Just photos

I just wanted to add some photos that I have taken for everyone to enjoy.  I am currently transitioning to nights and am just trying to stay awake and don't feel like writing much.  Hope you enjoy.

Tim

Antarctica in August!

I got the opportunity to come to Antarctica in August this year for what is called "Winfly" or Winter Fly In.  This is a time period of about 6 weeks were station population increases to prepare for everyone else to come in and work the summer season.  This is the earliest I have ever gotten here and it has given me an opportunity to see the continent in a different way.  I was scheduled to arrive on August 20th one day after the first sunrise, but I was delayed 3 days and got in on August 23.  When the plane landed and turned off the runway to its parking spot I was able to just see the sun above the horizon as it was setting at 2:00 in the afternoon.  By the time we got into town and out of our arrival brief it was dark out and stars were visible.  There were 2 flights scheduled the day I arrived, I was taking in the night sky and I saw the second flight coming in for a landing it was an amazing sight to see.  The day after we landed the weather changed and flights were cancelled for a week, so I was able to get settled in nicely.  This time of the year the weather is always changing, we have had a few good storms down here in the past month.  As I am writing this, we are expecting the first plane of the summer season sometime tomorrow afternoon.  So the nice and slow period we have had will be coming to an end and the next 4 months are gong to fly.  I hope to have good photos and stories to share this season with you all.  Enjoy the photos.

Tim

I did not take these photos.  We are having internet issues and I was only able to add these photos to this post.  Come back for more of mine in a few days.

Vessel Season!

Well it is vessel season down here!  The US Coast Guard Ice Breaker Polar Star has been in the area for about a week and decided to come in on Sunday and tie up to give the crew some shore leave.  The boat left again yesterday and just sat off the shore in the turning basin area of the sound over night and waited for the Nathaniel B. Palmer to show up and tie up.  The Palmer is the National Science Foundations research vessel that spends most of its time in the Antarctic sailing around.  As I am writing the the Palmer has just finished tying up to this seasons brand new ice pier.  The large resupply vessel should be here either late Friday or sometime on Saturday and all the supplies that are needed for our station here, at the South Pole and field camps that we service will come in on it.  So it will be a very busy time of year down here in a few days for about 10 days.  Once the resupply vessel leaves the season will only have about a month left in it.  It is hard to believe that I have been here almost 4 months now and will be home by mid-March, but I am looking forward to it.  I have seen photos of my oldest niece going skiing for the first time and my youngest niece skiing as well and I can't wait to get back home to see them and spend some time on the slopes skiing with them.  As for things down here, nothing new or exciting has happened recently.  The weather has been nice but not to warm this year to cause many issues with soft snow for the aircraft to land on and our vehicles to drive on.   It sounds like the we will get the C-17 back for flying everyone home at the end of the season which makes life a whole lot easier and more comfortable.  The cooler temps have kept the ice thicker to this season so  it is weird not seeing a lot of open water now that all the boats are showing up, but that can all change if we get a good wind storm again but I am hoping that it will come after the resupply vessels leave.  It will make life a whole lot easier for us down here if that happens. I also participated in the 4th Annual Mustache Roulette and came away with a design called the "Monkey Tail".  I have been a participant for all 4 times this event has occurred and have loved every minute of it.  I am know for my first season participation getting my entire head shaved off including my eyebrows.  This season we raised over $3000 that will be split between 3 different charities.  It amazes me how this little community will come out and support an event like this that raises money for different charities around the world.  Other than that not much else to talk about at this time.  I hope you enjoy the photos in this post and till next time.

Tim

A young seal that we saw out on the snow road to the airfield one morning.

Same seal.

Same seal but with Scott Base in the background.

Same seal.

A group of friends hiked up Ob Hill on New Years Eve.  It was a beautiful night to hike and celebrate the New Year.

I have mentioned before how small like can be down here, these two ladies work in my department with me and are both from Littleton.  It has been fun talking about places and things from home with them.

The ATO department at Ice Stock celebrating the New Year!

The ice break Polar Star coming into dock.

A beautiful evening.

The Polar Star and Nathaniel B. Palmer

The Palmer

The Polar Star

My beard before losing it in the Mustache Roulette.

My beard and the design I was lucky enough to get

The end result.

Science!

So this season our night shift decided that it would be fun if we had some sort of theme for our weekly Day Bar get together.  To bring everyone up to speed, the night shift has what we call Day Bar down here on our night time which is actually normal day time for everyone else down here when one of the bars is open for us to enjoy a few alcoholic beverages responsibly.  Having a theme every week has given us something to look forward to but to also show case everyone different personalities.  This week our theme was "Science", I found this theme to be perfect for where we are at.  We are all working down here in the support of science and all the research that goes on not only at our station but at the other stations and field camps across the continent.

I am fascinated to always hear the different thoughts and beliefs of what we are truly doing down here and why anyone would want to work in this environment.  In the end of every season reports start to come out from discoveries made down here or some break through in scientific research.  I feel very fortunate to know that in the end I have had my hand involved in this success working in the department that I do.  I look forward to preparing science samples to be flown north to the final research destination and know that I did my job correctly when I hear about the discoveries.  I am also fascinated that the individuals who come down here are so concerned about some of their equipment being handled correctly that I am beginning to think that maybe there is a job opportunity out there for me to be employed by the very research groups that I help down here make sure their equipment makes it safely here based on my knowledge of the transportation logistics down here.

We have had one piece of cargo sitting in our bay now for almost 3 weeks wanting to get onto a flight to the South Pole, this piece we have had to keep plugged in to keep the electronics running.  I realized that there is no way for us or even the scientist to check and make sure that it is being powered correctly the day it arrived here.  I would hate to find out that the equipment isn't working because of a simple thing in the design of the shipping package was missed.  I know we have done our best to handle the cargo correctly and in the end it is our responsibility but we will only know once it gets to the south pole.

Other than normal work we celebrated Thanksgiving last weekend.  The food we had at dinner was great and the company shared even better.  My team enjoyed a nice 3 day weekend after working 4 different sets of 3 days straight of work.  I am extremely happy with my team this season in knowing that the work that comes our way will get done and that we all work well together.  I have learned from my previous season being a senior to make myself a better senior this year.  We have about 3 more weeks left of working nights than we all make the transition to days right at Christmas.  It is hard to believe that 2 months have gone by and I have 3 more to go before I have the long ride home on a LC-130 at the end of February.  More research will happen between now and than, more good times had and many goodbyes to along the way.  I hope you enjoy this weeks update and photos.  The Ob Tube came back and I was able to spend some time in it under water listening to seals and watching fish and jelly fish swim by.

One of day bar themes, "Country Club"

A Ice Stalactite from the OB Tube

A little friend hanging out

A closer look at the stalactite

The ladder to get in and out of the OB Tube

A jellyfish

A jellyfish

Under the ice

Another Jelly

One of my coworkers birthdays, the them was PJ's

McMurdo from above

A different view of the Cargo Yard

McMurdo and the frozen bay

Cool clouds and Black Island

A couple of seals just chillin!

Another seal in the sun

McMurdo from Hut Point

Looking south at White and Black Islands

Santa at the Airfield

In the Ob tube Selfie!