The crossing ceremony
Those of us who had never crossed the antarctic circle before (polliwogs) were summoned. “The King, Queen, and court will ascend to receive evidence that...
Navigation on this vast ocean
I have written that we are headed south or north or west, mentioning latitude and longitude, waypoints and stations. I see these items on websites and...
Navigation on this vast ocean
I have written that we are headed south or north or west, mentioning latitude and longitude, waypoints and stations. I see these items on websites and...
Food
There are some good things. Greek yogurt, UHT milk, chocolate milk, also almond milk and coconut milk. When I was here in September, there was oat and soy...
South again
We headed north back to the study area for a couple of days and the scientists tried to get as much done as they could. Unfortunately, we are headed south...
Days and days
The science group planned this cruise over the course of the past 2-3 years. The science consists of gathering items from the ocean (mainly diatoms) by using...
Crossing the Antarctic circle
I get to work at midnight now. I was coming to my office after getting my tea in the galley and the phone was ringing. The third mate up on the bridge was...
The physicals of the boat
You might wonder what it’s like to live on a 308’x60’ boat. I can tell you a few things. The ceilings are low-ish, the corridors are narrow, the rooms small,...
The recent unpleasantness
I can’t and don’t want to try and describe the horror we are now facing. Vis-a-thon number three was to say what we do and what we use to do it. The PI said...
Have mercy
The vessel now has starshield, which is the military version of starlink. When I was on the vessel in February, the other satellite connections we had were...
Time and zones
We are going to have eight time changes in the next month, and we will lose a day as we cross the international date line. These changes are partly because...
Away from Palmer station
Our departure from Palmer was delayed by more than a day, due to bureaucracy. The National Science Foundation wanted the vessel to pick up two full...
Palmer Station
Finally after all these years I have made it to Palmer station. This is the smallest permanent US station and the hardest to get to. There are no flights,...
Isabel Dove
is now my favorite knitting oceanographer.
Science
We have about 20 scientists on board. We will drop six of them off at Palmer station for the summer season. They will stay there for a few months, studying...
The Drake Passage
This body of water lies between the bottom of South America and the Antarctic peninsula. This is one of the most treacherous, dangerous and storied stretches...
The vessel
We were supposed to depart today but we are delayed until tomorrow am. I went into town for a final meal in the real world. More later on the food situation...
Remember that time
that I was on my way to McMurdo and then going on a research vessel? I did that, and didn’t write about it at all. I went back to the vessel in late August,...
imported from tiny letter
I imported old emails from the tiny letter program, so your email from buttondown may say there are 320 entries instead of four.
In New Zealand
Flying across the Pacific is a very long flight. The plane was delayed by two hours so we didn't depart until about 2am on Saturday. There was no one in the...
packing for a short trip
I'm used to packing for a nine month trip to the land based stations, McMurdo and South Pole. Over the years I tell myself I bring less but I usually end up...
Some details
The Nathaniel B. Palmer (from now on, the NBP) travels around the southern ocean and only goes to McMurdo once every few years. They normally operate from...
A little test
Trying a new program. Here is a link to information about the vessel I will be on. https://www.usap.gov/vesselscienceandoperations/20/