Apache

The rather large island of Apache is located at 26.9°S 24.8° W in the Zion Islands cluster, is 54 kilometres long and 40 kilometres wide (overview) and has two settlements, the native settlement of Farnsworth and Biogene's research facility Biogene R&D Field Station 194, also known as The Cochise Station.

Apache has no volcanic activity and has had none for at least 370 years, but scientists think that the island was created by a volcanic eruption. The lagoon inside the reefs is rather shallow, maximum 10-13 metres but 5-7 metres on average, and natives of Farnsworth use it very much for aquaculture. The reef has three passages where boats can enter:

• Goldman's Hole in the south east which is 1.3 meters deep and rather broad; 6-7 meters wide
• Upper tunnel in the west, just over two meters deep and nearly three meters wide
• Lower tunnel, also in the west and four meters deep and five meters wide

The natives never use Goldman's Hole and it is only used for transports to the Cochise Station.

The most part of the island is covered by a tree analogue that that look very much like palm trees. These tree analogues do not produce coconuts, but spread seeds in a fine powder similar to pollen, which covers everything with a fine orange-brown powder. The natives have learned to cover their nose and mouth with a piece of cloth to avoid inhaling the powder. It is not dangerous to inhale but might irritate the throat resulting in heavy coughs.

Climate and Weather

The island is located in the subtropical region, quite close to the tropical region and have warm to hot summers and cool winters. The downfall is limited during the winter but during the summer it usually comes as quite spells of rain in the morning due to the combination of the height of the island and the difference between air and ground temperature. There are frequent storms, usually Force 1-2 and sometimes Force 3, see Moderator's Guide (BPv2) p 159, during the summer while the weather is very calm in the winter. The average temperature summertime is +38°C during the day and creeps down to +28°C during the night, wintertime sees a day temperature of +17°C and night temperatures of +12°C. See Moderator's Guide (BPv2) p 157 for further information about the climate.