Lookin' out my backdoor: August 2010

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Here comes the sun . . .

"Phil! The sun's coming back!" That was from a young lady on the crew a couple weeks ago. I'm sure everyone knew the sun would return, but now it's a near-constant topic of conversation. For those who just experienced their first Antarctic winter, it's a thing of wonder and relief. The end is near. For the rest of us - it's a thing of wonder and relief. The end is near. We just knew it was coming.

This photo was taken Saturday, July 24, about 1:30 PM. The photo at the very bottom was taken the following Monday. It might not look much different to you, but to those of us experiencing 'the sun coming back', it's definitely noticable.

Since the Mid-winter celebration, we've had a number of station-wide events. The 4th of July celebration was a great success. The heavy shop, scene of many big celebrations, was done up like a county fair. Pie toss, cotton candy and funnelcakes, bean bag toss, games of chance . . . an auction to raise funds for our end-of-season celebration was a huge success.

All sorts of things were donated to auction off. Paintings, massages, guitar lessons, opportunities to ride some of the odder sno-cat-like equipment, old six packs of Bud and Miller High Life - the store hasn't sold those brands in a while apparently. A five pound bag of pistachios went for $70.

So did a six-pack of two-ply toilet paper. Maybe you have to be here to appreciate such things. The company supplied product is referred to as John Wayne toilet paper - rough and tough and doesn't take shit . . .

Apparently the station manager doesn't entirely understand winterover people. She volunteered - before the auction - to match the total raised and donate it to charity. The total raised from the auction was almost $6,000. Last report, she was still going to do it.

Two weeks later we had our next-to-last, two-day weekend and the final, championship-of-the-station horseshoe tournament. It was composed primarily of people who placed in the top three teams in past tournaments. Having come in both first and third, I was in the competition - briefly. I could blame it on the cold - people were standing around in their big red parkas and a huge space heater was running - but the truth is, neither my partner nor I were on that day. We were out in two matches.

Last weekend was the Antarctic 48 hour film festival. Participants from countries at stations around the continent were given 48 hours to produce a video no more than 5 minutes long. They had to inclue five elements; a dry mop, mouthwash, the line "Has anyone seen my chicken?", a grumpy deisel mechanic and an alarm siren/signal. There were videos without these elements, but they weren't in the competition. There were 40-some entries. I made it through the first two hours. I've seen many of the rest on the station computer network. Some are very good, funny, some very artistic and not a few just plain strange, but consider the requirements . . . Next weekend will be very busy. If I'm fortunate, I will be moving to another dorm. Fortunate because if I move, I'll get a room to myself for the remainder of my stay. After a total 11+ months down here, I don't want a roommate again. Some chipper, too cheery, tan-compared-to-us-pale-winterover people, germ packin' newbie. All the 'bugs' went through everyone long ago, but we aren't immune to anything from outside. Doses of the latest flu vaccines are coming on the first flight. Hopefully I've got enough Ice time to rate a single room. There will be a ceremony Friday afternoon to present winterover medals. Saturday at 5:30 our last winterover-only celebration starts with a beer tasting at the Southern Bar. I volunteered to pour. For other people, too. Ought to be quite a party. One third of that auction money will go to for free food and drink. One third will buy everyone either a winterover t-shirt or hat. The final third was spent on gift certificates to be awarded as door prizes. The talent show begins at 8 PM at Gallagher's Bar. I'm told the band that's been assembled will be one of the best ever on the Ice - that's saying something. The following Friday, August 13, the first flight of Winfly people are due. That's both good and bad. There are 198 of us who wintered. Some will be leaving at Winfly. Most of us will stay while it gets crowded as some 400 people rain down on us, for good or ill. However, we will also get freshies - fresh fruits and vegetables. Maybe, just maybe, we will also get mail. And as the Beatles sang, "Here comes the sun . . . " more and more every day. The end is near. >

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Daily news and announcements

Sometimes temperatures were listed. The season high of 23 above zero was reached while I was in camp. Since our internet connection was so slow, other important information such as the latest NFL results were posted. Educational improvement was provided by a daily word picked at random from a collection submitted by the camp population. The individual who picked the word had to use it in a sentence. This day's word was fugly. Trust me, that was an easy and relatively . . . innocent one.

Sleeping quarters

Unlike some of the other field camps, these Artic Oven tents were provided to each of us. They are quite a step up from the backpacking tents. At about 6 or 7 feet square and 5 feet high in the center, they are almost roomy. Add a folding cot and a wool blanket for a rug. I saw a couple small shelving units in one and another flamingo outside the door. One fellow had a portable solar panel charging unit hung on the side of his. I didn't see a TV antennae, however. You have to take into consideration, this was home for almost three months for some of these folks. Pretty plush for a deep field camp in Antarctica - even if the temperature was sometimes zero or lower when we were climbing into our sleeping bags.

The cores are kept in storage until there are enough to fill a cargo pallet like the one at the end of the room. The pallet is loaded on a C-130 as close to take-off as possible. The plane is actually cooled as low as possible for the flight. There is a cooler to store cores at McMurdo. From there they are loaded in a refrigerator van and onto the cargo ship. A refrigeration tech goes with them on the trip to California where they will be shipped by truck to the Denver Federal Center. The tech told me that in the past they had used two trucks, just in case one broke down. This trip there will be a truck with two separate refrigeration units in case one fails. There are over 40 projects examining the ice. Some of it is kept in cold storage in Denver as an archive.

McTown and the off-load

Don't ask me to translate McMurdoese - instead of unloading the ship, it's an off load. Instead of setting up and tearing down a camp, it's put in and take-out. Whatever, the ship is at the pier. It's been unloaded and they are slowly getting it reloaded with waste, wornout vehicles, helicopters for the out-going contractor, and - the ice cores. With a little luck, a lot more hard work and good weather, they should be in Denver within a month or so. I had a day off and it was (obviously) beautiful. I hadn't hiked up Ob Hill in a few seasons, so I climbed up and took this picture. After I got down, I remembered why I don't do that more often. Gettin' older ain't for sissies.

"How long does it take?"

From time to time, people have asked me how long it takes to get here. This time I kept track. As it so happens, I think this was the fewest flights I've ever had. For one thing, a stop for a few days of orientation in Denver has been eliminated - unfortunately. Also, in the past when we flew to Sydney, we went to Auckland, NZ and then to Christchurch. And I actually flew from Johnstown instead of Pittsburgh but that didn't eliminate a flight, just cut down on travel time. Here's the breakdown -

I left about 9:30 AM, Sept. 28
Johnstown to Dulles, about 1 hour.
Dulles to Los Angeles, about 5 hours.
Los Angeles to Sydney, about 14 hours.
Sydney to Christchurch, about 5 hours.
Christchurch to McMurdo, about 5 hours.

Including layovers, 31 hours to Sydney, 38 to Christchurch.

We arrived in Christchurch in the afternoon. The next day we received our extreme cold weather gear and sat through some orientation lectures. the next morning we took off for McMurdo about 9AM.

The total from Johnstown to McMurdo was about 80 hours.

A Solid Foundation

These are the footer pads, posts and beams that the floor sections were put on. The pads are 36" squares of 2X6's enclosed in 3/4" plywood. It was all two of us wanted to move them. The posts are sections of 12x12. The beams are 4X8's. It was all bolted together with 1/4" steel angle brackets and 1x2" x 6" lag bolts driven in with impact guns. The floor sections were 2x6's on 12" centers with 3/4" plywood top and bottom. All this for a 12' by 16' shack to house a generator that probably doesn't weight more than 1,000 lbs. Now that's some heavy duty construction.

Seal

On the way back from Canadian, we came across the desicated remains of a sizeable seal. It was the third we found between camp and the Canadian Glacier. There was at the edge of Lake Fryxell and another very close to the side of the glacier. This is miles and miles from McMurdo Sound. No one seems to have an explanation although there is a rumor that when the Navy was running this show, the helo crews might have been having some fun with the scientists by planting these. they went to a lot of trouble if that's the case. And if not, again, why are these seals up here?