Bill's 2022 Antarctic Adventure

1-30-2023   Penguins and whales and seals oh my…..Now that the ice has largely cleared from the sound the wildlife is visible everywhere. Unfortunately, everything I saw today was too far away to even attempt to capture them in a picture. I can tell you what I saw though. When I was on my treadmill in the gerbil gym, I had a great view of the open water.  I watched a killer whale slowly cruising the sound. For a while he pushed a big sheet of ice around. I’m not sure if he was playing or practice hunting or maybe a little of both. The seals are visible everywhere but as the ice recedes, they move further and further up on the ice shelf to get away from the encroaching orcas.  The animal that really steals the show is still the Adelae penguins. We watched them cavorting in the water, zooming along, launching themselves out of the water and eventually making something akin to a Do Do bird landing on the ice. After the landing they shake themselves off and then become v...

1-29-2030 22 days until I return to real life. We had a celebration of life for one of our long-time weather forecasters today. We released a weather balloon with notes and comments about Joe. It will do its job sending back weather data and then land somewhere on the continent never to be touched again. I’m hoping to release a balloon this coming Wednesday or Tuesday. A friend and I went for a long walk to arrival heights. We are required to use the “back trail” because of ship off-load operations on the normal trail. The weather was good, but the wind was rather blustery. Fingers and face get cold so quickly when exposed to the wind. We traveled a short distance on the Castle Rock trail and ran into an iron sculpture of a man skiing. All in all, a nice restful Sunday. I‘m headed off shortly to a science lecture.

1-28-2023 I forgot to tell you the dentist gave me a clean bill (no pun intended) of health and even cleaned my teeth for me. Now that’s McMurdo service! The floating pier is coming along nicely although they have run into some weather delays. I included a couple of pictures. We soon will be able to commence unloading operations. My wife noticed they have set up another camera, like the one I posed for a couple of weeks ago, looking down on the ship docking area. If you can find the site, take a look. Overall, it was a pretty quiet day. I did my morning exercise, did my weekly laundry, had lunch, took a short nap and then headed off to work. We had a third day of howling winds and reduced visibility but did manage to recover a couple of stray aircraft. Just another day on the tower.

1-27-2023 Gerbil gym… I’ve talked about it on a few occasions but when I was working out today, I realized I haven’t sent any pictures, so I’ve included a couple for you today. Historically what is now the gerbil gym started its life as “the Acey-Deucy club” on the Navy base. This was a club for enlisted people in pay grades E-5 and E-6. They also had a club for E-1’s through E-4’s known as the Enlisted Club. Chiefs (E-7-E-9) had the Chiefs Club and of course what we now know as the Coffee House was the Officers Club. I have spent many hours in the gerbil gym. It’s good for the body and soul I think, and it helps pass the hours when not at work. The alternative is to spend time at the bars. I can tell you from personal experience that far more people spend time in the bars. The last two days, weather wise, are what people expect to see in Antarctica. Heavy winds and blowing snow continue again today. It is significant because there is much flying and resupplying that remains to be d...

1-26-2023 I fulfilled a bucket list experience today when I was asked to co-host the “Steve and Steve Show” on Ice Radio. That’s 104.5 on your FM dial. The man who hosts the show “Big Dave” is one of the controllers I work with. There was no script but my work with an Improv Group many years ago came in handy. I’ve included a few pictures from inside the studio. I forgot to get one of myself at the mike, but I’ll go back to get one later. I already have fans. Several people came up to me and told me I sounded like a “real” DJ! Fun, fun, fun. Right now I’m at work in the middle of a blizzard. The wind is howling with heavy snow, blowing snow and drifting snow or just another day in North Dakota! I hope it clears up before shift change time or I might be spending the night in the tower.

1-25-2023 Ice Pier….I know I’ve talked about The Ice Pier before but today was a momentous day for the old girl. Ever since I’ve been coming here and I suspect many years before I came, the Ice Pier has been used as a staging area for securing and off-loading ships of various kinds. It’s just a big floating slab of ice and it has served the purpose well for many years but last year they broke it. I’m not sure how they broke it but they broke it bad enough that last winter was not able to thicken and repair the break as they had hoped. The back-up plan was to have the first cargo ship bring in a floating pier system. It’s hard to see but that floating pier is all stacked on the deck of the freighter that pulled into port today. People in the “know” tell us it will take 2 days to assemble the new pier and then they can begin the real work of unloading the ship. I was up early enough this morning to witness the ice breaker breaking the ice pier away from its mooring. The pier was then g...

1-24-2023 The flight line ballet….I watched two of our aircraft land tonight as I do many nights here but tonight I watched the flight line ballet unfold before me. By this time of the year all the dress rehearsals have been completed and everyone associated with unloading and servicing arriving aircraft operate like a well-oiled machine (I know it’s an old cliché) The radio traffic is also well rehearsed and executed. It’s a fun show to watch. I’ve included a picture of the aircraft and Ivan the Terra Bus to give you an idea of how big Ivan is. It’s the first vehicle most of us ride when we arrive and although she has many hours on her she still does a good job. Believe it or not there is a company in Canada that still makes this very specialized vehicle. Tomorrow they are planning to move the Ice Bridge. I don’t believe that has ever been done before. I hope to have some pictures for you then.