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Jan 31 Well in fact the fuel ship did not make it in on time. It got stuck in the
pack ice 250 miles from here and the Oden had to go rescue it. The ship is named the Lawrence H Gianella and it finally arrived
2 days ago. It has another day or two to finish unloading all the fuel. . A Navy cargo handling unit arrived in McMurdo and
brought the flu with them. I have been sick since Sunday night. I felt so bad that I was unable to eat anything until early
Weds morning. Thankfully my room mate brought me a bottle of orange juice. I do not know what kind of flu it was but I never
want it again. As close as we all live and work down here it is really difficult to keep from getting sick when so many other
people have it. Here is a photo of the fuel ship that I took tonight and a link to more info about it. Only 15
more days until I head north.
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| US Navy fuel ship docked at the McMurdo pier Jan 31 2008 |
USNS Lawrence H Gianella
Jan 20 The icebreaker has opened a channel into McMurdo and the fuel ship will arrive in
the next day or two. Last night we watched a whale move along the edge of the ice. We think he was hunting for seals. The
weather has been so warm here the last 2 days. I have been able to work without a jacket and stocking cap. It is much
warmer here right now than it is back in Indiana. This week I got my flight info for my return home. I depart McMurdo
on the C-17 Feb 15 and will spend one night in Christchurch NZ then leave at 11 am to Auckland and then
across the Pacific to the US. I will arrive in Indy late on the 16th. Hey I want to give a shout out and a big
THANK YOU to Mrs Perry's class at Center Grove Middle School North. The chocolate you sent was great ! My
cargo team helped me eat it but I really enjoyed reading your letters. Here are some more penguin pictures just
for you.
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| These are the Adelie Penguins that visited us last week |
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| They are not afraid of us. |
| Photo taken around midnight |
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| All 3 nightshift cargo teams sitting on Junkyard Dog |
Jan 14 The ice breaker has arrived. It is the Oden, a Swedish ship. It has been very
interesting to watch it start cutting up the ice. It will be cutting a channel and turn around area for the fuel
and supply ships. Here is a link that will give you more info about the Oden.
Icebreaker Oden
Two nights ago a flock of about 20 Adelie Penguins came wandering into the edge of McMurdo. They were so cute
to watch. They would climb a small hill and slide down the snow on their bellies. They are not afraid of us at all. This last
week we had 2 days of heavy snow and strong winds. All our cargo flights were cancelled and our cargo is really backed up.
This week we will try to do 6 or 7 flights a day to get everything caught up. Some of you have asked what we do with the trash
down here. We have a waste department ( the workers are known as "wasties") that sorts and packs every bit of trash
for shipment back to the US. That includes all the trash from the field camps and the South Pole. It is
a lot of trash. Almost every flight returning here from the pole brings back trash by the ton. It will all be sorted
and put in containers for the long ride out of here on the supply ship. Only one month from tomorrow and I head north.
Jan 7 Lot of news ! Yesterday I found out that my redeployment date back to
NZ will be Feb 15. That is not far off.
We also learned that the ice breaker is making good progress and should be here in the next day or
two. With a channel open seals, penguins and killer whales will come in good numbers. We are all anxious to see more wildlife.
I got a new room mate this week. He is a Kiwi soldier named Hamish. Hamish is in a New Zealand Army
Engineer unit that will be doing repairs around here until the end of the season. This is his first time to the ice.
It is funny to watch him try to figure things out down here knowing that we did the same back in Oct.
Instead of recovering the crashed Basler DC-3 next season there is an effort being made to get it
repaired and flown out in the next 4 weeks before the Antarctic winter sets in. They are building a field camp
at the crash site for the repairs to be done. It will be interesting to see if they can pull it off in time.
Jan 4 Happy 2008 !!! We had a delightful New Years Eve building pallets for
the South Pole. We did stop at midnight for a quick celebration with a sip of Champagne and slaps on the back then after midnight
lunch back to pallet building. Actually with the extra time off that we had for Christmas and just before New Years
I was glad to get back to work. Time goes by much faster down here when we stay busy Here are a couple pictures of my team
and the pallets they were building just before midnight. It was snowy all night but the temperature was about 25 degrees
and not uncomfortable..
| 11:50 pm 12/31/07 New Years Eve pallet building |
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| Ann directs Ben where to place cargo on a pallet |
| 11:45 pm 12/31/07 pallet building |
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| Bill and Eric strap down a New Years eve pallet |
In about 10 days a Swedish ice breaker will arrive to cut a channel through the sea ice for two
supply ships. First a fuel tanker will arrive to offload a years worth of diesel, gasoline and jet fuel. Around Feb 1st
a cargo container ship will arrive with everything that will be needed for the Antarctic winter and all the cargo for
next season that is too heavy or too bulky to bring in by aircraft next summer. We all work 7 days a week
until the ship is offloaded then the cargo department starts going home. McMurdo is scheduled to close for the summer
on Feb 23 . Time is really flying by. Since Oct 2 I have not seen anything but ice, snow, lava rock, 2 Penguins,
a few Weddell Seals and some Skua Gulls. The smell of dirt and grass and the sight of trees and plants will
be a real treat.
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