South Orkneys - Signy

Heading back to Stanley via the South Orkneys -
A stop off at Signy base to replenish the summer
team, undertake a few repairs to electrical equipment and
re-stock the field camps via our small boats.

We broke out of the pack a half a days steaming from the Islands
and were soon greeted by the familiar motion of the open ocean.

That evening stood off Cape Gedes where a two person field party doing penguin studies
were due to uplifted and taken to another site. They were picked up
the following morning and taken to their new destination via a hot shower and
some good food, both rather necessary as they had been without the former
for several weeks.

They spent a few hours on site before we ferried them back to Cape Gedes
loaded with luxuries from the ship to make their lives a little easier.

We then headed off towards Signy base and were lucky enough to experience some
clear calm weather. The fading light of the sinking sun playing on the snowy peaks
afforded us some awesome Kodak moments.

We arrived off Signy quite late but the boat men were soon busy ferrying people to and fro.
Some of the base personnel came on board for a meal and some ships people visiting the Base.

The weather held overnight and our workboat was launched first thing to ferry more personnel and supplies to the base.

A few lucky people were given the opportunity to go for a guided hike around the Island and were picked up by the ships boats on the far side of the island later in day after a memorable experience.

With the re-supply of the huts completed the last boat of the day was sent to pick up the last pax of the day. The weather had by then picked up and the ride back was less than fun but over quickly enough.

Once all were onboard the ship headed out to open seas again. The weather continued to pick up and we had a very rough passage back to Stanley. News from Signy was that weather had changed completely since our visit and Heavy snow was blowing across the Island chasing the “base” elephant seals away which illustrated how lucky we had been whilst there.

We docked early in the morning of Friday the 13th at Stanley bringing to an end our tour down south for this year.










Glacier face



Gentoo Penguin



Elephant seals






















Skua

Reflections

On Passage from Halley to Signy in the South Orkneys
A windless calm sunny day, the almost frozen water
seems to flow like oil. Known as Grease Ice...

In the Ice Again

We are back down south again in the Weddell Sea once again involved in the annual Halley relief operation.

We departed Immingham in the UK in early November and had a pretty uneventful trip south to Cape Town. The weather in Cape Town was glorious and all on board made the most of it, exploring Table Mountain the beaches wine farms and the Waterfront area. It was over all too soon and once again we headed down south departing on the 13^th December.

We were instantly greeted the Cape Rollers, long period swells that come in from the southwest, a portent of things to come weather-wise. Quite soon there were a few customer’s knuckling the Doctors’ door for the remedial medication. The lumpy weather, although not severe continued pretty much until we passed Bouvet Island and turned directly south. We encountered our first ice at about 58 South. Once in the pack the vessel motion settled down. We were In radio contact with the South African Vessel the SA Agulhas which was headed for Atka Bukta near the German Neumeyer station. They informed us of some of the sticky patches that they had encountered along the way which endeavoured to avoid.

We finally broke through to the shore lead on the 24^th December and cruised quietly along the ice shelf in a Westerly direction heading for Halley. Initially the Satellite picture we were receiving indicated that a huge iceberg may be blocking our way at Stancomb Wills ice tongue which juts substantially from the coast. However as we approached the berg was seen to drift off leaving us a gap to sail through and on to Halley.

On Christmas Day we stopped for few hours in the ice and everybody was afforded theopportunity to go for a stroll on this strange new surface. The Weather was lovely with a dark moody sky in the backgrouand. Some of the lads even took a soccer ball along to kick about. A lone Adele penguin came to greet us and was snapped at like a super-model by voracious paparazzi. We also managed to get everybody together on the ice for a Christmas day team photograph. Thereafter we sat down an excellent traditional Yuletide Feast thoroughly enjoyed by all.

In the afternoon we pulled off the ice and headed for Halley making speed to arrive early on boxing day for the offloading to commence.

We arrived off Halley mid-morning and were greeted by a well laid out and prepared ramp and berthing area. We made our way in through some first year ice which was still clinging to the older more substantial stuff against the shelf. Last year’s mooring posts were still in place and we duly tied up alongside.

A contingent from Halley came down and gave us a briefing on the do’s and don’ts around the ramp and all the safety procedures during offloading. Thereafter cargo work got underway. This year we are not doing round the clock work, just one daily 12 hour shift.

News from the base and new build at HalleyVI was eagerly awaited. It appears as if there are still some problems to sort out at the new base before it be safely commissioned for occupation over the coming winter. We are all hoping that these problems can and will be sorted out. Nothing it appears comes easily down here.

All too soon New Year ’s Eve was upon us and the cargo work almost complete. There was not too much fuss made on board for this. A gathering on the bridge with some mulled wine and ringing out and in of the New Year by the oldest and youngest crew members.

Cargo work was completed on the 2^nd of Jan. In the evening we hosted the “old” Halley team on board for a dinner and some off base entertainment which was much appreciated.

The next morning we departed Creek 3 and having quite a bit of time in hand we headed off to the Emperor Penguin colony at Windy. This was a real treat and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to stretch the legs and walk to the colony and amongst the penguins, always keeping a respectful distance. There were hardly any adult birds about. The chicks are all still completely covered in down in various stages of growth. The call of the chicks, a constant background hum, affirming the presence of life in this cold and desolate place..

After the visit we returned to creek 3 to drop of the Halley team and then finally pointed the northwards to begin our trip to Signy and Stanley.