Card
Season Greetings postcard which shows a picture of Tristan da Cunha. This image won the 1st prize in the Photo Contest (see www.scmncamogli.org) held by the Society of Ship Captains and Naval Engineers based in Camogli in Italy. Camogli has strong roots linked to Tristan because of the arrival of Camogli citizens Gaetano Lavarello and Andrea Repetto who were on board the brig Italia, wrecked off Tristan on 1892.
Merry Christmas and happy New Year
from Carlo Gatti
President of Society of Ship Captains and Naval Engineers - Camogli, Italy 21st December 2006 |
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Dreams Fulfilled for American Yacht SY Nine of Cups called on Tristan between 5-7th December 2006. Nine of Cups is named after a Tarot card signifying 'dreams fulfilled', is crewed by David & Marrie Lynn of Denver, Colorado, USA and is en route from Uruguay to Cape Town. Photograph from Janice Hentley shows the boat anchored off the 1961 lava flow taken from the Residency garden over a hedge of summer hydrangeas, an upturned Tristan longboat and a goalpost on the American Fence school playing field. |
| Record Tristan - Cape Town journey? HMS Edinburgh (see story below and on Community News Page) had to curtail its visit on Friday 1st December and set full speed for Cape Town to evacuate a casualty, who was airlifted off the boat and arrived safely during the evening of Sunday 3rd December aboard the ship's helicopter - surely a record for the trip? The medevac was a young crew member hailing from Dunfermline. She was obviously in some abdominal pain but suffering stoically and carrying on with her duties. However with appendicitis suspected, the Captain was taking no chances regarding the well-being of his crew member, so he decided to leave early and return to Cape Town. We understand that the patient underwent a successful operation there earlier this week and is now recovering well.
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December Visit from German Yacht Sailing yacht Bank von Bremen visited Tristan on 2nd December en route from Montevideo to Cape Town. She is owned by a syndicate of German yachtsmen based in Bremen who take it in turns to join the crew of 9 on various legs of her maiden round the world voyage. Built in April and designed as a racer-cruiser capable of 17-18 knots, she has a distinctive 30 metre mast balanced by a 3.3 metre keel. She had to anchor in 20 fathoms of water in the anchorage off the American Fence, from where this photograph was taken by Janice Hentley. Skipper Rudi Olma emailed tristandc.com on Monday 4th December to thank the Tristan community for all their kindness, still 1200 miles from The Cape. |
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HMS Edinburgh transports Chief Islander back home to Edinburgh HMS Edinburgh arrived at the Tristan da Cunha Settlement of Edinburgh on Thursday 30th November from Cape Town for a two day visit. The ship carried Chief Islander Anne Green and her husband Joseph who otherwise would not be home for Christmas (The next scheduled ship leaves Cape Town on 18th January). Details of the ship's visit can be found on our Community News Page. Photo from janice Hentley shows HMS Edinburgh from The Residency Garden on 30th November - St Andrew's Day. |
| The visit of HMS Edinburgh is highly symbolic as it will be the final special event of the Quincentenary Year to celebrate 500 years of Tristan da Cunha history since the island's discovery by Tristao da Cunha in 1506, and coincidentally continues the Edinburgh tradition : The Tristan Settlement was named Edinburgh of the Seven Seas by Peter Green after a visit from the first Duke of Edinburgh (Prince Alfred, the second son of Queen Victoria) to Tristan in August 1867. During the visit Peter Green hosted a royal dinner including Tristan’s only available bottle of wine! In January 1957 the present Duke of Edinburgh made a visit to Tristan on his way home from the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne on the Royal Yacht Britannia. He laid the foundation stone of the new Prince Philip Hall and attended a dance to music from the Royal Marines Band. On 3rd November 2006, the Duke of Edinburgh attended a celebratory dinner at the Royal Geographical Society to mark the Quincentenary (see Association News). HMS Edinburgh is a Royal Navy Type 42 Destroyer of 5200 tonnes with a potential speed of 30 knots. She was built by Cammell Laird in Belfast, launched in 1983, first commissioned in 1985 and completed a refit at Rosyth in 1995. The ship carries a Lynx Mk 3 helicopter and has a company of 300 with 26 officers. So there are more people aboard HMS Edinburgh than in the Edinburgh Settlement which consists normally of 270 islanders and 8 expatriates. |
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November Fishing Ship Arrivals Shown left is a picture of the MFVs Jade (foreground) and Espadarte in the anchorage off the Tristan Settlement. Both vessels arrived on Sunday 19th November to complete formalities before beginning their fishing trips. The Espadarte is a regular visitor and has renewed a longline licence for fin fish. The Jade is a newcomer and has taken out an experimental licence to catch octopus off the seamounts in the Tristan EEZ. Tristan Crawfishing activities can be viewed on the Fishing News and Fishing Page in the Tristan Economy section. |
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SA Agulhas' Annual Austral Spring Voyage to Tristan
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Agulhas Cargo
Safely Home Wave Dancer on 15th September safely ashore outside her Calshot harbour shed awaiting duties. |
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Visit of yacht Pelagic Australis May 2006 We apologise to regular Shipping News Page readers who have logged on expecting this picture since hearing from the crew some months ago - but the picture was received at tristandc.com HQ only on 3/7/06 and without a date of arrival. |
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2006 Nightingale Fatting Trip The party included Barney, Barry and Nicky Swain, Kevin Glass, Tanya Green, Emma Rogers, Poppy Lavarello and Donna Rogers. They remained on Nightingale until 24th May when a launch and a company fishing boat travelled over to help them back as weather conditions prevented a safe return trip by dinghy. Photographs see the return of boats to Calshot Harbour on 24th May. See also Nightingale Page. |
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Easter Return of MF Europa Following the April 2005 Tristan visit of the sailing barque MF Europa she called again a year later, arriving on Good Friday and departing on Easter Sunday for Cape Town. She sailed via Nightingale Island, giving a lift there to a team headed by James Glass of Tristan's Natural Resources Department who will be working on some conservation projects until they are collected during the next scheduled call of the 'Edinburgh' at the end of the month. |
South Atlantic Team Work to rescue yacht Gumption
The sailing yacht 'Gumption' passed Tristan on Tuesday 14th March with 3 crew aboard on her return to Cape Town after participating in the recent Cape Town - Rio de Janeiro Yacht Race. The crew decided not to call in as they were behind schedule. Tristan Radio then had a distress call from them on Thursday 16th - a heavy sea had demasted the yacht 250 miles from Tristan da Cunha. No loss or injury, but they only had about three days fuel on board. Tristan asked the Hapag-Lloyd Cruise Ship MS Bremen (Captain Mark Behrend), due to call here on Saturday 18 March if they could assist. The Bremen made a rendezvous with the yacht on Sunday 19 March at 1600 - at position S 38-35 W/E 00-00, some 925 nautical miles from Cape Town. The yacht had managed to cruise at 4-6 knots under jury rig, and all were well on board. The Bremen transferred some 160 litres of diesel fuel, giving the yacht a range of 720 nm, so they could reach Cape Town. It was confirmed that the yacht arrived safely in Cape Town at 12.00 on Sunday 26th March. Report from Andrea Repetto who conducted the radio communication from Tristan Radio
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Greenpeace and Hocus Pocus Monday 6th March saw a visit from the sailing yacht 'Hocus Pocus' with a crew of 3 on her return to Cape Town after participating in the Cape Town - Rio de Janeiro yacht race. Also calling on the same day was the Greenpeace vessel 'Arctic Sunrise' with a crew of 15 in transit from Cape Town to Brazil. The photograph shows how smaller vessels can anchor in shallower water off The Settlement, but only on calm days! |
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MV Edinburgh arrived for her first 2006 passenger and cargo trip and is pictured here in perfect summer weather on 3rd February. She is due to return to Cape Town on Monday 6th February. Like London buses, boats never seem to arrive, (the last being MV Kelso in November 2005) then there are three at once...MV Edinburgh heads the queue, followed on 5th February by RMS St Helena and later in the week MV Kelso. |
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Yacht Tryer Visit A 34' sailing yacht called on it's way from Brazil to Cape Town visiting Tristan on 21st - 23rd December 2005. Skipper Dick Jaeger (Netherlands), and crew members Fabiano Ponto (Brazil) & Georg Rodler (Germany) were able to come ashore on each of the three days they spent at the anchorage.The yacht is shown right at anchor photographed from The Residency lawn with its mid-summer Hydrangeas. |
| 2006 500th Anniversary Cruise Celebrating the discovery of Tristan da Cunha by the Portuguese Admiral Tristao da Cunha in 1506, this historic cruise is described in outline below and there will be a full report with many photographs in the July Tristan da Cunha Newsletter. Make sure you are a member of the Tristan Association to receive your free copy. See Tristan Association Membership Page. Passengers are encouraged to send photographs and reports to the editor by email : newseditor@tristandc.com |
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| Friday 17th February The RMS St Helena arrived back in Cape Town to end the Quincentenary Cruise. |
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| Sunday 12th February The RMS St Helena visited Gough Island on its return voyage to Cape Town. Six members of the 1955/6 Gough Island Scientific Survey led by Tristan Association Chair Michael Swales and Vice-President Sir Martin Holdgate and also including John Heaney, Dr Robert Chambers, Dr Roger Le Maitre and Philip Mullock were able to celebrate an emotional return to Gough to mark the 50th Anniversary of the expedition. Unfortunately neither the Goughalites nor Governor Clancy were able to land and the visit was limited to a circumnavigation of the island and radio conversations with the South African Team based at the Meteorological Station. |
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| That was the week that was : in reverse order we catalogue the main events of the Tristan Quincentenary Celebrations | ||||
| Saturday 11th February | Farewell to Tristan Photograph right showing RMS St Helena Cruise passengers being ferried back to the ship from Calshot Harbour on Saturday afternoon, and left the RMS sailing away, (hopefully not for the last time), for a trip around Inaccessible and Nightingale Islands before cruising overnight to Gough. |
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Friday 10th February |
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| Thursday 9th February This day was declared a public holiday to formally celebrate the Quincentenary of Tristan da Cunha. Morning sports included a married v single football match (The Tristan v RMS St Helena Crew game was cancelled owing to poor weather stopping ferry journeys to the ship), a school sports day followed by an adult game of the unique Tristan 'football-rounders'. Governor Clancy had lunch at the home of the Chief Islander, sampling the local delicacies stuffed roast mutton ,crayfish pie and clouttie dumpling. |
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| 500th Anniversary Dance At the dance HE Michael Clancy (Governor of St Helena and its Dependencies of Tristan da Cunha and Ascension Island) read a special message from HM Queen Elizabeth II which we are privileged to publish - Quincentenary Message Governor Clancy continued by referring to recently received news on the proposed harbour redevelopment : 'I want to say a word about the harbour. I welcome TDC's decision to put it's EDF allocation towards the rehabilitation. I am pleased to be able to announce that the Department for International Development in London has agreed to provide the balance of funds necessary. Preparatory work will be carried out in two phases and consultants to undertake this work will be appointed shortly. Once the preparatory phases are complete, rehabilitation work can get underway. It is hoped the preparatory work can be completed as soon as possible in 2006 with the aim of a final completion date in 2008. DFID will however continue to keep the Tristan da Cunha administration updated on developments.' Further news of the proposed harbour project can be found on the Development News page |
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New Envir0nmental Protection Ordinance Presented |
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Tristan da Cunha celebrates 500th Anniversary with new Environmental Protection Laws Five hundred years after the discovery of the South Atlantic islands of Tristan Da Cunha, the unique wildlife of the UK Overseas Territory will receive greater protection, thanks to a new Conservation Ordinance. At a ceremony, on the 9th of February, celebrating the 500th anniversary of the islands' discovery, His Excellency the Governor of St Helena and Dependencies, Michael Clancy, presented the new ordinance to: Mr Mike Hentley, the islands' Administrator; Mrs Anne Green, the Chief Islander; and Mr James Glass, Head of the Tristan Natural Resources Department. The author of the ordinance, John Cooper, of the University of Cape Town and a Tristan honorary conservation officer, said: "We hope this ordinance will take the environmental protection of Tristan da Cunha and its outlying islands into the first half of the new century: it really is a major achievement. Among many other matters, it results in the creation of seven new reserves for rockhopper penguins on the main island of Tristan. The Islanders should be proud of their conservation achievements that this new ordinance marks." The full report can be found on our Conservation News Page |
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Rikki's Return An Elvis tribute provided by Rikki Ryan, above, provided music for the dance. Rikki has been raising funds to provide a new sound system for the Prince Philip Hall. He is the son of Noeline Evans (nee Swain). |
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Record Number of Overnight Visitors ? During RMS week, a total of 70 RMS passengers stayed all 6 nights ashore, another 31 stayed 5 nights or less, in addition to 24 relatives/friends/visitors/officials who came on the Kelso/Edinburgh. So the total resident population of 271 plus 8 ex pats peaked by a further 125 at one stage - with one visitor was sleeping in his tent in the factory manager's garden! |
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| Wednesday 8th February The fishing vessel MV Kelso provided an opportunity for 47people, including Governor Mike Clancey to go ashore on Nightingale Island and enjoy a circumnavigation of Inaccessible Island. The full day trip lasted from 10 am to 10pm as it took many journeys to ferry passengers to and from the rocky landing on Nightingale. |
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Tuesday 7th February |
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Monday 6th February In the morning Governor Mike Clancey toured the Crawfish factory and also went aboard the fishing vessels MV Edinburgh and Kelso, anchored off the Settlement with the RMS St Helena (see photograph below). At 2pm the Governor joined a packed school hall for 31 St Mary's School pupils to perform their production 'The Pied Piper of Tristan', also featured in more detail on our Community News Page. |
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Edinburgh v Edinburgh |
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| Evening Reception and Dance Mike Hentley, Tristan's Administrator hosted a Reception at The Residency which included a toast to 500 Years of Tristan History and afterwards most of the island community and the many visitors attended a dance in the Prince Philip Hall to celebrate Maria's timely 21st Birthday. |
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Sunday 5th February The RMS St Helena arrived on the morning of Sunday 5th February on its special quincentenary year visit bringing a total of 114 passengers. Despite the overcast sky and stiff breeze, the disembarkation process went very smoothly. Many passengers are planning to stay ashore for one or more nights, and nearly every Tristan household is hosting guests. One enterprising passenger has even pitched his tent in the Factory Manager's garden!
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Tristan welcomes The Governor Governor Mike Clancy being welcomed by Administrator Mike Hentley and Chief Islander Anne Green as he makes his inaugural visit to Tristan during the quincentenary year. The Governor carries a special 500th Anniversary message from HM Queen Elizabeth II which will be read at a Reception planned for Tuesday 7th February. It will be published on tristandc.com immediately afterwards. |
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Monday 30th January RMS St Helena left Cape Town with 114 passengers for a five / six day passage to the Tristan Settlement of Edinburgh of the Seven Seas. Passengers are from all over the world, include the Governor of St Helena and its dependencies Michael Clancey joining Tristan Association members, led by Chairman Michael Swales. |
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| No Room at the Inn The RMS St Helena Cruise will test Tristan da Cunha's hospitality to its limits. Maximum Bed and Breakfast capacity is normally 40, but island families have made spare rooms available for the influx of passengers on the RMS. Tristan da Cunha has no hotels or inns, but there are two guest houses and islanders offer full board to occasional visitors. Normally passengers from passing ships are not allowed to stay overnight as weather conditions change quickly and they may be marooned. |
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Tristan Programme - Sunday 5th February to Saturday 11th February 2006 Government Departments Open Days - Concert - Sports Day - 2 Receptions - Evening Dance |
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