4th July 2009

It is without doubt the cook who has the most important job aboard any ship, large or small. Noel has been our cook for the last 8 years. He is responsible for, not only cooking, but ordering everything we need for trips lasting up to 3 months from any port. When we sail from Timaru the ship will be away from home port for about 7 months and it is important to store up with as many of the main brands, frozen and dry goods, to last that long. During port calls at Port Stanley (or wherever they may be) Noel will top up his supplies with fresh veges, poultry and fruit from places like, Santiago and Montevideo.

Dishing up 3 hot meals a day for 23 people is a demanding job even when the weather calm. The real test for any cook is to keep providing those meals during all conditions. When it’s been blowing 35 to 45kts South-West for days on end, dinner time and the chance to sit down and relax a little can be all there is to look forward to at the end of a cold wet shift.

Noel putting out breakfast for the 08:00hrs shift change. Juliet is just starting her shift, part of her cleaning duty is to help Noel clean up after mealtime. Once she has done that she heads below to join her team on the working deck for the next 8 hours.

Rgds: John B.

1st July 2009

South Georgia is notorious for its bad weather, particularly in winter. We have been fishing along the North and South West coasts of the island for the last 7 days and still haven’t laid eyes on its rugged mountain rangers. We can see the island on radar just 25nm to the north but fog, sleet and low cloud have kept it hidden from view. During the last 4 days have we have had classic bad weather conditions with 60kt SW storms bringing with it huge seas freezing and conditions about the ship. But life is relatively comfortable aboard with the hatchers well dodged down in these severe conditions. Only occasionally will the crew have to venture out on deck to bring fishing gear back aft to the shelter deck for setting.

Mat on deck taking floats back to the shelter deck ready for setting lines.

A few days before we arrived at the fishing grounds one of the other long liners, ( also licensed to fish in South Georgia waters ), accidentally caught fire. Eventually the fire was brought under control by the crew but too much damage had been done for them to make repairs or continue fishing. A large Korean trawler was diverted to tow the damaged vessel to Montevideo, while doing this they were caught in that same storm we were in a few days ago. By all accounts, the tow line broke, the fire took hold again, and the vessel eventually sank around 200nm North of South Georgia. We believe there was no loss of life, all crew are safe and well.

2nd Mate Shane on the left with the Chief Engineer Greg, checking BA gear and fire fighting equipment.

This was just another reminder to us that accidents do happen and the need for us to be self sufficient and deal with our own problems is vital, it is no use waiting for help to arrive out here.

Rgds: John B.

29th June 2009

We are now 7 days into this trip and everyone has settled onto their respective shifts. The Skipper, 1st Mate, 2nd Mate, Factory manager, Chief and 2nd engineer all do 12 hour shifts. The Cook is on flexible hours that suit meal times:
Breakfast:           07:00 to 08:00hrs.
Smoko:                Noon.
Dinner:                13:00 to 16:00hrs.
Late meal:          23:00 to 24:00hrs. (All meals coincide with 8 hour shift changers).

The remaining crew are split into two shifts that do 8hrs on, 8hrs off, 24……7

The photo shows (from left) Laurie, Theo, Jamie and Ritchie (leading hand), coming off shift at 08:00hrs after going on deck at midnight. Now they will have breakfast and then do their allocated cleaning duties throughout the accommodation deck, cleaning floors, changing rooms, toilet blocks and mess room. After that their time is their own before starting again at 16:00hrs that afternoon and working until midnight. Usually crew will get more sleep during one shift off than the other.

Rgds: John B.

24th June 2009

The San Aspiring is a 52m purpose built auto long liner (built in 2004) she has a 2,000hp Caterpillar main engine, can carry 400,000ltrs fuel that allows her to stay at sea for about 85 days. She has accommodation for 33 crew, scientists and observers. She also has a good sized sauna, a gym with exercycles, cross trainer and weights. In 2006 we converted the solarium to increase the size of the boson’s locker and also removed the 8 person spa pool. We felt they were a little too extravagant for Kiwi fishermen.

San Aspiring with moderate freezing on deck 25nm south of Cape Disappointment, South Georgia.

There is no doubt this vessel is one of the safest and most comfortable fishing vessels of her class in the world today. For us to operate in remote southern ocean reigns and comply with the stringent requirements from CCAMLR and MSC, we need to be confident that the ship can handle the conditions we encounter. When the sea temp drops to -1.2, the air temp is -12 and we have 20 ton of ice on deck and in the rigging, we need to feel safe. Aspiring is built for these conditions….all we have to do is maintain her to a high standard and keep it there.

Rgds: John B.

22nd June 2009

We’re back aboard the FV San Aspiring now and heading for the Toothfish grounds around South Georgia in the Southern Ocean. Sue (my wife), has joined us for her 3rd season in the South Georgia fishery. It’s good to catch up with our regular crew after my 7 month refit and maiden voyage aboard the Antarctic Chieftain.

At the end of the Antarctic season Sue and I had a great break at home with family and friends, in early April we became grandparents for the first time, Bella is now 11 weeks old and growing fast. We imagine she will be crawling by the time we get home.

We met the 16 man relief crew at Auckland airport on the 18th June for the 12hr flight to Santiago (Chile) where we spent 2 nights before catching the next flight to Punta Arenas then on to the Falkland Isl on 20th, (there is only one flight a week to the Island.)

San Aspiring alongside the floating wharf in Port Stanley, Falkland Island

San Aspiring started the South Georgia season back in February when the crew sailed her from Timaru to Port Stanley in the Falklands then on to South Georgia for licensing before the start of the fishing season. Most of that crew are now heading home after 3 ½ months fishing while our team take over to finish catching our remaining quota then bring the ship home, sometime in September / October, depending on fishing results.

Rgds: John B.

2nd February 2009

Unfortunately, we’ve experienced some problems with our communications link – this means that we need to keep our comms to a minimum.  When we do have comms working, we’ll need to limit it to the critical data we have to send on behalf of the other vessel we have down here.  This is the nature of working at extreme distances.

We’ll be heading back to New Zealand soon, the trip is drawing to a close and once we’re able, we’ll be blogging again.

rgds, John B

30th January 2009

Yesterday we set 3 lines on an isolated hill that we haven’t fished before. The first line is up and the results look encouraging. It’s good to be away from that sea ice and in open clear water for a change. Hopefully we can keep fishing for another 2 or 3 weeks before this area is also closed, then we can head for home.

Mike, the cook, reports the ships stores are holding up well. We have a reasonable stock of apples and oranges that still taste good but the remaining fruit is well past its best.

We finished the fresh vegetables about 2 weeks ago so its all frozen veg from here on. No problem though, it is good quality Talley’s frozen products and plenty of it. We are keeping an eye on the long life milk supply, we ma run low there (heaps of coffee though) and we’re almost out of cheese otherwise we’re in good shape in the stores department and meal time is, by far, the highlight of our day.

The evenings are starting to dim now with the sun dipping below the southern horizon. In another week we’ll need the light on over the chart table at midnight to see properly. From then on conditions will get colder and darker at night very quickly.  

Every ship has a mascot, we have 2. Monkey and Mr Gudni Olifsson. Both are better looking than most of my crew I reckon.

Rgds: John B.

29th January 2009

Its day 66 of this trip with about 24 days to go. That will depend how good the fishing is in this next fishing spot we are heading for. Keeping up with some sort of fitness is always a problem (for me at least) on these long voyages at sea. Particularly for those of us who spend long periods of time sitting in the driving seat watching hooks come over the side roller. I use the exercycle but not often enough. Pete has almost worn the rowing machine out during the last 2 months. Looking at the photos, I guess it shows.

Me trying to get in shape for the holiday in Noosa (Australia) that my wife Sue is organizing for us in March after I get home.

Pete staying in shape on the rowing machine. Its located in the starboard alley beside the fire fighting equipment.

Rgds: John B.

27th January 2009

Now that the Ross Sea fishing grounds are closed its time to head for the next fishing spot. We have decided to go north-east to an area called the Amundsen Ridges. Last season the fishing was good in that area and on one line several fish came up in tatters when they had been attacked by colossal squids. Maybe we’ll catch another one this season. If so, we intend spending more time with the camera getting as many good live images as we can before letting it go.

In the meantime, our crew finally get a chance to sleep in or just chill out for a day or so before we get there. We have already been steaming for two days; if the grounds we’re heading for are ice-free we should be fishing again tomorrow.

This morning we had 56 icebergs on the 12nm range of our radar, so there is plenty to look at on the way.

Steve the factory manager on watch

Steaming past another iceberg

Karl making the coffee

Rgds: John B.

24th January 2009

We are now hauling our last lines from the Ross Sea grounds then this area will be closed at midnight on the 25th Jan until next season. Even at this stage of the season we still have scattered floes of ice work in.

Grover is driving while Tangi gives some advice as we ease past a large slab of ice that has drifted up from the south during the last 24 hours.

Chevy and Noel hauling and pushing ice away from the line as it comes aboard. This photo was taken just before midnight last night with the sun still well above the horizon. That water is now -1.5 degrees C and it doesn’t take very long to freeze the fish once they are processed and put in the blast freezers.

Rgds: John B.