[Sksouth-l] Busy neighborhood

[Sarah Kaye]

We've had a lot of visitors this week!

We started with Jim and Jean Foley, on their yacht the
Onora (http://www.foleysail.com/). I helped give them
the station tour and got included in the return dinner
invitation; very nice folks, very nice vessel - not
the prettiest thing floating but it's exactly what the
Foleys want for the long, intercontinental, and
extreme latitude sailing that they do. They're heading
north from here so they're waiting for a bit of
weather to pass through before they cross the Drake.
They've been visiting the local islands, doing some
engine maintenance, and hosting any of us who wanted
to visit while they've been here. They're anchored in
Hero Inlet, just off to the side of the station.

Next we got in a bunch of Canadians on the Sedna IV
(pictures and English description at
http://www.onf.ca/aventures/sedna/arcticmission/ma_voilier/visite.html;
French expedition journal at http://sedna.tv/). They
are a professional camera crew who have already made a
successful documentary on the Arctic, now following up
down here. They are shooting some footage here of the
local islands and our birder group, who have been
studying local bird populations for 30 years. Then
they'll head up to Melchior Island, just north of
here, pick up science personnel and winter over. They
gave a science talk on Thursday and a few of us
visited them last night. They have a grand vision but
they're not starry-eyed romantics: they have solid
experience and a sturdy and comfortable vessel,
well-equipped and supplied. I'm looking forward to
reading their winter journal postings although the
Google translation lacks a certain something; for
example, "Palmer Station" translates as "Micrometer
caliper." Hmmm. They're over in Arthur Harbor, the
opposite side of the station from Hero Inlet.

The Spirit of Sydney (http://www.spiritofsydney.net/),
a medium-sized yacht, is in the vicinity and stopped
in for a station tour. They haven't been socializing
so I can't tell you much more about them. We see their
mast in various locations around the outer islands.

On Wednesday we hosted the Cheeseman's Eco-Safari
(http://www.cheesemans.com/): this is a family
business running ecological-focused tours worldwide.
For this trip they chartered the Polar Star, a former
research vessel, and showed up here with 92
passengers. Of all the commercial trips these folks
come across as the most serious about making an actual
connection with the places that they visit. They spend
more time in the Antarctic Peninsula area and each day
they have more time on land than the other visitors.
Less deluxe, more voyage. Interesting people to talk
to.

On the opposite end of the spectrum we visited the
Rotterdam
(http://www.hollandamerica.com/cruiseships/Rotterdam)
on Thursday. This vessel is honking huge: over 1200
passengers, 600 crew. They don't visit Palmer! As a
matter of fact their passengers never get off the boat
down here, so when we went out to give our
presentation the only facility for getting on board
was a rope ladder hanging out of an open hatch. This
got pretty exciting with 6-8' swells but we did fine.
The vessel is very comfortable and deluxe, the people
were extraordinarily nice to us, but it sure is the
windshield tour. Their passengers don't have the
opportunity to make contact with Antarctica. On the
other hand, we did see people in wheelchairs and older
people who wouldn't be up to the challenges of a more
engaged trip. We had a great response to our
presentations, and the staff sent us home with
t-shirts and freshies. Since our next incoming supply
trip is Feb 18 we sure do appreciate that!

Yesterday we had the Clipper Adventurer
(http://www.intrav.com/transport/adventurer/intro.asp),
an old friend by this point. Very nice, well-organized
trips, professional staff, and also a good example of
the cooperation we get down here: they've helped move
our staff in and out when the Gould was getting its
engine repaired. One of their lecturers on this trip
was a broadcaster who filmed the South Pole Millenium
New Year's party, he remembered me and we had a nice
chat.

Are you feeling exhausted yet? We are! We have been
able to get some genuine work done in amongst all the
babble, and our socializing with the Sedna folks and
the Foleys have been after hours, but we are looking
forward to a quieter week coming up.



My best to all and have a happy Burns Night,


-Sarah


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