Blogs from McMurdo Station, Antarctica, Antarctica - page 9

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

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

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

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

So after weather delays and fuel tank leaks I finally made it down. It is great to see friends and to be back in this crazy place. Joe and I got stuck in building 155 (which is a dorm usually for transients, and is less desirable than other dorms) - the station is at capacity so we will make do. The two backpack cameras I built for the penguin researchers are still outside on the roof of the Crary laboratory and seem to be working. They will be installed at one of the penguin colonies on weds.... read more