March 26th update

We are a few hours before the departure. Yesterday, under a beating rain, we carried out the loading of our equipment on the boat.

The 4 crates, sent by cargo one and a half month ago, were set at disposal at the right time by our forwarding agent. Once the documents signed by the customs agents of Mayotte, the team started to work. 3 hours were necessary to tranship all the equipment using the tenter boat. That gives a rather precise idea of the possibilities that we will have during the unloading, even if it should be underlined, conditions will be different because of the absence of harbour on Juan de Nova.

The afternoon was devoted to the last purchases on Grande-Terre. We bought all last minute items that will help us to live in totally independently during two complete weeks.
We will embark this afternoon around 14:00 and it is envisaged to weigh anchor at 16:00 (1300z). Conditions are for the moment very good, with a sky partially veiled and a temperature of 34 degrees celcius. We will activate in the next hours the GPS beacon which will enable you to follow the route of the ship and know its position in real time.

We will use the time of the boat crossing to organize the unloading and define a coherent strategy to assembly all stuff. In addition, let us remind you that a convention was signed between the team and the TAAF agency which describe in a very precise way the plan of establishment of the antennas and list in an exhaustive way the prohibitions and restrictions imposed to our team.

Our arrival on the island is envisaged the morning of the 29th. Then, we will spend a whole day to assembly of the antennas and the life camp, splitted on two distinct sites.

Let’s hope that the conditions of propagation improve, so that each one can have the opportunity of hearing and contact us. Thank you for your messages, calls and encouragements. They are much appreciated. The team is very motivated to fulfil its commitments.

We have uploaded some pics on the album called “Mayotte”

73

FH/ FT4JA
Juan de Nova 2016 expedition