Blogs from Antarctica - page 50

We arrived into Ushuaia with one purpose in mind - to look for a boat to Antarctica. On our first day, we learned that since the sinking of the ship, Antarctic Explorer, back in November, most of the other ships were fully booked. That was due to the fact that all the sailings for the Explorer being canceled for the rest of the season, for obvious reason. On top of that, some boats canceled some of their sailings to improve on their less than perfect safety issues. And, people who never knew that tourism existed in Antarctica suddenly became very interested. We walked around town, and the cheapest advertised price was about US$4500 per person. There was no way I could fork out $4500 without winning the lottery. Things were not looking well. We rested for ... read more

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 first job was to set up the Logistics tent on site which is where we are having our morning and afternoon smokos (tea breaks), its also a refuge in the dry away from the wind ... read more

We have a Russian ship on our tail, the Amderma. She delivered the new base for BAS on the Brunt ice shelf. I was the boot fairy today, returning a pair of boots to an officers cabin, but the wrong cabin. So I woke him from night watch and most likely gave him a real startle. Much better to give me a room number than the 3rd mates title. Still not sure wahts me port from starbard, but I do know, ships don't have cupboards, bedrooms, or dinning rooms and a whole list more: they have closets, cabins and the mess. ... read more

http://bennan.blogspot.com/ . thanks, Ben... read more

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 region, and how this could all be effected by rising temperatures and carbon dioxide concentrations (notice a pattern?!?). For more about the science, here's a good article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6145642.stm Judy, thi... read more