Ice Blog

All Done Ice!

Ok, this is way overdue, but long story short, my time on the ice came to an abrupt end in mid-February. We finally got some cans to unload and were busy, busy, busy for 12 hours a day, every day until we were done and then wham! It was time to go.
What an experience I had on the ice. Now, as I tolerate the 100+ degree weather here in Eugene, OR, it's hard to imagine I was on the coldest, dryest, highest continent just five months ago. It all seems like a dream...
Anyway, thanks for watching and stay tuned for the next great thing!
al

Waiting to Unload a Can

Photos courtesy of Michiel. The ship has been docked for about a day, but we haven't yet gotten any containers ("cans") of food to open. Lots of eating, knitting, joking, waiting....

Ice Breaker

At last, our ship has come in! Sorry it has been so long since my last post, but I have been working nights in preparation for the yearly supply ship, the American Tern, to arrive. We have all been in a holding pattern, waiting to see if the ship will be able to reach McMurdo. The sea ice is really thick this year and the contracted Russian ice breaker, the Krasin, has a broken propeller and is not running at capacity. So, we are very lucky the ship made it in so soon.
It's amazing to think there is a year's worth of supplies on the boat. Starting tomorrow we will be working 12-hour shifts until it is all offloaded. I will be receiving the food. Lots and lots of food...
After offload, we are free to "redeploy" to the real world. That's a whole 'nother story. I can't wait to be back amongst plants, animals, children and other living things. This is a big dead place indeed...

Holidays on Ice

By the way, Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris has nothing to do with Antarctica, but is a fun read.
This year, Santa filled my bunny boots with goodies, I rang in the new year in a shipping container (with sunglasses on!), and spent new years day listening to and watching the local talent at Icestock. Good times.

Me and Loralee

As requested, pictures of me and lovely Loralee, my preferred mode of transport here.

Happy Camper

Last week I got to go to Happy Camper School, a basic overnight cold weather survival class and it was AWESOME! Our group consisted 11 campers, most of us fingees. What a great group of people -- within about 10 minutes we had come up with nicknames for everyone. (Mine was Paradise, because I lived in the tropics.)
We did and learned so much. After about an hour of lecture time, we drove out to our campsite, an hour from McMurdo. At the instructor's hut, we learned some basic stuff like how to light a Whisperlite stove, got our gear and then walked to camp. There, we built a snow wall, set up a Scott tent (the only truly Antarctic shelter) and some regular tents, and made a Quinzhee: an igloo-like snow hut, made by shoveling lots and lots of snow onto a pile of duffel bags (our sleeping gear -- how's that for incentive to dig?), and then digging a tunnel into it to retrieve the bags, leaving a snow cave to sleep in.
Which I did! Amazingly enough, my roommate (Quinzheemate?) and I stayed relatively warm all night. Apparently the key to staying warm is to constantly eat and drink, which we did. And of course dress appropriately and exercise.
We also learned how to prevent and treat hypothermia and frostnip, operate a ham radio (we called the South Pole!), perform a search and rescue in a simulated white-out (wearing buckets on our heads), and all kinds of nifty stuff. We worked hard but had so much fun. Definitely a highlight of my time here.

The Happy Campers

Happy Campers: Paradise, Gingle Ho, The Satiator, Insatiable, Skull & Bones, Madge the Manicurist, Furnace, Tool Man, Sethamphetamine, Farmer Girl aka the Tick, and Frijolita!