Showing posts with label halley VI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label halley VI. Show all posts

Saturday, 23 February 2008

A weekend of fun and pain...mid-Feb '08

1st ever Halley sponsored Ski-to-the-Pole
Fundraiser for the RNLI
Sunday 17th February 2008 Please donate to our cause
It was proposed back in the beginning of February that the staff at Halley should pool their efforts and attempt to ski the equivalent distance to the pole in 12 hours. 1600km in 12 hours by 110 or so people. It was no easy feat but Sunday from 1000 to 2200 saw plenty of people either skiing, walking, running, kiting or man-hauling around the 5km perimeter. It was a bold proposal, but it gave us a goal to focus on. In the end we completed a total of 214 laps (106 short of the 320 needed), but we did pass the 1000km mark. To date (22nd Feb) we have raised £3500 and it is still going up. If you wish to donate, there is still time.

 You still have until 17th April 2008 to donate




Sat 16th Feb ’08
Folk Night

It was proposed by Kirk early in the season that Halley should host a Folk Night.
A chance for people, if they so chose, to put on an act, sing, play music, tell jokes, read poems, etc. for the entertainment of everybody else.

The day had finally come.

And with some careful planning by Dave Evans (and others), a venue was organised. Using the temporary skidoo repair tent (more than large enough to accommodate all), a stage was installed, as were lighting, projector, sound system, heating and decorative signs. The stage was set for a evening of the best entertainment in town.

The venue kicked off at 1930hrs (local) with the first act on at 2000hrs.

Acts included:
- a rewritten version of Monty Pythons “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” with comical references to summer life at Halley,

- a rewritten version of The Eagles “Hotel California” from the Halley VI site prep crew with lyrics about life in the cabooses 20km away,

- poetry, so moving that the whole tent became quiet,

- the girls performing a brilliant parody of “Grease Lightning” complete with BAS issue overalls and tight t-shirts (much to the whoops of delight from us lads) and riding into the tent adorning a snow-adapted Honda quadbike,


- Kirk projecting a fantastic “mockumetary” video of him as an ex-fid presenting life at Halley complete with footage using the bloopers from his footage.

- and, of course...myself.

"Pray tell what this performance of yours was Dave"

I performed a mini-play written by myself, starring myself, all about myself. (I titled it “Ego”). It was a short piece with me on stage talking to an on-screen pre-recorded projection of myself.

I spent 7 minutes talking to me about how funny I was, and how great an actor I was.
The latter was confirmed with the me on the screen prompting the me on the stage to portray a series of emotions, which I did so with passion.
I told myself a joke or two particularly about the time I met a beautiful woman on a narrow bridge and debating whether I should have blocked her passage or tossed myself off!
And then I accidently let slip that I loved me. After an awkward moment between us, I concluded by confessing my undying love to me.
The performance concluded by me singing a duet with myself to Elton John and Kiki Dee's “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”.

I think there were several bewildered faces in the audience at first, but then it soon dawned on people what I was doing and soon they got into the swing of it.

Z or Dead, recovering from the loss of bass player Alex, had a replacement...
...scientist and unstoppable running machine* Andy Rankin.

To herald the new line-up, they renamed themselves as Toucan Rool, (no prizes for guessing the inspiration for that name) borrowing the Toucan from the Guiness advertising slogan as inspiration.


The band played a couple of acts and rocked the joint with their versions of classic rock tunes. By the end of the night everyone was singing and dancing and generally having a bloody good time.

It was a good release after a hard long summer. And my appreciation goes out to all those who helped organise the evening and put on acts for the entertainment of the rest of the base complement.



* so called for his contribution to the sponsored ski-to-pole


17th Feb ’08
RNLI charity Ski-to-the-Pole

Ouch ouch ouch! My feet were in pain.

Three laps in some brand new plastic ski-boots and my feet were already shredded halfway through the 1st lap.

But it was in aid of charity and so I persevered.

By the end of the 3rd lap I was in agony. I knew I should have opted for the older leather boots, but I was being greedy and wanted the newer ones. Oh, how I paid for that decision. I had to stop and don my tracksuit bottoms and running shoes and jog the final lap.

And I am glad I did jog the last lap. It is somewhat really refreshing jogging in -15C. As I went round the base perimeter the sun dipped below the cloud layer which had been hanging over the station all day and gave a breathtaking view bathing the entire white surface of Halley in a pink hue augmented by an orange glow under the cloud.

How ironic it was that I was carrying my camera with me all day until I started jogging. So, no piccies of said view. However, as I finished the jog, I fetched my camera and managed to get a shot of a sun pillar that had suddenly appeared at the time. Yet another meteorological phenomena captured on “film”. Fantastic.


Some people pledged 4 laps (such as me) other pledged 10 (Rich). Those kite-boarding clocked 15+ laps. But Andy Rankin (the new bass player), often seen jogging round the perimeter during the summer, just kept running and running.

And running.

By the end of the day he completed 19 laps purely from jogging. 90km or so in total. Mad...but also very noble.



Note...I may add piccies to this entry at a later date when I get hold of some from other people.
But for now, all you have is the poorly shot ones I have here.
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Summer hits its peak

The summer science programme draws to a close, Halley VI construction winds down, the sun starts dipping lower and lower in the evening skies and temperatures begin to drop. The summer season has peaked and is now nearing it's end.


 Regardless of having an extremely sweltering afternoon at +3.4C on 15th Jan, a sudden noticeable drop in the daily temperatures mid-Jan gave us newbies an insight into what it’s really like to feel cold. Evening temperatures dipped to -15C to -20C as the sun got lower on the horizon in evenings.

Towards the end of January we started to see an average daily daytime temperature of around -15C. But it’s amazing how quickly one adapts to these conditions...and also how quickly one learns not to put things like metal fittings and bolts between ones lips when working outside.

Needless to say, it is my pleasure to report as the Halley meteorologist that we experienced the coldest January at Halley on record (since 1956). Average temp -6.5C.


22nd Jan 08 – Snowblock samples

“I have to do what?” I exclaimed, “Dig a couple of blocks of snow, pack them up and send them back to Cambridge?”

I was sitting in a meeting in an office in BAS HQ, Cambridge, UK in late-September 2007 when I was requested to dig blocks of snow for analysis in Cambridge. As part of my training I was meeting with many scientists and taking notes of the tasks and jobs I would be doing for them once I was at Halley.

The job of digging uncontaminated blocks of snow seemed like a simple, relatively painless and somewhat fun task to add to the list. And now here I was, at Halley, performing said task, dressed head to toe in a clean suit and other paraphernalia to protect the precious snow from contamination.

And it was not simple, nor was it painless but at least I was having a little fun though.

 The preparation and physical nature of the job meant it took a solid 4 hours to complete. Assisted by our winter field GA Rich, and summer admin and general station lynch-pin Nicola, we cleaned all tools and items which would be used in the dig and donned our beautiful outfit.

The only boxes available for the samples were very large metal Zarges boxes. Large boxes meant large samples. And large sample meant large weights. As the samples were to be dug in the Clean Air Sector, these large, heavy boxes had to be manually hauled the 1.5km to the freezer store.


The curses streaming out of my mouth as we man-hauled a pulk with 170kg of carefully dug snow over the 1.5km were not ones to be repeated to man or beast. I was knackered.
But the satisfaction that yet another task completed in the Antarctic for the sake of global science made up for all the hardship.

Apologies for the quality of the pics. It got quite overcast and the contrast dropped making photography difficult.



 23rd Jan ’08 – (more) Field Training

The 2008 wintering team were given the day off normal base duties to head to the coast and revise the skills we learnt on the field training in Derbyshire, UK (all those months ago in September ’07). It was good R&R and a chance to escape the base for the day. It was also the first time that the ’08 winter team had been together as a group like this since the field training.

It was also the first time that the ’08 winter team had been together as a group like this since the field training. Although we all live and work on the same small base, it is a very rare thing to have all of us together in one place at a time. The chance to work together and enjoy one another’s company was just excellent, and enabled us to bond together again and refocus ourselves as to why we are doing what we are doing.

Ags: winter base commander (BC),
Lance: vehicle operator/mechanic
Scott: vehicle mechanic
Joe: electrician (sparky)
Bryan: generator mechanic (genny mech)
Rich: field assistant
Hannah: doc
Paddy: chef
Les: plumber
Dean: comms manager
And myself: the beaker

We couldn’t have asked for a better day. It was sunny, it was warm, it was calm, and it was fun. It was in all essence, generally a beautiful day at the seaside.

We practiced skills such as roping up, walking over steep inclines, climbing up and abseiling down ice cliffs, performing crevasse rescue, among other things. Such as stomping up and down a cliff in single-file.

We were told we were going to learn to walk on snow
(photo courtesy of Agnieszka Fryckowska)

(photo courtesy of Agnieszka Fryckowska)




...finishing big.
(photo courtesy of Agnieszka Fryckowska)


We stopped for lunch on the cliffs and watched the calm Southern Ocean below silently glistening in the afternoon sun. In the second half od the day we roped ourselves up and done some linked glacier travel before chucking weighted bags over the cliffs and practicing crevasse rescue.






We finished the day with a BBQ at the caboose. Splendid.


25th Jan ’08 – Burns’ Night

Another excuse to celebrate was upon us, and it was proposed that we shall celebrate Burns Night.


Considering the short notice of 2-days to prepare and the fact that everyone were still on long days, it was amazing how quickly things were organised, providing a true example of how people pitch together to make an evening out of the basic materials we have to hand.


Jimbo spent the spare time in his day creating a “Toss the Caber” / welly-throwing range.
It was a Friday after all, and gospel that we have our fish and chips (as resident Kiwi Scott would put it) shark and tatties, but the chefs bravely forfeited our usual battered fish and chips dinner and fed us a hearty Scottish dinner complete with Haggis. Rich, wearing kilt, gave a recital of a Burn’s poem during the dinner while we all enjoyed a shot of whiskey each, setting the evening off.

And then the games begun.
It was cold and it was crap visibility, but we still came out in our droves to have a good ol’ toss together!


Wellies and cabers were flying left, right and centre.

Someone’s mukluk boot was liberated from the boot room and used as a substitute welly. The wind was cutting perpendicular across the range and made accurate throwing difficult. Nonetheless, people learnt to throw into the wind to correct for wind shear. However, some people over corrected. Ant (’07 chef) unfortunately miscalculated somewhat and sent a mukluk “bomb” careering from the heavens into the crowd standing behind him. Calls of “incoming” and “run away” rang out and the crowd dispersed in blind panic to avoid mukluk induced coma. Oh how we laughed.


Maniy, one of the South African labourers on Halley VI, snapped the caber in half. With no replacement caber, he caber tossing was abruptly stopped as a result. He’s a big chap is Maniy.


And finally the evening was finished with a good ol’ fashioned tug together!
A tug-of-war contest was fought (best of three making the winner). After playing in one I gave up. I was too knackered and my hands were frozen. Besides, my skills as referee were required.

And that was the end of the evening entertainment.


 29th Jan ‘08 – Major Incident Plan

“All station, all stations. We have a major incident between the garage and the Drewery. A doctor is required.”
Was the call on the radio, Tuesday 29th Jan at 1630.

But don’t worry. We were expecting it.

It was just a simulated exercise, the purpose of which was to test the operation of the base staff in response to a big incident.
Read on, and comfort yourselves in the knowledge that if things were to go awry here at Halley, we have the properly trained people on station to deal with it...

The scenario:
a crash involving a sno-cat, a nodwell crane and a skidoo pulling a happy sledge, resulting in a series of broken people. One with a head wound, another with a broken arm, someone with a serious compound fracture of the leg and finally...a dead person with missing legs!

Of course, a scenario completely unlikely to occur, but all the same, it was a good idea to plan for the worst case. The big test was of course to see how the new doctor would cope in such a situation. And I have to give it to Hannah, she performed admirably.

Hannah attends to an "injured" Shaggy
(photo courtesy of Pete Milner)

As soon as the call went out on the radio, we all leapt into action. The plan for a major incident is to muster at the signpost outside the Laws, unless you are on scene or (of course) part of the incident itself.

Hannah kitted herself out and headed straight to the incident site while the rest of us calmly proceeded to the signpost outside. Being one of the first to arrive I was given the roll call list to account for everyone and to determine who may be involved in the accident/incident. Imagine my horror when I had accounted for all, even those who were injured, and found out over the radio that there was also involved the incident an “unidentified” female.

Oh, the questions running through my mind at the time.
We all know each other here and there aren’t that many females on station, how come you can’t identify her? Are you sure it’s female? Has her face being completely mangled by the crash? Have we got a stowaway on station smuggled in by some randy chap who gets his sexual needs tended to? Had the Basler flight which stopped off earlier in the day left one of its party behind? I was in a bit of a panic. Who was she?

It turned out to be Annie.
Resuscitation Annie.
The standard basic life-support dummy had been dressed up in a boiler suit and thrown under the tracks of the sno-cat to act as one of the casualties.


I was insulted. I had previously approached Rich C (the 2007 doc) offering my acting prowess to help in the incident exercise. He turned me down. And instead opted for the lifeless, limbless plastic dummy? Had it come to this? Was my career as an actor to be overshadowed by an inanimate object?

Truth be told, I actually wasn’t allowed to be a “casualty” as I am a winterer and I need to participate in the exercise proper.

Turns out that the dummy was wrongly regarded as a fatality. In the debrief afterwards, it was explained by Rich that the idea was for “Annie” to be treatable too, but everyone just assumed it was a fatality and zipped it up in a body-bag and stuffed it in the freezer! Heh...I hope that wont happen in a real life crisis. It wouldn’t be easy to explain oneself out of that situation.

The makeshift hospital in the Drewery
(photo courtesy of Pete Milner)

All in all, the exercise was a complete success. Everyone played their respective roles very well indeed. In a scenario such as that, the first people on the scene take the coordinating roles. And Ags (our winter base commander) and Paddy (our wintering chef) did an outstanding job running the resources and the makeshift hospital respectively. And of course Hannah fixed everyone in time for dinner.


3rd Feb ’08 – Tractors and fun

The 3rd of Feb was a Sunday and for a change I had a completely relaxing day. I had a lie in and got up the latest I have done all summer. I then watched a movie or two which were being played in the lounge. And then I drove some of the big vehicles we have on site: The John Deere and the Challenger.

As a bit of afternoon recreation, Martin, our summer chief plant mech / logistics manager type guy offered people the chance to learn to drive the big machinery. I jumped at the opportunity, purely as a chance to relive those moments of playing with the little John Deere tractor in my grandparents garden as a toddler, and put closure to the sadness endured all my life when it was thrown out.

Within minutes I was churning huge troughs in the snow by whipping the Challenger into tights donuts going round and round in circles. You can do amazing donuts in those things as they can turn on the spot. And, yes, I was feeling like a great big kid...all over again. Whoopee!




7th Feb ’08 – Tunnel Rescue Scenario

Another week and another day of training for the doc and for the ‘08 winter team. This time we were stage a tunnel resuce.

The scenario:
to tend to and rescue someone who was seriously injured in the service tunnels 30m below the snow surface.

You see, when Halley V was constructed, service tunnels providing power, comms, plumbing, fuel tanks, etc between the Laws, Simpson and Piggott buildings and the and melt-tank were built. These tunnels were designed to bury over the years as the snow accumulated. They are now approx 30m below the surface with tons of pressure pressing down on them from the ice above. Space within them is tight and they are gradually collapsing under the pressure. And there is always the risk that fumes within them could overpower someone.

So...they have a significant level of risk and we, as a wintering team, need to be prepared to handle a rescue situation if ever the need was to occur.

Hannah had prepared a beautiful dummy as our victim, and he/she/it was a good weight. This was essentially lobbed down the access shaft to the tunnel systems (ensuring that any medical attention was a necessity) and we set to work.

Preparing to place the victim in the tunnels
(photo courtesy of Pete Milner)

Soon we were all kitted out with whatever rescue gear we needed. Rich was coordinating the rescue operation up the shaft, Hannah was coordinating the medical side of things down below and Ags was coordinating the crew up top (winching, belaying, etc).

And then the operation commenced. I’ll spare you the boring details of the step by step process. What is important to tell you is that we managed to successfully rescue the victim (whom only had mild concussion and a broken leg) out of the tunnels. Unfortunately, his head got snagged on a rung of the ladder up the shaft as we hauled him up and thus his neck snapped.

Hannah’s urgent screams to stop went unnoticed by us up top and so we just kept on winding the winch.

Although we did manage to get him out of the tunnels, he was quite dead.

Oh dear. The irony.


However, the theory worked and in the wash up afterwards it was concluded that many lessons were learnt. As I said to the group, I was glad things went wrong because we learnt from it. If it all went perfectly, then we would never know of the extra risks like ladder rungs and unsecured lolling heads.

Heroes -Paddy, Hannah, Me and Dean (on floor)
(photo courtesy of Pete Milner)


 9th Feb '08 - GEF data collection

Flying to A80 and A77 yet again.

This time I was joining Joan in collecting the recent data logged on the new GEF (Geo-Electric Field) monitoring stations he and Jules installed in January. I was to observe the process in servicing and checking the system on the premise that I might be requested to do it next season.

And, damn, those sites truly are getting bloody cold.


Joan and Jules were living in a field camp for almost 2 weeks setting up the two systems, and so there was some evidence of their time at the sites.

Igloo, built by the GEF team, complete with armchair.
It was successfully tried and tested by Jules one night too

The GEF measures the electric field of the earth through some magical whizzy science.
One of the detectors is a big shiny globe suspended in the air.

Joan checking the GEF globe

And then we returned to base landing approx 2300hrs.




14th Feb ’08 – Valentines Day

Another year, another valentines, and another day lacking in romance.
Once again I did not receive any cards. But this is probably a good thing when it comes to an Antarctic research station comprising of 95% males. However, I am always hoping that several cards will be arriving with the post when the ship returns in November. *subtle hint ladies* :o)

The 14th also brought the very first setting of the sun of 2008. All 2 hours of it.
It was predicted by the helpful computer programmes at my disposal that sunset would occur at 0103GMT on 14th Feb. As we are currently on GMT-3, it wasn’t too late to stay up and witness it.


Quite a few people were out that evening to witness it. I myself was on the Simpson platform preparing my masterpiece for the Folk Night on Saturday. But, I stopped and stood on the balcony all alone with thoughts of romance and love, watching that sun dip below the horizon. The weather was kind to us, and gave us a perfectly clear evening sky in which to see the spectacle unfold.

We've also been experiencing some low mist on some evenings, which freezes on the cold surfaces outside and forms crystals. It's called rime. It can give some amazing effects, and will no doubt get better as temperatures drop even more.



After the sun set, I returned to the office and continued compiling the extravagant performance I was piecing together for my moment on stage for Folk Night the following weekend!
More on this to come
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Sunday, 20 January 2008

Phew! Relief...what a bitch!

It was as if his skin was on fire. The heat surrounded him like a tight-fitting cloak from which there was no escape. The hot air in his nostrils and mouth was making it painful to breath. Breathing was becoming laboured. The sweat was welling out of every pore over his body. Why was he immersed in this torture, as if enveloped in the fiery pits of hell itself? As he looked at the clock, time seemed to slow ever more, prolonging the evil heat that penetrated every inch of his body. How much longer would he have to endure this pain?

Not for much longer it seemed. He finally lost his battle with the heat...

And then I got out of the sauna!


Yes. I was in a sauna. In the Antarctic. What a novelty.

I positively hate saunas, but the novelty of sitting in one while in Antarctica was just too compelling.

For a few days towards the end of December I was spending a few days living on the RRS Ernest Shackleton, (one of the two ships operated by BAS). It has a sauna on board. The Shackleton was docked at the sea-ice for relief operations, and I was to spend a few days working from the ship during Halley VI relief for when the Russian brute of a cargo ship the “Amderma” arrived.


The RRS Ernest Shackleton


_____________________________________________________________________


So once again, I have left it almost a month since my last entry, and I am regretting it as

a) I have shed loads to write about, and

b) I cannot remember half of the good stuff I wanted to tell you about at the time they occurred.


I’ll try my best though, and will try not to disappoint.


Oh and do keep the comments on the blog coming. I enjoy reading your input and feedback. I apologise for not replying to them, but I get no forwarding addresses given with them.


Promo

Before I start, a quick promo for the theatre I act for.

The next production by the Boundary Players in Aldermaston, Berks is upon us. www.boundaryplayers.co.uk


At the William Penney Theatre, Aldermaston Recreational Society


'Glorious' by Peter Quilter

(Tuesday 5th February to Saturday 9th February)


The play is based on the life of Florence Foster Jenkins, a New York heiress and socialite in the 1940’s, who wanted to be a great operatic diva despite having one of the worst singing voices in history. We follow her, and her ardent (and equally eccentric) companions, from the arrival of her new pianist (the previous pianist had to be replaced because his “wind” problem drowned out the piano) to her crowning moment singing in front of a sold out concert in Carnegie Hall.

The play is a joy, funny and wonderfully quirky.



On with the blog...

Christmas day – 25-Dec-07 (well duh!)


Christmas morning, and I'm up again at 0630 to start the morning met.


Cheery choruses of “Merry Christmas” rung through the corridor of the Laws building. I wasn’t feeling either cheery nor Christmassy. Many people’s wishes of good tidings were met by a primitive grunt by myself. It was Christmas...I was working...and I was not feeling the vibes.


By mid-morning after phoning home to talk to the family, I decided that it was time I forced myself to enjoy Christmas. The Antarctic Monkey helped to cheer me up by jumping upon the wooden Christmas tree made by Tom last year and muttering something about how he was “sitting on wood”. I sniggered. I then whacked on some Xmas tunes on the stereo and forced myself to absorb the Xmas vibes. By smoko I was feeling all Christmassy, which was enhanced by the announcement that work was to stop at 1600 and a Christmas dinner was to be put on in the evening.


Antarctic Monkey acting as a fairy for the festivities


I had rescued my P-Boxes from the depot lines that very week and from them I fished out my special Xmas tie. The one with the evil grinning reindeer with flashing red eyes. We enjoyed a lavish dinner and enjoyed our ration of 2 alcoholic drinks. It was later that evening I was informed that I was to go to the sea-ice in the morning to work as sea-ice drivers mate for the Halley VI relief operation. (see the last entry for a description as to what a drivers mate actually entails).



The Sea-Ice – 26-Dec-07


Creek4 is the official designation for where relief operations were conducted this season. It is a natural creek formed where the ice-shelf breaks off into the sea. Sea-ice usually forms around these structures where a natural bay is produced by the jutting of the cliffs. The sea-ice forms a perfect platform for the ships to dock and be unloaded. Creek 4 is approx 10km from Halley V (it used to be further when Halley V was built in the early 90s. The gradual flow of the ice-shelf to the sea means that the base has moved approx 20km closer to the sea in the past 17 years or so).


A ramp was plowed to allow ease of access for vehicle to the sea-ice from the cliffs.


Brian the ’07 plumber and myself were to be transported to the creek to swap with the two RAF chaps who needed to complete their work at Halley. We were given the privilege of being transported in relative luxury in the new sledge. It's an enclosed, heated and upholstered sledge with padded seating. Wow! I have dubbed the “royal carriage”, some call it the "simulator", others call it "thunderbird 4". Whatever it is, it is a fun ride.


Me, royaly waving goodbye to the dirty rascals from the royal carriage


Brian and myself getting ready to be ferried to the ice cliffs...


...which was a bit of a squeeze with all our baggage and emergency kit



On arriving at the cliff, the fleet of sno-cats were awaiting patiently for the start of the next stage of relief... cargo discharge for the Halley VI construction.


Sno-Cats, poised and ready for relief action upon the cliffs of the ice-shelf


The Amderma was just a few miles off the sea-ice steaming in to moor up later that evening. We "checked in" into our new accomodation, being transported by Ben the chief vehicle mech and logistics guy. Preparations were being made for the arrival of the Amderma, such as the staging ground being groomed to make a flat hard surface for the sno-cats.


One of the newer sno-cats grooming the surface of the sea-ice



Rear view from the Shack bridge


While waiting for the action to start some of us went on a wander around the sea-ice around the ice-cliff edge. Some of the naturally formed features were quite a view. Like this wabbit.


With the constantly changing weather, structures like this are usually hare today, gone tomorrow!



It was formed by a combination of the ice being sublimed by the sun and scoured by the wind. Well, that's my assumption anyway.




Penguins are not the only wildlife we witness around here. Some local birds include Skuas and Snow Petrels. Here is a skewer, looking all cute and innocent. But they hide a sinister evil...they eat penguin chicks! *boo & hiss*


Occasionally a snow petrel or a skua will fly over Halley base. It's very odd to see a bird in flight down here as there are no other wildlife or trees etc to assoiate them with.


Skua



Snow accumulates on the sea-ice, and is often scoured away by the winds to leave a perfect ice-rink. In this pic I tried to capture the drifting snow across one of these ice patches



Some of bottoms of the cliffs have features formed by the constant rising and lowering of the sea-ice with the tides. These are known as "something I cannot remember at this precise time". They can form some mini-caves and overhangs such as this one. Big icicles can form below them:



Hmm...t'was a shame that it suddenly went overcast at the time making the contrast rubbish for good shots of icicles


The Shackleton


Our wintering Field Assistant Rich B looking through a hole


Later that evening the Amderma arrived and was moored up by 0300 hrs ready for the beginning of the relief operation on the following day shift...my shift.


The Amderma - ex-cold war tank transporter (apparently), and overall rust bucket needing a huge lick of paint.


“Fesco, the Russian answer to the UKs Tesco, have expanded its business operations to home delivery of flat-pack Antarctic research stations.”


Halley VI relief starts


For the next 5 days I was on relief the Shackleton was my home, and I had an entire 4 berth cabin all to myself with en-suite shower facilities.


Well, I had a room-mate on my first evening but I was not told that I was to have one. Kirk, summer field assistant and BAS official filmographer of the Halley VI project, came in at 0200 in the morning after filming the mooring of the Amderma. He crept into the room startling me from my slumber. I was in shock. Who was this intruder?! There I laid motionless fearing for my arse...literally.


Having never slept on a ship before, and having watched and read enough media regarding the antics of seamen to feed many a misconception, my imagination was running wild as to what intentions this late night prowler in my cabin had in mind. As my brain woke up, logical thought kicked in and I realised that it was Kirk. I could tell by the huge fluffy microphone he wielded in his hand. Then again, with my previous assumptions of a good butt raping still fresh in my mind, I sincerely hoped it was a microphone and not some other implement of pleasure/torture!


But for the rest of the week I had the cabin to myself, (the door now being locked prior to going to bed). I never will experience this kind of luxury again for the next 12 months, so I lapped it up. Including “enjoying” the sauna on-board. The luxury was well needed after enduring 12 hours of hard physical labour in the harsh weather each day. It was, in a metaphorical sense of the word, quite orgasmic.


Sno-Cat hauling some heavy cargo


A rubbish attempt to show what riding on the sled behind a sno-cat was like...steel girders, woo!


It was a choice as to how the drivers mate travelled. Following on a ski-doo or sitting with the cargo on the sledge. I opted for the ski-doo with the logic that if the sno-cat went through the ice, the sledge would be closely following it.


My ride (an Alpine II ski-doo) and the Amderma


Sea-ice work was pretty hairy at times. The shape of the edge of the sea-ice and the mammoth size of the Amderma were not ideal and so the ship was moored with a good 6' gap between the ice and it. With the cranes on board only capable of a 12' reach, this meant that the sno-cats had to stop right at the edge of the ice to take on cargo weighing more than 6 tonnes at a time. Luckily the ice (3m thick) held the weight and relief went without a major incident.


Sea ice work was also fun at times. The weather was pretty crap all the time I was there, with winds, heavy snow at times and high humidity. All combined, the weather led to it being quite a wet week. However, the snow was luckily the kind that could be compacted into some meaty snowballs. A snowball fight usually developed on the rides back to ship during smoko. Two men sitting on the back of a ski-doo against the rest of the crew in the happy sled being pulled behind it. Oh, how the Antarctic turns you into children again.


Big fluffy snow...rare here actually



Now and again a penguin would saunter past not paying any attention to the work going on around it. And every so often a group would suddenly appear at the edge of the ice. Unfortunately I never saw any actually jump out of the water, but Kirk shot some brilliant images of them.



There were many rumours and stories abound regarding the Russians. Some of the Morrissons construction crew travelled down via the Amderma and so had the pleasure of being hosted by the Russians on board. My favourite story being one of the crew being shown pictures by a Russian of his daughter and how the Russian was offering her as a wife to him!



A new year, a new phase - 4th Jan 2008


On New Year’s Eve, I was pulled off the sea-ice to return to base to continue with my important role as Metbabe Extraordinaire. It was a shame that I wasn’t going to see the whole of Halley VI relief through to the end, but I had done my part, and I felt proud to be involved. But looking on the brightside, I was back on base in time for New Year celebrations. Again, we enjoyed 2 rations of alcohol and some specially made mulled wine. The new year was seen in with us conducting a flag ceremony. The oldest member on base (Pete) lowered the Union Flag just before midnight, and the youngest member (Jim) raised a new one just after midnight.


Pete lowering the wind tattered Union Flag (pre-midnight)



Jimbo raising the new Union Flag (post midnight)


Seeing the Union Flag hoisted high above the pristine white plains of the British Antarctic Territory was rather symbolic, and very nearly brought a tear to my eye. Rule Britannia. *sniff*


The new year also brought sad and worrisome news to me.


It was time for the Shack to leave, and therefore, time for the existing metbabes Tamsin and Kirsty to depart and leave me to run the met at Halley by myself. When Tamsin informed me of the news I just couldn’t stop myself from throwing myself on the floor in blind panic and grabbing hold of her leg shrieking for her not to leave me! In full view of everyone.

(Yeah, I actually did).


She reassured me that my training was now complete. It was like a Jedi master reassuring their padawan:


“I can’t do it, I’m not ready” I cried

“You are ready” replied Tamsin

"But I've come from the sea-ice to complete my training" said I

"No more training is required" said Tamsin

"Then I am a metbabe." “But I can’t go about it all on my own” I retorted

“Simpson will always be with you” reassured Tamsin.


(Sir George Clarke Simpson –metbabe for Scott’s expedition 1910-1913 and director of the met office 1920-1938. An inspiration to any metbabe and also the chap who the Simspon platform is named after).


Before Tamsin and Kirtsy left, the Antarctic Monkey got to say his goodbyes too and got a kiss. (I’m not going to make the obvious comments about monkeys and kissing, and kissing monkeys, and kissing my mo...D’oh!).




There was a tearful farewell to the girls. And it did feel odd to say goodbye to Kirsty and Tamsin and knowing I would not be seeing them for a long time, if at all ever again.


(the base compliment of females suddenly dropped by 33% so it was a tearful moment for a lot of the men on base).


From Monday 7th onwards Dave Evans (the 3rd and final 2007 metbabe) was on a new contract under waste management. From that point on I was the met department at Halley. I am the met department at Halley. And also the scientist. And the electronic technician. And the data manager. I was soon to become very busy.


And busy I have become.


BBQ - 5th January 2008


Relief was finally over, and to celebrate we were treated to an evening BBQ. Everyone turned up en masse and there was a general feeling of euphoria that the 1st stage of the Halley VI project was over. The materials and equipment had arrived “safely” and just about in one piece...


I think those symbols on the side mean something!


The BBQ gave people the opportunity to let off steam and relax for an evening. The evening ended with a huge snowball fight between BAS staff and Morrisson contractors. Nothing like team spirit! Odd how we naturally formed into our divisions too.


Steve once again bores a different audience with his "the time I wrestled an emu" story!!



Joe and I getting rowdy on our 4 beers


The base came off 24 hour operations and we started a new rota at the beginning of the new week. It still means doing 12 hour days, but with 6 day weeks instead. Well, that is the case if you don’t work in meteorology. But as it happens, I do, and therefore some weeks I can end up doing 7 day weeks. It all depends on whether there is a flight due requiring weather observations radioed to the pilot.


Well, actually, there are plenty of people who do 7 day weeks here, but I like to state that it’s just me so that I feel pitied by all of you who read this blog! Pity me. Poor little hard-worked Dave.


The following weekend I almost had a day off on Sunday (13th Jan). But at 1500 I got told that I was to get kitted up as there was an opening in the weather and a flight to service the remaining LPMs was to go ahead. As collecting data off LPMs and raising the equipment above the accumulated snow is an annual event, I have to go on this year's flights so that I know what to do next year and train the padawan who will be under me next summer.


So Jules and I flew to two remote LPM stations on the continent and swapped the electronics out for later analysis back at Halley. At the same time we raised the loggers high above the snow surface.

Heroic pose next to an unraised LPM logger module...


...and Jules admiring our handywork after raising & servicing


The flight over the Hinge Zone once again revealed some amazing aerial shots of the cracks and crevasses and creeks on the ice-shelf. The shadows help give some definition of size. Just bare in mind that the photos were taken at a height of approx 2000ft.


Ice-shelf meeting sea-ice


A huge crack in the ice-shelf running from the cliff


Some Meteorological phenomena to feast your eyes upon


I have been taking several pictures of strange meteorological occurances in and around base since my eyes being opened to them during my training. Here are a few more of the good ones.


Miraging - Icebergs and the cliffs of the ice-shelf have been mirrored and flipped up by temperature inversions in the distance. Very freaky



A Stratocumulus cloud progressively invading the sky over the Laws platform


Irisation around some high Cirrocumulus cloud (approx 20000ft). The rays from the sun are refracted by the ice crystals of the high clouds to create lovely pastel pink and green shades in the cloud (I think).

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