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May 2007 |
21/05/07
Time really does fly by down here. Either that, or the lack of decent sunlight is having some bizarre effect of our time perspective. By Friday, I have little recollection of what happened on the Monday. So before I forget again, here's a quick rundown: Diving, Boat training, more boat training, boat winterisation, gash, a bit of snowboarding, moving the caboose and oh and more training. You can see there is a trend here. basically, with Ali the Marine Research Assistant away on her winter trip, the dive team was down one member so we weren't able to dive as easily. Instead, I spent some time on the illustrious inventory of everything in the boatshed. And when the light was good enough (the sun doesn't come up til about 10:30), it was out on the boats with some of the base personnel to train them up as Competent Crew and get them experienced. There was Tris and Rob out for some Humber boat handling, Birgit and Pete for Stella and SAR training.
Then today, with Ali back from her winter trip and raring to get the CTD work done, while she held the CTD boat 'Aurora' in position I took Rob, Kelvin and Alistair the doc off the boat for individual sessions on Stella. Every moment that the guys get to drive the boats is essential in developing their experience and understanding of how they work and how do deal with situations.
On Saturday afternoon, Andy, Kenny and I went up to Vals to move the caboose as it tends to 'sink' as snow accumulates around it and the wind scoops a hollow for it to sit. This involved a Sno-Cat, some wire towing lines and a couple of bottle jacks to pop the caboose out of its frozen hold. The Sno-Cat hasn't been up the Ramp for awhile as it was so icy but with the past week of snow its now in good condition. So off we trucked and after an hour of digging, mainly by Andy in the Cat, we had the caboose re-positioned. It'll probably need moving in a months time, but it was a worthwhile exercise.
All the fresh snow meant we had a good afternoon of snowboarding on Sunday, but we have to snatch as much time as possible as the light is dying away by 4pm. |
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13/05/07 What a great start to the week! A Bank Holiday. Quite relaxing day with a 'manc' morning followed by cloud break in the afternoon. Alistair, Andy and I used this opportunity to go to Vals for some skiing and snowboarding. The snow conditions were good, though slightly loose and crumby. A couple of small jumps enable us to maximise the slope at Vals and the weather was really quite enjoyable. (see the link for a little video on Vals snowboarding: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhoX_bxR-Lo ) Tuesday saw some windy weather that prevented us from getting out on the water. Every moment not driving boats is now committed to an indent of the boating stores. Basically assessing how much of everything I have. We use a system called AMOS and though I can't remember exactly what it means I reckon it stands for 'Amazing Amounts Of Stuff'. It is a networked system on which components and stock can be logged and maintenance scheduled. With regular entries and near religious observance of procedure, it works very well. If you are new to it, and others have struggled to get to grips with the computing element, it is an intriguing test of patience and, though I shouldn't admit it to my colleagues a wonderful challenge to fulfill. When I took this job, there was much I wanted to gain. Developing my understanding of engines was definitely one of them and this indent is satiating that desire. The workshop is well-laid out by previous boatmen and I have ardently counted each item on the stock list identified its part number and looked it up in the Engine Parts Catalogue. Call me 'a nerd' but its been immensely fulfilling. So indent has been taking up most of my time. The later days of this week have seen the base being savaged by wind and snow. On Thursday, there was light wind with lots of snow. It settled on the ramp (the ice sheet that connects base to the rest of Adelaide Island) and we all thought that would spell the end of the icy conditions. Alas on Friday, it blew and blew hard with 40+ kts of wind. It all disappeared from the ramp, though the Field GA's have 'worked the piste' with skidoos to try to maintain a snowy lane. Much of the snow off base has relocated itself behind the boatshed doors so it has to be dug out which is always a good workout. And you have to move it well out the way because otherwise it drifts even bigger. The weekend was quite |
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6/05/07 One would expect every minute of living in the Antarctic to be full and exciting. However, we are here to do a job and all jobs have their paperwork and periods of desk time. My desk is situated in the boatshed at the southern end of base. So I always get a sense of where I am as I make the walk to 'my office'. That said little happened this week as I had to submit my Annual Report and Month Report. This I achieved by the deadlines though it did require a certain commitment given my discomfort at being stuck behind a desk. Alison the Marine Research Assistant was on night duty and Birgit was on her winter trip so there was no diving planned for the week. I did however manage to train many of the base personnel as Competent Crew. When the a small boat goes out, it must have a coxswain and a competent crew. The coxswain is generally trained in the UK and has refresher training on the boats down here. Any interested personnel can be trained as competent crew and they maintain safe working procedures and keep the coxswain happy. This training involves a lecture, a tour of the boatshed and familiarisation of the boats and boat equipment. Then there will be a practical in boat handling and Man Overboard rescue techniques. The most important part of the training is that the crew can start the engine, and recover an object in the water. All who attended past the training which means I have a good stock of people for next summer. The weather had not been great in the week with general 'manc' (low cloud and little wind) which meant brash ice surrounded the Point. On the Friday, I was able to get some guys out for SAR (Search and Rescue) training. This is an advanced level for the coxswains and experienced crew. It involved searching for a dummy in the water, then recovering it on board. We then did some training in towing disabled craft. I understand that everyone found it quite rewarding. |
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