Checking the Cracks: Sea Ice Training

         One of the perils on working down in Antarctica is the fact you are on Ice. Whether it be the glaciers  the snow pack or the Ice shelf, you have the chance of slipping through the cracks, so to speak. Here at McMurdo, there is a lot of traveling being done on the Ice Shelf. Either the permanent or the winter ice is thick, but during the summer, it tends to crack due to changes in the currents, the tides or the environment. We have to be diligent and stay focused  to our surroundings. This training taught us the tools to measure a crack in the ice and to gauge it's safety to cross in whatever vehicle we can travel.  We first had to identify a crack, what type of crack, how wide the crack and how the thick the ice was. We then have this funky chart which is confusing to me, but I had to throw logic out the door. This was just another thing 15 years in the Navy taught me to do. I had a hard time with it then, and still do, apparently. You have to find a spot adjacent to the route you are traveling and then mark about 10-12 feet of space spanning both sides of the crack. You then clear any of the snow that is covering the ice. This could take sometime as you have to dig to the actual ice surface. Once that is done, you begin to drill holes into the ice about 11 inches apart and drill all the way until you reach the surface of the icy water beneath. After that, you take a measuring tool to take the depth of the ice at those points. Mind you, you are taking readings and drawing a rough draft of the terrain so you can kind of have a picture of what you are doing. Finally, after all the readings are completed, you can see, using a standard chart(no picture) to see if the vehicle(s) you and your party are driving can safely continue on your journey, or have to travel along the crack to find a safe enough spot to cross. this can take an hour or four depending on the thickness of the ice. After spending about that hour learning that, we learned how to make anchors in the ice in the off chance we need to hunker down in a tent while hanging out, working on the ice. That was it, my day in sea ice training.

The contraption that took us to where we needed to go. 

Here is what they named Backhoe Crack looking to the north.

Here is that same crack looking south.

This is Ned, our field instructor for the course. We had classroom instruction prior to this day.

Here, we have the strip of ice we are testing after the snow is cleared.

Here is a video of us drilling one of the holes

Still photo of one of the last holes being drilled out.

Here is the measuring tape used to gauge the depth of the hole.

The data we collected from the site. You cannot see much and I was disappointed that I did not get a better shot after the fact.

Here is my ice anchor. It was pretty tough to get the holes made. I found a way though.

Here is a seal chilling on the ice. This was the best of three I took of the lazy sea slug.

A view of The Royal Society Mountains. Names such as each mountain is names after a member of the British Club.

Mount Discovery. You'll see a lot pictures of this because it seems each day  I am here, the reflection of the sun makes it seem like I am seeing it for the first time.

Learning to Ride, Antarctic Style.

         As the last few weeks have traveled by with blazing speed, I have had to go to a lot of occupational training. the Happy Camper was one of them. There was others, but this one stands out. I have never been skiing. Oh well, I think sledding either with a plastic to or a wooden toboggan is a lot better. I also never been in an area where it snows enough to where a snowmobile is a mighty asset. I curse living in Coastal New England for that. Anyway, it was a bare bones lecture. We learned how it worked, looked at the engine and do field repairs, if necessary. After a short break, it was to the course. The instructor, Dale, was cool as hell. He said you will never learn by following, you will learn by experiencing it for yourself. Very mighty words here. We went down to the course, primped and primed the snow vehicle and it was off to the races. He lead us to where we were to ride freely. For me, it was fun, exhilarating and painful. This is where wearing glasses in a helmet in -5 degrees stinks. I could not close my mask, or else it would fog up and the fog would freeze. I had no facial protection from the elements as I drove around. At first, I was extremely nervous. I tried to slalom through the poles, but I hit the gas too much and flew by and almost tipped over. For some reason I stuck my leg out, which bad. So, I slowed down and stopped. Dale came over told me to relax and just drive. I followed the tutoring and Had no problems the rest of the time we were there. It was about maybe 20 mins, but it was super awesome. I cannot wait to roll on one of those again, if not only just once more. I tried to get video, but yet again, my camera's batter failed me. Dumb battery, freezing at the pinnacle of my enjoyment. 

The Ski-doo. The snowmobile make I rode.

                                     

Our Mechanical instructor Tony showing us the underbelly of the vehicle.

The engine. I have a basic concept of it works and to repair it. I feel smrt...I mean smart.

           

Funny thing, he took a one seater truck down there.  3 in the cab, 4 in the bed of the truck. Safe, ain't this? BTW, it was cold.

The only picture i was able to snap before the camera went cold, literally. 

       

Exceptionally Long Road Trip...with no roads.

       What is a story without good beginning? I was able to take some pictures on the way down here to Antarctica. So, let me start from the beginning. I left my nest in Rhode island to start the first leg of the journey. PVD-whatever airport code Dulles is. It was a normal flight. I have done so much flying since I was 19. In fact, the first time I ever flew in a plane was on my way to Chicago for basic training in the Navy. It was the normal short flight. I had my iPad and iPhone for entertainment. I know it is not a novel thing, but United has to start having WiFi on their flights. Delta and Southwest so. They make the flight swing by so much faster that way Anyway, I landed in Dulles with just enough time to grab lunch, take care of a nose bleed and buy some decent over the head earphones for my next leg. I just hate earbuds, they are too uncomfortable.

     My next leg was whatever airport code Dulles is-HNL. Yes, I flew from outside Washington D.C. to Honolulu, Hawai'i. That was a 9 hour flight. That was a long flight. exceptionally long. I left at about 1pm EDT and overall it was a decent flight. Again, with United. Only this time, my gripe was, along with no WiFI, I had to pay for my meal. Shame on you United Airlines. This made the flight unbearable  watched 3 movies, played Plants vs. Zombies and listen to music, napped. I hate long flights...Oh wait, there is one more...

     After landing in Hawai'i, I had about another 6 hours to kill before my next flight to New Zealand. It was hot and muggy there at the HNL terminal. See, there walkways are all outside since the weather is so beautiful. I was sweating too much, then again(personal info here) i sweat more than an average man should. I am talking superhero magnitude. After spending time at the food court and charging up my lovely iPad and iPhone and after an hour delay, i departed the US on my way to Auckland, New Zealand(the capital) at around midnight HST.

   HNL-AUK.  That flight was very nice. TV with ever seat, USB charger for the phone, complementary dinner and breakfast and a nice warm blanket and pillow to sleep as comfortable as I can be. Ed O'Neill co-hosted the pre-flight information video. AUK-CHC. After landing in Auckland and almost causing a scene going through customs, I missed my flight to Christchurch on the southern island. Well, with the flight leaving and hour and half late in Hawai'i, I should have expected it. I was automatically re-booked, which was nice and apparently the fog is behaving badly there. is caused another 2-3 hour delay to that flight. I hate delays. More so than ever. After another hour flight, I finally made it to my destination, Total time: approx 32 hours of waiting and flying plus crossing that wonderful International Dateline.

      CHC-NZIR. Wow, you would think after all that flying I would be done. Well, never assume anything in this world. It may surprise you, better or worse. I had a measly two days to get my bearings. I was able to get out to sight see, but back in February 2011, the area was hit by a 7.9M earthquake essentially leveling the city. Nearly all of the historic buildings were destroyed. I rode a bike nicely provided by my hotel and surveyed the area, the ones that were not off-limits. I am almost certain that it would have been a grand city to view. Alas, it was not. The next day, it was time to ska-dattle. The day started with me losing my breakfast voucher. Not bad, though, they hooked me up. All the passengers arrived at the terminal and were given passes to leave the area, but we had to be back by 8:20 for a briefing then were bused to the USAF C-17 cargo plane that was our chariot to the Antarctic. We got to the plane, given a bagged lunch and a bottle of water. Five hours later, wondering what we were going to see when we touched down, we arrived. I stepped foot on the proverbial bottom of the world.

The outside of the USAP Passenger Terminal.

I thought to myself, anyone could have taken some of these photos. So I had a self picture of the plaque inside the building. 

The staging area. Everyone was pretty much checked in and meandering taking pictures, charging electronics or just soaking the experience up.

The briefing. One photo should be enough. It bored me, so I am not going to bore you

Thrilled,aren't I

This is what I got to look at for five hours. Fun, no?

This is a picture of the C-17 after landing and we were carted off into a very large transport dubbed, Ivan the Terrabus.

Happy Camper or Field Survival Training...which sounds positive?

 These next set of photos show most of what we did while camping out on the McMurdo Ice Shelf. We had classroom training in the morning half before being sent out into the field. Some lunch and about another hour of training at the nearby Instructional Hut (I-Hut) then it was about a 1/4 mile hike up the road to stake our claim to memories.  We set up the two Scott tents, which are pretty much what the early explorers used to stake there claim to fame. and regular mountain tents. We then had to build an ice wall to block any weather coming from the south, has most of the storm systems seem to approach the area from. We set up a small kitchen to boil hot water, as we had dehydrated food to sip and eat. and then well, I can go on and on about this. I can explain with the photos.

This vehicle is what took the 20 or so Happy Campers to there campsite. Everyone here refers to this transport as the Delta.

This is the group setting up one of the two Scott tents at the camp. Each tent can hold 3 or 4 souls comfortably.

This is the tent almost complete. You can see that it up and staked in, but it needs to be tied down into the ice.

This is the other Scott Tent being assembled.

The camp is starting to take shape toward the road...

...and toward the ice...

Right here, is the protective ice wall with the thought it would protect us from any furious winds that can come up at a moments notice.

 

This is someone digging there sleep trench. This is taught in case you get caught out and you do not have a survival kit and time is of the essence.

This is what a good trench should look like.

This is a view of the camp after everything was pretty much done. Some of the wall might have  still been in construction. IDK, I was just finishing up a potty break.

   

Our Kitchen. Again, you see us campers building a wall as the prevailing winds were coming fro m the direction of the guy in the green sweater vest.

Me in front of the Scott Tent I slept in.

       The temperatures that night fell to a toasty 3 degrees above 0 Fahrenheit. We had a nice blanket of fog roll in during the evening hours helping to stave off the radiational cooling that could have turned it into a cold night. Radiational Cooling is something that happens on a clear night as there are no clouds to stop the heat from the ground from rising into the night sky. Make no mistake it was cold. So cold in fact, my camera's battery froze. There were many good times and awesome trenches built that late afternoon and early evening. Well, I did not have a watch so I did not know what time it was. the sun sets later as the days press on into the Antarctic spring. I was told we gain as much as 22 minutes of daylight a day. Soon, there will be no night sky to appreciate. Anyway, this catches me up to the experiences I have photographed. 8/ I learned today, that I must keep the damn thing on my person at all times. You'll never know where you will be going or what you'll be doing next...until we are trained and then stand shift, then we know what we will be doing, LOL! 

        

The First Few Moments

      Hello, Welcome to my photo/journalistic interpretations of my time here in Antarctica. A little back story, I am a 14 and 3/4 year veteran of the US Navy. I was sitting pretty working with great people for a great cause on a Destroyer when it all came crashing down. I was inexplicably forced out of the military that I thought I was going to see until the end. Make no bones, I enjoyed every second of the military, just not the way we parted ways. While lollygagging between numerous ways to occupy myself, either making end meet with employment or by utilizing the GI BILL, a once in a lifetime opportunity via e-mail. A stint as a maintenance man on the continent of Antarctica. Of course, there was a little hesitation with my family, but in times like these, we have to do whats best for the whole. I arrived here on October 2nd of the year 2012. I have some catching up to do here as I do have numerous photos of my time here. I will do my best to casually place photos here and answer questions through various social means.

One of the first pictures taken when I got down here at McMurdo Station, Antarctica

Another View looking toward the mountains.

Still, another View

Picture of the developing Ice Pier. This will be in use when the Sound's ice sheet breaks apart and ships can start ferrying in and out supplies.

      To Mrs. Bouvier's class in Massachusetts. You asked me if I had seen any animals since I have been down here. Well, the answer is not, not yet, but as the weather warms up here (we are currently entering the summer) the ice sheets will break and penguins, seals and whales may be seen. You bet your life I will have my camera on me to take those pictures. Also, you asked how could there be an active volcano way down near the South Pole. Well, the simple answer is due to some thing called plate tectonics. The earth is made of of continents and most of the continents are floating on huge masses called plates. at he edge of the plates are many long major and minor fault lines that create earthquakes. The also can contain small pockets of magma(lava) that can sneak there way up through the crust and create an eruption. After millions of years and hundred or even thousands of eruptions, they create the conical shaped mountains we can see as a volcano. Mount Erebus, is situated on what we call the Pacific Ring of Fire. en-circling the Pacific Ocean are hundreds and hundreds of active an extinct volcanoes. That is how even this far south, and this frigid climate we can have an active piece of earth. Now, I really have no clue when it erupted last, nor do I expect one while I am here. It is just steaming right now and that is the way I would like that to stay. If you have any more questions about geology, I am sure your teacher or your scholl library or even the internet can feed your inquisitive minds. Well, I am going to go. I will add more pictures to catch up on here. have fun following along.