We have been on base and grafting away since that big day, my birthday on 20 Dec. Today is Sat and normally we would be out there in the thick of things however the elephants/elements are well and truly against us and there is a 30-knot constant blow outside with big drifts and about 10-meter visibility. So, until somebody stupid enough tells us its OK to go outside we are stuck indoors, passing the time waiting for the wind to die. What better time for an update and piccies of the job so far. When we arrived on base the very [View Full Entry]

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After two days of excitement building up in Ushuaia (The Southern most town in the world) we finally made our way to the port to meet up with the ship - a Russian icebreaker called the Professor Molchanov. Sailing through the Beagle Channel to meet the open ocean and take on the legendary Drake Passage. The mood on the ship was full of anticipation as we were shown to our cabin by the Russian crew before going through the emergency drills....Sheena and I instantly made a name for ourselves by being the only ones to turn up to the muster point [View Full Entry]

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This year in Antarctica the buzzword (well, acronym) seems to be "AGAP" (Antarctic GAmbertsev (Mountain) Province) due to the incredible logistics involved in establishing a brand new deep field camp at a 12,400ft elevation (which feels more like 14,000ft at the polar latitudes due to the extreme cold conditions) in -40*F temperatures. The point of the science is to explore the Gambertsev Mountain range that is completely submerged below the snow and ice to decode how a huge mountain range came to be in the middle of the continent, what the climate past was like in this re [View Full Entry]

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All photos were taken in the vicinity of Ross Island. [View Full Entry]

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Just so you all know, it is NOT all work and no play here in McMurdo, Antarctica. Please view these photos of various recreation activities that are available here. Although daylight never ceases during an Antarctic summer, finding the time to take advantage of what McMurdo has to offer can be a challenge. People have crawled on their stomach through an ice tunnel to enter a spectacular ice cave on a tour offered by the Morale, Welfare and Recreation office. In addition to such organized trips, MWR also offers recreation equipment such as golf clubs, mountain bikes, and fly rods and [View Full Entry]

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These are Web Sites URL's; both scientific and informative that viewers might find interesting concerning anything Antarctic. http://www.usap.gov/researchersAndScienceProjects/ --US Antarctica Program http://www.usap.gov/researchersAndScienceProjects/ --A list of all research projects going on in Antarctica at this time. http://www.utsa.edu/lrsg/Antarctica/SIMBA --SIMBA drift station (sea ice mass balance in the antarctic) http://www.heavens-above.com/iridiumdaytime.asp?lat=-77.850&lng=166.650&alt=0&loc=McMurdo&TZ=NZST --Daytime Iridium Flares http://www.spacew.com/www/auror [View Full Entry]

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December 9, 2007 We are now about one hour away from the port of Ushuaia at the end of my second voyage on the Polar Star. The day is overcast, with a few light showers, but some patches of blue sky suggest that the weather for our day in port may improve. This has been another wonderful cruise in all respects, with decent weather for most of it, excellent wildlife, good landings and a fun group of passengers. The last two days at sea were a bit of a strain, with a cross wind of 30+ knots raising a big swell [View Full Entry]

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Life has settled into a habitatual pattern here in McMurdo but it is anything but boring. In the last few weeks I proudly walked to the continent of Antarctica (McMurdo is located on Ross Island, about 60 miles away from the continent) and geared up to fly to East Antarctica to establish AGAP, a brand new field camp that is currently flat, white and empty. In between, life has settled into a normal busy routine. For example, here was my last week's schedule: Monday- I accompanied my coworker on his weekly run to deliver propane to the various field camps set [View Full Entry]

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I was chosen as one of the four carpenters to go out to Granite Harbor to pull out the field camp that had been established there for ANDRILL (www.andrill.org). Granite Harbor (~100 miles north along the mainland coastline) that had been established for the ANDRILL team to do test drilling (of sea ice and sediment cores) for a few weeks after which we were called in to take it down. It was AMAZING- the 50 minute helicopter ride each way was the craziest thing! We flew really low at one point to ride parallel to the glaciers stuck in the sea [View Full Entry]

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Cape Evans (77°38′S, 166°24′E) is a rocky cape on the west side of Ross Island, forming the north side of the entrance to Erebus Bay. It was discovered by the Discovery expedition (1901-04) under Scott, who named it the Skuary. Scott's second expedition, the British Antarctic Expedition (1910-13), built its headquarters here, renaming the cape for Lieutenant Edward R.G.R. Evans, Royal Navy, second in command of the expedition. Scott's headquarters building still exists and is known as Scott's Hut. Located about fourteen miles from McMurdo, The hut at Cape Evans is known as the T [View Full Entry]

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