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Blogs from Antarctica, Antarctica - page 29
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December 23rd 2005
Captain Cook (Penguin) visits Chapel of the Snows. Berkley and OzGold (bears) look around at the rocks and soil... read more
December 22nd 2005
We made it to Antarctica. The trip was surprisingly uneventful. We checked in at 6:30am. We were weighted with our luggage and then cleared for breakfast. At 7:20, we reported back for a briefing and baggage screening. Then, it was off to the C-17 cargo jet. The C-17 was much nicer than the LC130 Hercules in that it takes only 5 hours to travel to Antarctica instead of 8 hours. Their insides were quite comparable. Lots of head room, but our legs were crowded with such large hand carry bags. We were also given a huge sack lunch. About 5 hours after takeoff, we landed at Pegasus Field, a landing strip located on the sea ice of the Ross Ice Shelf. We were greeted by Ivan the Terrabus, which we rode for 20 to 30 minutes ... read more
November 26th 2005
I just returned to McMurdo from New Harbor, and the ROMEO camera is underwater! Things were hectic trying to get the equipment running, since I thought it would be impossible to make any of it work after the technical failures last Sunday. More details on that tomorrow after I get some sleep. Thanksgiving is celebrated on Saturday here as Sunday is a non work day on station. The meal was fantastic and I am ready to head North on Tuesday. ... read more
November 21st 2005
I finally made it to New Harbor Camp in Explorer's Cove Antarctica. This is going to be a short entry because I have been awake for nearly 40 hours now. Lets just say a bunch of horrible technical problems came up that I spent a lot of time figuring a work around for. Finally I went to bed at 1 so I could get up at 5 to move my cargo to the helicopter pad, but never was able to fall asleep. I think it was a state of hyper anxiety, sleep deprived delirium and my half concious dreams detailed me on a journey to McMurdo Medical to tell them I was going crazy and needed to leave. I woke up every 15 minutes but the storyline of leaving the ice or avoiding technical difficulties in ... read more
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November 16th 2005
First of all, despite what this blog site might list above, Antarctica is not a part of South America. It is its own continent with land underneath all of its ice and mountains. Just thought I should make that correction. This morning I pulled up Romeo from dive hut #8 out on the sea ice, where it had been resting on the sea floor, 80 feet below. Ben the Antarctic Scout, helped me with some wiring, logistics, and this pressure test before leaving for New Harbor today. He and I drove out to Hut 8 lst night around 9:30 after I received some modified parts from Mike in the McMurdo Machine Shop. Since Ben is THE Boyscout, he was in charge of all of the knots and we rigged ROMEO to the dive line. We attached ... read more
November 11th 2005
Its been a while since i have posted anything, sorry about that. Work has been really busy with assembly, programming and integration of the various parts of the underwater camera system. The radio antenna tower at New Harbor is going to be installed on Weds, and the fiber optic cable conduit is still intact! I am playing a show at Gallaghers pub tonight which will be a lot of fun. Joe Mastroianni left yesterday, and he is lucky he got out. Right after the C-17 took off some weather moved in and I woke up this morning to snow blowing all over the place and condition two. On another exciting note, there was a funky sulpher smell in the lab yesterday and someone ended up calling the fire department thinking there was a spill or leak. ... read more
The Harsh Condiments Win the Boondoggle
Published: October 31st 2005Antarctica » Antarctica » McMurdo Station
October 31st 2005
Happy Halloween everyone! Here are two photos from last night's halloween party on station. It was a really great party with lots of creative costumes. We did really well, and the "its a harsh condiment" (a pun on the saying "its a harsh continent") won the best group costume. This means we get to go on a snowmobile boondoggle to the room with a view. The room with a view is situated somewhere between Mount Erebus and Scott Base and supposedly has an amazing view (hence the name). Anyway I hope that we can schedule the trip before I leave for Thailand. Our cargo has not arrived yet. It should come down on the next C-17 flight on Weds. A few people from New Harbor came back today so there are people around the lab, and ... read more
Some Underwater Pictures From New Harbor
Published: October 31st 2005Antarctica » Antarctica » McMurdo Station
October 31st 2005
These are some recent pictures from the ice wall at New Harbor. This is the location where the communications cable transitions out of the ice and into the water. Romeo is placed roughly 100 feet from the wall. Photos courtesy of Henry Kaiser. Click on to see the second image... read more
October 28th 2005
I havent uploaded anything to this blog for the past 5 days or so because I have been spending my evenings working on my Halloween costume. The great thing about Halloween in Antarctica is that people get really creative with the resources on station. We have been dumpster diving for steel cargo banding, paint, glue, old colored sheets and other items that were destined for recycling or a landfill back home. Sandwich (otherwise known as Allison) came up with the great idea to do a group costume themed around the saying 'it's a harsh continent', although we changed it to "it's a harsh condiment". We have "Best Moves" mayo, A1 steak sauce, French's mustard gas, Heiny tomato ketchup, kikkoman soy sauce, and I am going as Tabasco Pepper Spray. We have been working all week during ... read more
