Hi folks,
Well it's been an interesting couple of weeks. We had some transportation issues: our vessel the Gould wasn't able to make its last scheduled stop here two weeks ago, due to heavy ice around the station and engine trouble. It got to within 6 miles of station - in sight from the higher areas - and had to turn around. The people on the Gould who were supposed to be coming here got another exciting voyage across the Drake; the people here who were supposed to be going home were about ready to put on immersion suits and start swimming. We started improvising: had Twin Otters on standby at Rothera and the glacier skiway ready here, but the weather went bad. Next option was cruise ships, and eventually that worked: in three trips on two different ships we got our northbound folks out and our southbound folks in. That took a fair bit of time and we're just caught up now. The Gould is now fixed up and on its way back, although they're detouring right now due to ice on the direct route. Fingers crossed all round! We've got our people but not our cargo, and some of it is critical. Also I want to get the box I mailed to myself from Seattle back in September, with my good boots - coffee - books - etc. It'll be pretty well-travelled by the time it gets here.
In between cruise ships we did have our Thanksgiving. It's one of my favorite holidays here. It's our first big one, we have heaps of food and decorate the Galley and sit down together at tables with tablecloths, candles, etc. We didn't have freshies on account of the Gould not getting in but we did pretty well for all that. I do like that we can all sit down together here: the other stations have to have 3 shifts. We even had the cooks eating with us, which doesn't happen at the other stations either! They got a big round of applause. We missed our two-day weekend because of a cruise ship coming in on Sunday, but we'll get it this weekend.
The cruise ship visits are fun but disruptive. We run tours and open the store for souvenirs. People get very enthusiastic and it's our chance to show why we're here and what we're doing. They're generally very nice; some people did get huffy when the store system crashed (don't buy Micros) and we had to tell them they couldn't use credit cards. No credit cards! In Antarctica! Oh my.
Wildlife is picking up. We had one fabulous day with orcas cruising right by the station: doesn't happen too often. Gentoo penguins are around almost all the time. The birders say they may start nesting here. We're also getting more different birds, although I'm still not sure who exactly is hooting at night. Oh, night - it doesn't get dark any more, just dim. Yep it's summer! Our temps are running from about 22-45F. The snow is melting, mud season is starting. Science is in full swing: samplers are sampling, birders are birding, divers are.... waiting for their equipment. Oh well, two out of three?
I hope you're all well out there. I like hearing what you all are up to - please send me a note when you can!
Best,
-Sarah