Falklands Diary - Week 3

March 13

Well, this was Friday 13 which started off with a driving rain. We went to Cape Pembroke Lighthouse where we had deployed one of our temporary tide gauges for seiche studies a few days before, when the small cove near to the lighthouse called The Gulch in which we had put the instrument was as calm as a mill pond (see photo). However, today when we went to recover it there were enormous breakers bursting into the cove which made recovery impossible. So, we went instead and recovered the last of our temporary installations at the Murrell River north of Stanley. Meanwhile, the tide had fallen and the waves were not as large, so we went back to the lighthouse for a second attempt. We were able to reach the rope to which the gauge was attached but unfortunately it became clear that the gauge was snagged on something. With a lot of effort with various ropes and with some danger in clambering over rocks so as to pull on the ropes from different directions (risk assessments again forgotten) we were able to tug the gauge free. What joy! However, that was short lived as it became clear that its O-ring had failed and its electronics had been flooded with sea water - the first time that has happened with this sort of tide gauge in our experience. That damage may have been caused by the earlier wave conditions. It is possible that the data in the memory can be recovered somehow but that remains to be seen. In the afternoon we completed packing our wooden crates for their return to POL on board the Shackleton at the end of April. A well deserved dinner at the Stanley Brasserie followed.

Tomorrow, we leave Stanley with much regret as we have met a large number of charming and helpful people. A large fraction of Stanley got to recognise us as the 'tides men' thanks to our article in Penguin News, an interview on Falklands Radio and a well-attended evening public lecture. Our main project, the sea level measurements at Port Stanley and Port Louis, would have been impossible without their help and also without the mostly fine weather we have had. That project looks set to have some very interesting results. Our sideline project into seiches was also successful in spite of minor setbacks as mentioned above, and may be taken further forward in the future with the help of people we have met.

This ends our Falklands diary as tomorrow Phil flies to Santiago in Chile for an eventual return to Liverpool, while David has one day in Punta Arenas prior to travelling back to the UK the wrong way. He will have a stopover in New Zealand to see old friends, and in Hobart and Melbourne

The temporary tide gauge in the small cove called 'The Gulsh'.

March 12

This morning we spent partly at FIPASS where we downloaded the contents of the data logger of the older of the two POL pressure gauges there. Other events included organising the sending of some of our stuff back to POL air-freight, and a few holes of golf at the Stanley golf course. In the evening we gave a public lecture on 'Sea level changes in the Falklands' to over 20 people at the Stanley High School.

March 11

day saw us drive out to Port Louis for the last time to recever our equipment. The morning started with torrential rain and fog but then cleared into another fine day. The equipment included Peter Foden's 'tide gauge in a suitcase' and two of David's RBR temporary gauges, plus the GPS equipment near to the Ross marker. The Land Rover was packed full on return. The rest of the day was spent saying thank yous to various people, including the landowners Peter and Melanie Gilding at Port Louis and Mr and Mrs Jock McVie and their daughter Trudi at Brookfield Farm, and also to George and Jenny Patterson-Smith at Port Louis. Preparations are under way for an upcoming visit by Princess Anne to Port Louis, however it is likely she will be more interested in the horses than tides. Refreshments in the Stanley Arms followed.

March 10

Today felt very different in Stanley with no tourists at all, after the 5000 ashore from cruise ships yesterday. We visited the Fitzroy settlement on the east coast of East Falkland with the intention of deploying one of our temporary tide gauges for our seiche investigations. However, although the weather was warm, there was too much wind to safely deploy it. Instead, we installed it in the Wurrell River which is a tidal arm of Port William, which is in turn the outer part of Port Stanley harbour. When analysed in combination with data from the Pembroke Lightouse temporary tide gauge installed yesterday, we may be able to understand better what drives the seiches of this part of the coast. Both of these gauges will have to be recovered late on Friday, shortly before our last week here ends. Otherwise we listened to the transmission of our Radio Falkland interview, recorded yesterday, and worked on our public lecture to be held on Thursday evening. We decided that we did have time to play a round of golf this time - that pleasure will have to wait till our next visit. Tomorrow will be one of our busiest days when we recover all of our equipment from Port Louis so we are hoping for good weather again.

David preparing to install one of our temporary tide gauges (the white object attached to a weight and a rope) at a site on the Wurrell River north of Stanley. The 'river' is a tidal arm of the Port William/Port Stanley inlet.

March 9

Today we moved all of the equipment that we no longer need from a workroom near to the Public Works Department in Stanley into boxes at the FIPASS terminal prior to our return home. We then visited the Stanley Museum in order to obtain the key for the Cape Pembroke Lighthouse which is located a few miles east of Stanley. We were able to deploy one of David's temporary tide gauges near to the lighthouse, with the intention of removing it at the end of week, so as to obtain more information on seiches in the waters near to Stanley. The lighthouse is an interesting one, being constructed out of cast iron instead of stone blocks as in the UK. It is in rather better condition than even the Bidston lighthouse, for example, with spectacular views from its balcony. In the afternoon we recorded an interview for Falklands Radio on our work during the last few weeks.

The Cape Pembroke Lighthouse.

March 8
Today we took a long drive around the recently-opened circle of new road that connects Stanley with Goose Green in the south of east Falkland, San Carlos and Port San Carlos in the west, and Teal Inlet and Estancia in the north. We covered 160 miles over still rough roads in our antique red Land Rover (see photo below). It was a beautiful day amidst outstanding scenery - not a person (or even a sheep) for mile after mile.

On the way to Goose Green we spotted the Endurance, which has to return to the UK for a complete engine refit, piggy-back on the enormous Dutch transporter called the Target (see photo below). Two engineers from the Target had stayed at our Guest House for the previous couple of days. In Goose Green we recovered the temporary tide gauge that Phil deployed last Wednesday (see photo below). This was covered in a thick sludge which hopefully will not have blocked the pressure sensor. The data should give us insight into seiches in Choiseul Sound and some idea of the local tidal characteristics. The tea shop was open as usual and was full of army personnel on Sunday outings. We then turned into tourists taking in the San Carlos British cemetery and museum where Lt. Col. H. Jones, VC is buried (see photo below). Shortly after that, we turned into geologists, obtaining samples of peats from exposed sections at San Carlos, Teal Inlet and Estancia, following instructions from Andy Plater in Liverpool Geography (see photo below). Tomorrow almost 5000 tourists from cruise ships are expected in Stanley, more than twice the local population - fortunately for them the gun at the Narrows no longer works (see photo below). We expect to spend part of tomorrow making preparations for sending our equipment back to the UK on either the Shackleton or James Clark Ross.

Our red Land Rover.

The WW1 gun emplacement at Stanley Harbour

The Endurance piggy-back on the Target transporter ship

The UK San Carlos cemetery.

An exposed section at San Carlos showing a surface and deeper layer of peat with a sand layer in between.

Recovering our temporary tide gauge.

March 6

Here is a report from David's trip for 2 days on Saunder's Island, the location of the first British settlement in the Falklands, and one night on Carcass Island, so named after HMS Carcass which surveyed the island in 1766. Various wildlife spotted included a Gentoo penguin singing the praises of POL science (see photo below), Magellanic penguins, some of these can also be found at Gypsy Cove near to Stanley (see photo below), the Striated Caracara one of the world's rarest birds of prey (see photo below), a Black-Crowned Night Heron (see photo below), and fighting Elephant Seals (see photo below). All of these were taken on Carcass Island. Today has been largely a day off for us in Stanley, which has been inundated by thousands of tourists from a cruise ship. Work resumes tomorrow with more levelling and tide-pole reading at Port Louis, weather permitting.

A Gentoo penguin singing the praises of POL science.

Magellanic penguins.

The Striated Caracara

A Black-Crowned Night Heron

Fighting Elephant Seals