Halley to Signy and Stanley
With all the offloading and back loading completed the "Shack" slipped her moorings with the assistance of some base personnel and headed north up the icy coast towards Neumeyer. Forty hours later we arrived in really bad weather and seeing as this was due to continue it was decided to postpone the vehicle transfers until next call Neumyer in about three weeks.
WE then headed off towards Signy base, the Captain electing to go around the northern most extremities of the pack ice rather through it. We arrived off Signy on the evening of Jan 13th and seeing as the weather was good we undertook the personnel transfers from the base that were required.
Once work was completed we did a quick trip around the Island with some base personnel on board to help them do some work on the far side of the Island. This gave us the opportunity to see parts for the Island we would seldom see. Some really interesting ice-bergs were the reward.
After dropping the base personnel back at the base we once again turned in a northerly direction for Stanley, Falkland Islands. We duly arrived a few days later and our crew change over commenced. So that is it from
Southern Ramblings Antarctica for this season.
Below ice, ice and more ice
A Vist to Halley Base 2nd Jan 2014
A Few of the ships personnel were lucky enough to visit the
Halley base. The three hour drive in Sno-cat transport vehicle giving all ample opportunity to see
the vast expanse of nothingness that is Antarctica. Marker poles along the
route the only thing indicating the presence of Humans in this vast white ice desert . The base eventually appeared as speck on the horizon
getting bigger ever so slowly as we approached. Loads of Cargo in depots and buildings as we neared the main new
Red and a Blue Alien Pod craft that is
the new Halley Base.
We were greeted by the Base Commander who gave us a tour of
the facility and a quite facility it is. Very new and comfortable with big
windows everywhere to let light in and give excellent views. After a short break for lunch we were shown
the rest of the base and given the opportunity to purchase some souvenirs. We then
proceeded outside to walk about and look at the various buildings. Mainly
workshops and summer accommodations etc.
Our time there was all too short and soon the Sno-cat was ready to take
us back to the ship. Everyone managing to doze off a bit on the long journey
back. A great day out.
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| Spectrometer that found the Ozone hole |
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| The Rumples - Heavily Crevassed area |
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| The Trnsport - Sno - Cat |
New Years Day 1st Jan 2014
The past week has seen us pretty much busy with offloading
of the ship. Sled trains have been running back and forth to Halley, which is
about a six hour round trip. So there inevitable delays while waiting for sleds
trains to return. We have also been pumping bulk fuel into tanker sleds to be
hauled up to the base as well.
The weather has been very mild so far and has not hindered
our operations at all. Touch wood.
On New Years eve the winds calmed down to nothing and
several of us took the opportunity to take a walk on the ice and bid 2013
farewell. At midnight we all gathered on
the bridge and toasted the New Year in with a ringing of the ships bell by the oldest
and youngest members of the crew. Here's
wishing all you out there a great year ahead.
There are plans afoot to get some of the ships crew up to
the base for a visit before we
depart. WE are all looking forward to
the opportunity if it arises.
Other than that not really a lot to report. This stay at N9
has pretty much been work, work, work.
We should be leaving on the weekend sometime, heading back
to Neumeyer to do the vehicle exchange before heading west to Signy and Stanley.
Thursday 26th Boxing Day
We finally entered the pack ice on Friday the 20th and
started winding our way around the floes towards Neumeyer. Rreports up ahead
from the AgulhasII were not good as she was still making no progress towards
Atka Bukta at Neumeyer. Eventually in
consultation with the powers that be and as many Satellite Ice images we could
get out hands on. it was decided that we
should head north of the ice jam and make for Halley base instead. This we duly
did and which had us on a north westerly course initially but eventually having
to head south west into the pack ice again.
We made good steady
in not swift progress through the pack and only on one occasion did we get
properly stuck. We landed having to use ballast transfer and a container
suspended over the stbd side to give the
ship some movement and break the icy grip. This worked superbly and delayed us
less that three hours. Once we got going again, we made steady progress and
soon were in sight of the shore lead. We broke into open water on the evening
of the 23rd and commenced following
the ice shelf coastline southwards into the Wedell Sea and on towards the Halley
offload points.
Along the way we were escorted at one point a by a large pod
of Killer whales, more and more Emperor penguins were sighted and the
ubiquitous Adele's kept us entertained. Antarctic and Snow petrels providing the
Aerial escort.
On Xmas morning we arrived off the N9 offloading point and commenced
a survey of the ice conditions in the
area. The "Creeks" were deemed to be of no use to us this year, so we
headed back towards N9. Xmas
celebrations and feast duly ensued and we
were extremely well fed and entertained. The catering staff putting on a
really good show. Xmas carols were heard
to waft up from the F'csle later n the afternoon.
We are back to work today and the Vehicles from the base are
arriving alongside. We will have to secure the vessel to the ice with mooring
poles before any work can commence.
Tuesday 17th Dec 2013
We crossed the Antarctic convergence zone overnight, temps duly plummeted and we are definitely in big the freezer now. Plenty Ice-bergs about and the familiar grey sky and grey seas all about.
Definition: Antarctic Convergence
Also known as the Polar Front, is an irregular line encircling Antarctica where the cold, northward-flowing Antarctic waters sinks beneath the relatively warmer waters of the sub-Antarctic. This line demarcates the area where cold, northward-flowing Antarctic current seawaters encounter the somewhat warmer waters of the sub-Antarctic seas. Antarctic waters generally sink below Sub-Antarctic waters, while associated up welling and mixing zones form a sea region extremely high in marine productivity, especially in relation to Antarctic krill.
We passed Bouvet Island this morning and as per usual for these parts the visibility was very poor and all we could see of the island was fading Radar echo as we slid by about ten miles off. So apologies, no nice pics of the Ice capped Island. Bouvet as most know, is regarded as the remotest spot on earth. ie further away from any other land in all directions than anywhere else.
On board everybody has been handed out there Antarctic kit bags and some were seen duly entertaining themselves by wearing the kit indoors, trudging around in huge boots much to the amusement of all.
We changed course in the early hours of this morning and now more or less heading due south very close to the GMT meridian. All we can do is plough on into the greyness and hope for some sunshine. We have been very lucky with the weather sofar and have had hardly any severe seas. We have one more frontal system to dodge before we get to the ice. Here's hoping.
News up ahead is that the AgulhasII is still drifting in the ice and not making any progress towards Neumeyer.We are heading pretty much towards where she is and hoping that the ice pressure eases before we get there. It would serve no purpose for us to get stuck too. So we may try and make for Halley Base first but nothing has been decided yet and this is all speculation.
Hopefully I will be able to post some better Antarctic type photo's in the near future.
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| Antarctic Convergence |
Monday 16th Dec 2013
The "Shack" departed Cape Town on Wednesday the 11th, after an extended and enjoyable stay. All of the crew seem to have a good time supping on all the delights that Cape Town has to offer. We were lucky enough to be berthed in the V&A Waterfront area and it was all just a short walk away from the ship.
We left at sunset and made our way down the Peninsula, the setting sun illuminating the the Buttresses of the Twelve Apostles in a golden and orange hue. We then headed into the South Atlantic proper. We are headed for the German base Neumeyer this trip. We have two German vehicles to pick up and one South African CAT to offload. The weather God's have so far been kind to us and we have made good progress in calm seas that lasted until Sunday afternoon when things began to pick up a bit. The temps have plummeted and we saw our first ice-berg on Monday morning just on 50 degrees South.
News up ahead is the AgulhasII has been beset in ice about 2miles form Atka bukta near Neumeyer for about four days now and there is no sign of the conditions easing. Satellite ice imagery shows extremely dense ice in the area and we may attempt to bypass all of this to the north and go to Halley first instead. A decision will soon need to be made in this regard.
We are headed for the intersection of the Zero degrees longitude and 70 Deg Lattitude on the map below. As you can see the ice density (purple) is not looking too promising at the moment.
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| Pack ice Ice Denstiy |
