Tour of the LMG

If you're curious what the inside of the Lawrence M. Gould is like, check out this slideshow :

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Hey everyone! I've made it home to Boulder safe and sound, and I have some pictures to share. First, let me show you the cruise North from Palmer - a long awaited departure from our home for the last 6 months.

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Like all northbound cruises, this one began with the infamous pier jump.



All of our friends being left behind jump off the pier as we make our way out.

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We were supposed to land at Hugo to do some maintenance on a science instrument installed there, but the wind was too high and the ice was too thick. Sorry Bjorn.

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With our mission to Hugo Island canceled, we finally made the dreaded crossing of the Drake Passage.


Two days and many seasick hours later, we finally arrived to calm waters by Tierra Del Fuego.

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And like that we're standing on the dock in Punta Arenas, right where we left off 6 months ago. The cruise in and out of Palmer provides a very interesting buffer between this piece of the ice and the rest of the world.

Almost as if none of it ever happened...

Back in PA

I'm back! We made it across the Drake safe and sound. It was a rocky voyage, but no worse than usual I'm told. No luck with landing at Hugo Island. The ice, and the wind, and the swells were just too much. Someone else will try again on the next cruise.

One more night in Punta Arenas, then we leave for the Torres Del Paine tomorrow. Been looking forward to hitting the trail for a long time now.

Moving Forward

Now that my time is Palmer is almost done. What's next?

We'll have a week or so at sea on the Lawrence M. Gould. You can follow our progress here.

During our voyage we'll be making a brief stop at Hugo Island. If the conditions permit, myself and 3 others will be going ashore to try to fix a GPS station there.

After that, we arrive in Punta Arenas, Chile on October 9th. A few of us are taking a week to go to Torres Del Paine National Park to hike "the W" before we fly back to the states. Oh how I can't wait to see trees again!

Finally, after I get home to Colorado. I'll have a week to see those that I miss, before immediately departing South once again to deploy to McMurdo station for a month. Much like at Hugo Island, I'll be going to McMurdo to assist with GPS equipment.

Then two weeks in New Zealand!

There's still a long way to go...

Tour of Palmer Station

Hi everyone,

Well the day is finally here. The Winter 2009 crew of Palmer Station departs North at 4PM today. It's been a busy week. We transferred 57,000 gallons of fuel to station. We unloaded crate after crate of frozen foods (180 lbs of bacon!). We did our best to pass on the torch to our Summer time successors. Hopefully we did well.

It will be a sad day. Time to say goodbye to some new friends and some old friends. Time to say goodbye to our home for the last six months.

At popular demand, I give you a Tour of Palmer Station

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They're coming!

Lawrence M. Gould ship tracker

We have visitors coming! After a week or two of cruising through the Drake, our summer crew should be arriving sometime this afternoon. These will be the first new faces any of the 16 of us have seen since early July. Along with them come resupplies of beer, Fritos, Oreos, freshies, and of course a nice big boat to take us home. We have one week to resupply, turnover with our successors, and get out. It's going to be a quick one. Now's a good time to take a deep breath during the calm before the storm.

UPDATE:

Can you see the rabbit?

Some things you just don't hear about until someone makes an offhand remark. It turns out, there's a rabbit on the moon. Most of us in the northern hemisphere like to talk about the Man in the Moon, but down here it's a rabbit.

Can you see it?