End of Season

I am scheduled to leave this “Island in the South Pacific” on February 22nd. I say scheduled because the Sea Ice Runaway is under 30 inches of water. That’s not good. That’s not good because wheeled aircraft, like the C-17, Kiwi 757 and the Airbus A310 cannot land there. The ice simply cannot support the weight of those wheeled aircraft. So in order to leave here, all of us will have to fly a LC-130 off the continent. The LC-130 has skis instead of wheels. It can only hold roughly 34 passengers. The other planes can hold anywhere from 65 to 120 people. The weather is changing. The temperatures are getting colder (it was 10 degrees yesterday wit a minus 10 degree windchill-that’s good for the ice!), but it was windy with snow (that’s bad). We have about 700 people to fly North using 4 LC-130s. All of us Summer people should be on our way home by March 3rd. If the weather cooperates, I figure I will head home on February 24th - 2 days late. 

I saw a penguin! 2 days in a row! He was an Adelie. Please see below. And today I saw him again. He is now molting and looked miserable. Poor little guy.

Today I was a Tour Guide! Yes, a Tour Guide! When the ice breaks out we get cruise ships here with wealthy people on board to come ashore and visit our little hamlet! Today though, we had a Royal British Navy icebreaker, the HMS Protector, in for a visit. They are cruising the Antarctic seas patrolling for illegal fishing activities. So I was a tour guide for 20 British Royal Navy Sailors today! They were all very nice and very interested in what we had to show them. They took a skiff from their ship to our shore and from there we visited the Chalet (they could stamp their passports with cool US Antarctic Program stamps), then went to the Chapel, then to the Coffee House to warm up and have coffee or tea and cookies, then to the McMurdo sign (Hero Shot) and finally to the store. I have signed up to be a tour guide for all 3 seasons I’ve been here but this was the first time I actually got to do it! See the pictures below.

Me with an Adelie!

British Royal Navy Group and Us Tour Guides

HMS Protector

British Royal Navy 

Also check out this article from a friend! https://mbasic.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fpulse%2Fwhy-work-relationships-can-destroy-home-strategies-rasmussen-phd&h=qAQFAd00e&s=1 

The "Coasties" Are Here!

The Coast Guard Ice Breaker Polar Star arrived yesterday and docked at the ice pier. They are here to break up the ice so the supply ship and the fuel tanker can come in and drop off the annual supplies and fuel needed for the station for the coming year. The supply ship has everything from new bulldozers, desks and forklifts to cases of red wine! I was busy today at work with not only the usual things that I do (answer off continent phone calls, act as ground control for the skiway and general fire department radio items and 911 and other calls for fire and EMS service) but I also had about 50 “Coasties” that came in to file foot plans to go hiking. They were all very polite! I even met the guy that drove the ship in here! They are a really great bunch of guys and gals! We are blessed as a station and as a country to have them as great ambassadors for the United States!

We had band practice tonight and we are getting ready to play at one of the bars after ship off load. They close all the bars and do not sell alcohol during ship off load. This is to 1.) Avoid possible accidents during the moving of cargo and 2.) To keep the Naval Cargo Handlers (known in the Navy as the NCHB NavChaps) and the New Zealand Defense Forces (the NZ Army) from getting really drunk and tearing up the station! The NavChaps and the NZDF sends about 100 men and women down here to help drive trucks and forklifts to move cargo during ship off load. The supply ship will arrive in a few days and will be here for about a week. During that time we will have about 1100 people on station. After the ship leaves, then the bars open again. They typically schedule bands to play then and so we want to schedule a “gig”! So tonight we worked onside new songs. Here’s the list:

Can’t Get Enough of Your Love-Bad Company

Come Together-Beatles

Hurt So Good-John Cougar Mellencamp

Johnny B. Goode-Chuck Berry

I Love Rock and Roll-Joan Jett

Simple Man-Doobie Brothers

Gimme Three Steps-Lynard Skynard

Shout It Out Loud-Kiss

Tiny Dancer-Elton John

And yes, Tiny Dancer was my choice for a song! I still love Elton John!

USGC Ice Breaker Polar Star, Built in 1976

2016 McMurdo Station Happy New Year!

It has been a busy holiday season. I’ll start with Christmas. I had to work on both the 24th and 25th. I went to the VMF Christmas party on Christmas Eve after I went to the Christmas Eve church service. Church was very nice and we sang many carols. I was happy to see a good crowd at the service! The VMF party was nice. I only stayed about 1.5 hours. We had our picture taken with Santa and then with Mrs. Clause. They had Christmas cookies and homemade egg nog (not spiked, thankfully). The next day we had Christmas dinner and it was fantastic! See below for the menu. I have to say the duck was amazing and I’m not a duck eater! It was very tender and not greasy at all. And the desserts were just plain decadent! The Yule Log had mushrooms made out of meringue lining the sides of the log. The truffles melted in your mouth and the Christmas cookies were just like home! It was probably the best holiday meal I’ve had down here!

The next week was New Years and IceStock. Usually IceStock is held on New Year’s Eve but this year it was held on Saturday 1/2 to give the “Town” workers a 2 day weekend. Our band has been practicing all season to play at IceStock and we were the 2nd act on stage that day. Did I mention that this event is held outside? It is, and it was 22 degrees, windchill of -4 and it was snowing when we went on stage! Honestly, for me I didn’t have it too bad. I was inside the band shell out of the wind but the others were out on the stage in the wind and snow. And they were playing guitars. They all said they couldn’t feel their hands. Our set list was this:

1) Drift Away

2) Cover of the Rolling Stone

3) Lola

4) Proud Mary

5) Bad Moon Rising

6) Fat Bottomed Girls

7) Old Time Rock and Roll

The reviews were favorable! I think we did pretty good. I had many people come up to me afterwards and say that they had no idea I played the drums! It was a lot of fun! You can view a YouTube video of our last song here: https://youtu.be/Zab9NIjCr3s  We are currently discussing if we should keep practicing and working on some new songs and play at one of the bars after ship offload. Stay turned for more on that.

By the end of this week the US Coast Guard Icebreaker Polar Star will be at the ice edge and the following week the fuel tanker ship will be here and after that the supply ship. It is coming into the busy time where people will be working long hours and the potential for serious injuries increase. I am currently in the lead for the most calls dispatched this season (as I have been in my previous seasons) but I really don’t want to have to send the fire department out on someone seriously injured. Shortly after all the ships leave, we will all start to redeploy back home. I am looking at February 22.

Enjoy the photos from Christmas and IceStock!

Photo With Santa (Played by Phil the Plumber)

Getting Ready to Head Out to the Christmas Party l to r Christina, me, Cindy, Sissy and Julien

MOIST! Wes, Sissy, Me And the Fire Chief, Neel