Antarctica by sea

**Ultra short posting.  The internet is slower than dialup and too intermittent for me to get in a real posting, but figured I'd update everyone on my progress back to the ice.**

Back to Antarctica!  Seems like I just left...oh wait!  I did about 10 days ago.  This time I'm on my way to the opposite side of the continent to a small station (Palmer Station) on the Peninsula.  To get there I have a 4.5 day boat ride on the LMG (Lawrence M. Gould) Research Vessel.  What an amazing way to head out to Antarctica, or anywhere really.  We set sail in a few hours in fact at 1300 my time, 1100 EST.  We leave from our port in Punta Arenas, Chile.  I won't be able to send any pictures while underway since internet is slower than dialup via satellite while in the Drake and South Sea.

 

So where do I really start this entry.  How about yesterday, since today's story will be better told from Palmer after the voyage.  Yesterday was my first full day here in Chile.  I checked out of my hotel in the morning and moved aboard the ship.  What fun, really.  This is a quick turnaround trip, so there aren't a lot of people on-board.  This means we all get our own rooms.  I like it that way! 

After getting settled in on the ship, I went to lunch with my friend Gonzalo down here.  He took me to a place called Saltitos.  This is another of Punta Arenas best places to eat.  We had a plate of seafood as a starter which had some of the best fresh seafood I've ever eaten.  I even liked the scallops!  Then the Lamb came out.  Okay, so if you look at the picture of the lamb you might not recognize the cuts, because there are "parts" skin, bones, shoulder, cheek, etc - the best parts!  YUM! 

 

 After lunch and resettling on the ship, I went for a long walk.  Found the local Fire Station in fact.  No one was there, which I will say is a little unsettling, but it is what it is.

Later in the day I walked around with some friends and ended at La Marmita's for some drinks and a light dinner.  We had a good time talking and drinking some local beer.

 

 

On the way back to the boat I saw the yard below.  To my Travelocity friends, I've found out where all your Gnomes are really going!!!

 



So yes, as I said - short posting.  The real adventure begins in about 45 minutes when we set sail.  I won't be able to post pictures for about four days, but when I get to Palmer, I will make sure to make it up to everyone who reads (looks at the pictures) my blog!  :)

To my friend Lem - Sorry Spock, no Krakens yet! :)

Leaving Antarctica and an evening with DJ Paul

I have been sitting here reflecting, this evening, over the last few weeks that I've been on "The Ice."  I remember several years ago sitting in my living room watching a National Geographic special on Antarctica.  They show was about how they built the new South Pole Station and how they were going to decommission the old Dome Station that was mostly under the ice.  I was fascinated looking at the harshness of the climate and amazed that we as humans have the ability to not only brave this climate, but to conquer it and build structures like the new station.  Structures that serve one primary purpose - Science!  I was in awe over the intensity I saw on the faces of the people who worked there, many of whom I now call friend.  In short - I wanted to go; to see this amazing place and to experience it for all that it is.  Over the last few weeks I've had that very chance, to live out a dream, an aspiration, an idea.  The Pole itself is incredible.  Not only was I humbled by the climate and its insatiable and relentless cold; I was astounded by the scientific exploration that is taking place every day in this environment and by the people with whom I met.  These may seem like quixotic statements, but they are not.  Right now as you are reading this we have a group of scientists who are looking at galaxies formed just after the big bang.  The earliest creation and furthest back in time we've every been able to see!  There are teams of physicist and researchers looking for neutrinos.  There is more scientific exploration going on in Antarctica right now than you could ever imagine.  All of it being conducted by over a dozen or so nations with one goal - to further our understanding of our world and the universe.

To change gears a little, and hopefully wake you back up from my rambling, let me tell you about my last day at the South Pole.  Well, first, my last day was really two days.  The first day we couldn't get a flight due to other operational needs and weather.  This is common and some people end up waiting a week or so to get out of Pole at times.  I was fortunate and on the second day an LC-130 landed so I could head back to McMurdo.  Once the plane was near the airfield I made my way out to the side of the runway to take a few pictures.  We had a few issues getting out of Pole since we were held by air traffic control due to an inbound C-17 that they were concerned would be on the ground when we would be arriving at McMurdo.  This was sorted eventually and while this was being worked out I had time to hang out with some of my firefighter friends in a small building labeled "South Pole International Passenger Terminal" next to the runway.  The flight was great, very little cargo and all engines were working perfectly.  I even took a nap for about two hours.  Landing at McMurdo, the Loadmaster opened the back and all I could see were the amazing mountains that surround the Ross Ice Shelf that the Ice Runway is built upon.  It was nice to be back at McMurdo, mostly because I hadn't had a shower in about a week and my clothes needed to be washed so bad they were able to stand up on their own!  I was tempted to take them outside and burn them, but I remembered that I would be violating the Antarctic Treaty and decided to just use extra soap in the machine.  :)  The shower was wonderful.  You see, at Pole you can only shower a maximum of twice per week and the water can only run for a maximum of two minutes each shower.  If you are a short term visitor, you don't shower - sort of an unwritten rule that you donate your two minutes or so to someone else who is staying there for the season. 

Enough of me being funky.  Tonight is my last night at McMurdo and guess what?!  I finally had the chance to DJ on 104.5 The Ice!  I had a lot of fun and probably had a total of maybe three listeners, probably by accident, but it was fun!!  If I ever come back I fully intend to host at least two shows per week.  I didn't have a lot of time to prepare, so I ended up using their digital library which is huge.  The hour flew by!  It felt like only a few minutes.  I think two hour shows would be much more fun in the future.  I only wish they let me record it!  Talking to one of my friends here they are pretty strict about that, but perhaps in the future I'll at least get the chance to record me!  I know, a bit vane, but how many times have you hosted a radio show?!?!?!  Exactly!!!  All I can say, if you ever have an opportunity to do something like it, DO IT!  Don't hesitate to live of life will pass you by and all you'll have is regret.  I'll let those be my parting words for the main section tonight.  Now on to the pictures!!!  :)

Panorama of South Pole Station from the Airfield

LC-130 at the South Pole

South Pole International Passenger Terminal 

Firefighters...yes, this is our natural state.  :)

I have to say, these guys are awesome and have my

deepest respect for doing this job in this climate.

 

Just too cool!

 

One last look around into the distance at the Ceremonial South "Pole"

Tired, funky, in need of a shave, shower, and bed.

Same as above :)

Nice and cozy

Naps are a great thing.  They are a necessity in Antarctica in fact!

Not a lot of cargo this time, so room to stretch.

Amazing view while making our way to "the pit" to be dropped off.

Still amazing...

Yeah...this too...

Last one, but still amazing... 

 

 

The South Pole

How does that saying go???  Oh yeah – If at first you don’t succeed try try….try ….try….try…try try again.  Well perhaps not quite that bad, but getting to the South Pole was a challenge.  As you already know from my last posting, we have a little engine trouble and had to abort the first attempt.  First two flights were cancelled and things were looking bleak on Saturday (your Friday) but all of a sudden the phone in my room rings!  The woke me from a mid-morning nap (yes, well…I was tired) and out the door I went to building 140 to catch a ride to my LC-130 that was cancelled off another trip and was now set to take about 10 of us to the South Pole!  I have to say, there couldn’t have been a better day for flying if you could order them up!  It was so clear you could even see the top of Mount Erubus, the most active volcano in Antarctica that overlooks McMurdo and Ross Island.  The picture below says it all with the smoke and steam flowing from the top of Erubus – it was a great day to fly!

 

 

Now on our way, the flight went well and was very smooth.  The 109^th crew from the NY Air National Guard were spectacular as always…..and look!  The Engines on my side were both working this time!!!

 

Looking back at the plane at Pole

 

So what’s so special about being at the South Pole you ask?  Well, first, having to land on the skis is too cool as shown above.  More importantly, this place is amazing.  There is nothing living here other than the 137 of us who now occupy the station and surrounding buildings.  It is also incredibly beautiful on a clear day where you can see only a flat ice desert in every direction.  No mountains, no natural topography at all for hundreds of miles.  Just this station and some of the most incredible science being researched on the planet!  The station itself (below) is an amazing feat of architecture and science too!  If you look closely you’ll see how the station is elevated and has an aerodynamic shape on the bottom.  First, understand that there is almost no snow fall here.  This is the largest desert in the world and has the least precipitation and lowest humidity of any place on the planet.  All of the snow you see blows with a constant wind covering everything in its path.  There are buildings under the snow that were on top just over ten years ago.  Now they are twenty to thirty feet under.  This presents a huge challenge!  Now that you understand the basic problem, back to the aerodynamics.  The building was constructed to speed the air underneath the building.  This airfoil effect causes the snow to simply blow away and not collect under the building.  The picture you see below illustrates how this space is open without any bulldozing needed unlike all of the surrounding structures.

Why is it a big deal?  Well, there are some buildings that are covered and at a certain point they are no longer structurally safe.  Some were built with this in mind and every year new tubes are added to get up to the surface.  So where’s the issue with that?  Several years ago, one of the under-ice buildings was slightly compressed and the door slightly opened.  Since these buildings are heated, the warm air seeped out of the once front door and created a huge pocket of air, a bubble, under the ice.  When one of the people here went to dig out the hatch, the now one-foot thick ice gave way with his first strike and he fell thirty feet.  He was rescued easily and was fine, basically, but this is why there is particular attention paid to keeping structures above ground.

If you paid attention to the pictures (hint – the overall station picture), you saw something quite extraordinary.  I took that picture from the geographical South Pole, the real spot of convergence; yet the big pole and flags (ceremonial South Pole) are a good distance away!  When this station was built these were in the same spot, directly in front of the station.  Remember though, I’m sitting at 9300’ish feet elevation.  That isn’t because of a mountain, it’s because there is about 1.8 miles of ice below my feet and this station….and it moves.  It is moving about thirty-feet every year in fact, so that actual South Pole marker needs to be moved every year to be accurate.  Next year, in a few months in fact, it will be moved even further to the left from the vantage of my picture, thirty feet to the left in fact.  You can see yellow flags if you look close, they mark the different markers through the years since this station was built.  This year’s marker is below in fact.

 

At this altitude there is less oxygen, so acclimatization has been fun…  Well, we’ll go with fun.  Let’s put it this way, I was talking at an All Hands meeting last night for about half-hour and had to lean and stop talking a few times to catch my breath.  Made for a good comic show for the acclimated, let me tell you.  Something about seeing little flashes in front of your eyes and an ever darkening room really isn't reassuring….but it is funny!  When I say there is less oxygen, keep in mind that there is still 21% oxygen at this level.  This difference is what is called “thin” air.  What that really means is that there are fewer molecules at this level to breathe than at sea level, which lowers the amount of oxygen in your blood because you have less coming in with each breath.  There is also what is called physiological altitude.  This relates to the barometric pressure - the lower the barometric pressure the higher altitude your body is actually experiencing, because there isn’t the pressure to keep the density of molecules near you.  Hence, since I’ve been here, the physiological altitude has been between 10500 – 11000 feet.  Short story, 30% less oxygen to inhale than for those of you at sea level and 10% less than those of you in Denver or similar location/altitude.

Science lesson over…I promise...and yes, I'm aware that I oversimplified my explanations...no need to email me on this one.  J  Let’s look at some more pictures!  This first picture is very special to me.  First, it took me 20 minutes to make this 5 minute walk, stopping to breathe several times, and was worth every bit of the pain.  Yesterday was Veterans Day here, your Saturday, and we had a special ceremony at the Geographical South Pole for all those who served and specifically for the twenty or so Veterans here at Pole right now.  With the wind chill it was about -72F here yesterday, so the ceremony was short, but it was very moving and the colors were presented by a member from each service and their experiences spanned from a Vietnam Vet all the way to a young Marine who just got back from Afghanistan a few months ago.  I stepped away to take this picture.  I wanted to make certain it appeared in my blog, this really was one of the most touching ceremonies I’ve seen anywhere.

 

I’ll add some short captions to the next few vanity photos, but I’ll answer the question that will pop in your head when you see the photo of me in my FD Sweatshirt.  Yes, I was very very very very cold.  There are ice crystals on my face and eyelashes for a reason.  -72 is no joke and I was only uncovered for a few seconds to get this shot.  Same goes for any picture where my face is exposed, I dropped everything down to my neck for the pictures.  It is amazing how cold it actually is here…..truly an amazing experience.

I took this myself right after the Veteran's Day Ceremony.  It was cold... :)

The Ceremonial South Pole.  All of the flags are from the

nations who have signed the Antarctic Treaty.

Fun fact, if you stand over the pole in this picture,

your body is in every time zone at the same time.... :)

Everywhere you look....just ice...and the curvature of the earth.

 

At the end of a hard day, Melissa's Catbert was waiting to keep me company.

 

Oh, the rooms here are nice, but tiny.  I'm standing in the doorway taking this picture.  There is a cabinet/dresser to my left for clothing storage with is very functional.  I can't complain.  Besides, I'm not here because it's a five-star resort, I'm here to work and have a little fun!  :)

 

Until next time!  More to come soon, from here and McMurdo before I leave the Ice!

 

The Pole Boomerang!

Did you know that there is a South Pole Boomerang??!!?!?!  I bet you didn't.  It is an LC-130 that just can't make it there.....well, that's not entirely true; it could make it there, just wouldn't have made it back if we'd landed...  :)

That's right, you guessed it!  I'm still in McMurdo.  This is going to be a short story today, because frankly I'm exhausted.  Been up since about 0400 and on planes and modular air terminals all day.  Since I got some really great photo's, let's just tell the story with them so they don't go to waste!

 

This is a beautiful LC-130 with ski's.  It was primed to take me and three others to the South Pole this morning.  We are on the Ice runway with about six feet of ice below us.  The larger runway that sits on 30+ feet of ice on the permanent ice shelf is about 20 miles away.  If you read my earlier posts, you've seen it.

 

It was a beautiful day.  There were four LC-130's ready for the day's missions.  These three and the one next to me.

 

 I even had a friend, Jeff, take this picture of me!!!  In fact, Jeff was half and hour late this morning and delayed us, so I blame him for this whole debacle.....

 

Gear loaded, we were ready.  So ready, we even took off and headed to the Pole!!!!  Well, all was very well.  Two hours into the flight (less than 40 minute until landing at the Pole) and there is a bad sound out my window and shudder in the plane....hmmmmm.  Two things you don't want to have happen when you're flying, right?  Correct.

 

The number 3 engine is the one closest in the picture.  The gears or something broke and well, Fail.  You can see a bit if the issue as a little smoke pours out of it.  Nothing too major at least.  It's not like we're over a barren desert or anything....hmmm, oh yeah.  :)  Well, the plane can fly with three engines, but it isn't safe to land at Pole for the crew since they may be stuck there and the South Pole Station would have a new lawn...uhhh....ice ornament.  So we turned around and headed back to McMurdo.

 

 

Catbert, the evil HR, was not pleased......

 

So you can see the way the pilots "feathered" the prop to keep it from being a huge air brake (thank you Ben).  The prop was a little twisted too in addition to this, but hey, we landed fine.  So any Ron White fans?  If so, you'll love this.  One of the other passengers asked the pilot (once we were in the van) "so it can fly with three engines?"  The Pilot smiled and said "well, we didn't fall out of the sky, so I'm guessing yes."  Then he grinned and said, "we can land, roughly, with two engines."  the passenger asked, "what about one engine?"  The pilot again grinned and said "One engine.  Well, that will get us to the scene of the crash rather quickly."  We all started laughing and I had to ask if there were any Ron White fans.  One of the crew said "I bet we'll beat the paramedics by at least half and hour" thus answering my question.  Was a great crew for the New York Air National Guard.  Can't complain about their professionalism or skill in any way.  Planes break, all the time, particularly in this harsh environment.  Looks like I'm not leaving tomorrow for Pole.....I hope.

 

Until then!  

COFFEE!!!!!!

Coffee.  I thought about ending the posting right there and just putting the pictures below.  I figure that is "'nuff said" for any true coffee lover, like me.  However, I'm feeling a little loquacious tonight and want to talk on this blog for a bit before writing my beautiful Fiancée an email worthy of the acclaim Dostoevsky or  Shakespeare receive while showing how to proclaim love for someone in their musings.  So, about this coffee stuff!  There is a coffee house here!  Yes, I'm aware that I posted a picture of the sign previously, but I've been too busy to get into it to check out the offerings.  Well that ended tonight.  This is the cutest coffee shop I've been in.  This is an old storage building that was converted into a Coffee bar where you can hang out and drink some free coffee, lattes, espresso....you get the idea...., and chill on a computer or write a note to someone special.  The coffee is free and if you bring your own wine, they have glasses.  The Barista's are all volunteer from those of us in the community (I'll be signing up for a shift soon in fact...) and only work for tips.  The Barista tonight was Lea (no real idea how to spell it, so phonetics it is), who is actually one of the emergency nurses at the McMurdo Medical facility.  I had two double latte's with some cinnamon on top and some great conversations with some fellow coffee lovers.  Was a very nice evening that actually felt relaxing for the first time while here.  Something nice about a hot drink, good music, and a bunch of people talking about something, anything, other than the election!!!

This is the Coffee House exterior.... :)

This is the Barista Bar!

The making of a McMurdo Latte in action... Can you tell I love coffee?????

The finished product.  Yes it looks like a Cappuccino, but hey, it was perfect!

 

From the bar to the internet area.

 

So tell me.  Can't you just smell the fresh brewed goodness that was poured into my cup!?!?!?  Oh, I have a slight caffeine buzz right now if you couldn't tell... :)  Hmmmm.....going to run around the building for a bit now....  OH!  My flight to the South Pole has been moved up to Friday (mine, your Thursday)!  So pictures and stories sooner if the C130 stops breaking down!!  Bye for now!