Returning to Tristan da Cunha

I am happy to report that my manager has approved my vacation request next year to return to Tristan da Cunha. I had been worried about the length of time it was taking to find out whether my request was going to be approved or not, as I had submitted it on 10 March and only got the confirmation Wednesday (three days ago). The South African research vessel S. A. Agulhas II will not be taking me to Tristan, as she only makes one trip to the island each year in September. I will be aboard the fishing vessel MV Edinburgh, seen here on 19 September as it made one of two stops at Tristan during my stay on the island, as it offloaded its catch:

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The Edinburgh has capacity for 35 staff and twelve passengers. I am passenger #5 (I had reserved a tentative berth months ago), so I am relatively close to the top of the list but it would not be prudent to count this as definite, as I could certainly be bumped. I have booked the first visit of 2015, from roughly mid-January to mid-February, the middle of the summer on Tristan.

[Edit: I never made the trip back to Tristan in early 2015 because my berth was needed for another passenger who outranked me. I would have had to cancel the trip even if there was still available space since my mother’s death in November of 2014 refocussed my immediate priorities.]

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