and painting - a bit of a challenge as each coat takes two days to dry -
it is above freezing indoors, but only just. We are making good
progress, the kitchen is done, the ionospherics room also. We tidy up
again - the Nordnorge is due to visit us - but another email again
brings bad news! Apparently there is a lot more ice around - the sea is
clear where we are, but it seems the change in weather and wind
direction has brought ice out of the Weddell sea and blocked the
Gerlache and Bransfield straits. So they aren't coming! We were looking
forward not only to seeing the staff again, and also to the possibility
of some fresh food, getting our clothes washed and stocking up on water.
And another of the large ships, the Orlova, has cancelled too and the
film crew that were coming out to stay with us for 5 days are also not
coming! Begin to wonder how long it will be before we see another
person! We have a long gap in the schedule now, the next ship is not due
in til the 13th, and who knows if they will be able to come either?
We rally round and cheer each other up and decide that we can do lots
more decorating - much of it hasn't been done since the base was
renovated in 96 by Rick and the other team members. But first we have to
brave the snow and strong winds and go down to the shore with buckets
and ice axes to chip pieces of ice off the beached bergs for our water.
It's pretty wild and windy out there, and we come back with alot of
spindrift down our necks. Got enough for a couple of days though - just
need to encourage it to melt now!
3 comments:
No comment yet so I'll break the ice!! Cold and windy here in Barrow too, but not a drop of penguin poo. Boo hoo!. Oh heck, feel in a bit of a daft mood so better stop----seeing as this is going internazionale!!
It's Broughton Festival of BEER this w/e so just about to dash off to the PoW for my first pint (Mike and Phil coming too---).
Hope the ice has melted inside and out, Thinking of youuuuuxxxxx,Bill
tried to send a comment a couple of days ago but obvioulsy not very good at blogs!!
Really sorry to hear you haven't had any ships calling in. When we left on the Nordnorge it looked a really small island. Hope the penquins have kept you entertained
Alan and Jean
Hi Alan and Jean,
Your previous comment arrived safely on this post, and I forwarded it on to Helen. She has such limited email access that she cannot do much in the way of replying but she appreciates the comments.
It sounds like ships will be calling soon. I'm sure she will be busy enough once the season starts up. There is also an update on the Port Lockroy Diaries page.
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