Gough Island Relief on the SA Agulhas II Voyage 017, September 2015

The Gough Island Relief Voyage is an annual cruise undertaken by the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) to change the overwintering team in Gough Island and to replenish the supplies at the British’s leased Gough Island Research base. The cruise also serves as a means to transport the residents and/or visitors to Tristan da Cunha using a signed agreement between South Africa and United Kingdom (UK). This voyage was to deliver the Gough 61 team to the island and return with the Gough 60 team. The cruise was undertaken between 03 September 2015 and 06 October 2015. The scope of ship-based science for this takeover voyage was limited to underway observations and SAWS drifting buoy deployments. The ship’s underway thermo-salinograph (TSG) initially suffered from a blockage due to debris in the pressure regulator in the wet biology lab. This problem was rectified on 4 September around 08:30 UTC, and logging of TSG data was started around 09:00 UCT.