Into The New Year At Halley
On New Year's Eve we broke through the ice and managed to moor up at N9, some 60km distant from Halley. It has therefore not unsurprisingly been a busy fortnight, hence the tardiness in updating the blog. N9 represents a location where the Brunt ice shelf, upon which Halley is built, slopes down to the sea ice allowing easy access of Sno-cats to the ship to unload cargo. There are creeks (see photo below) sighted much closer to Halley itself (as near as15km) but these are notoriously unreliable and again this year were enclosed by sea ice. N9 regularly forms a reliable if distant alternative particularly since the Sno-cats average no faster than about 10km/h.
The Ernest Shackleton at N9
There is only one year that the Shackleton has not made it in through the sea ice, which year the base had to be relieved by ferrying essential goods and passengers 300km by plane. It was a relief all round to finally make it through, as nobody would have wanted to return to Stanley (or even Cape Town) to re-fuel prior to making another go of it- least of all the Halley winterers desperate for mail, fresh food and new faces.
Another Snow Petrel
As a result New Year's Eve was spent on the ship, celebrated at midnight by the traditional ringing of the ship's bell. By tradition given that midnight represents eight bells in nautical timekeeping, the eldest member of the ship's complement rings four bells to ring out the year, while the youngest rings the second set of four. And so began 2007.
Ringing in 2007
James Morrison (Z-Carpenter- L) and Charlie Chalk (Bosun- R)
The ship calls twice at Halley during the summer, now (first call) and at the end of summer (second call) to remove all the summer-only staff and waste generated over this busy work period. However, the outgoing Halley doctor is one of the few who leaves the station at first call as they are required to take my place and provide medical cover on the Shackleton. As a result I was very fortunate to get flown the twenty minutes from the ship down to base rather than the six hour Sno-cat journey so that we could start our handover as quickly as possible.
The Creeks From The Air
The Brunt Ice Shelf is on the left surrounded by sea ice
There is only one year that the Shackleton has not made it in through the sea ice, which year the base had to be relieved by ferrying essential goods and passengers 300km by plane. It was a relief all round to finally make it through, as nobody would have wanted to return to Stanley (or even Cape Town) to re-fuel prior to making another go of it- least of all the Halley winterers desperate for mail, fresh food and new faces.
Another Snow Petrel
As a result New Year's Eve was spent on the ship, celebrated at midnight by the traditional ringing of the ship's bell. By tradition given that midnight represents eight bells in nautical timekeeping, the eldest member of the ship's complement rings four bells to ring out the year, while the youngest rings the second set of four. And so began 2007.
Ringing in 2007
James Morrison (Z-Carpenter- L) and Charlie Chalk (Bosun- R)
The ship calls twice at Halley during the summer, now (first call) and at the end of summer (second call) to remove all the summer-only staff and waste generated over this busy work period. However, the outgoing Halley doctor is one of the few who leaves the station at first call as they are required to take my place and provide medical cover on the Shackleton. As a result I was very fortunate to get flown the twenty minutes from the ship down to base rather than the six hour Sno-cat journey so that we could start our handover as quickly as possible.
The Creeks From The Air
The Brunt Ice Shelf is on the left surrounded by sea ice
I can not imagine a more magical way to start 2007 and a year living in the Antarctic. To first glimpse the buildings that will form home for the forthcoming twelve months from the window of the BAS Twin Otter was exhilarating. The arrival at the ski-way several kilometres away from the main platform and to be surrounded by flat white ice as far as the eye can see, meeting cloudless uninterrupted blue sky surpasses my limited descriptive and photographic abilities. Indeed like a lot of the voyage down, though I have seen lots of photographs and film of Halley nothing captures the sense of space and the flat glistening expanse.
First Glimpse of Halley
The relief of the station is a major undertaking as all the supplies (including fuel, food, medicines, science equipment and building materials for the summer) have to be brought up to the station, as well as all the waste from the previous year removed. It usually takes about seven days and did so this year despite the weather stopping operations occasionally. Once the wind starts to pick up (a blow) it whips up the ice off the surface leading to a rapid deterioration in visibility along with a complete loss of contrast.
Tying the Twin Otter Down for the Night in a Blow
Of the four Twin Otters that BAS operates, one is assigned to Halley over the summer (more to follow about these another time). During relief it ferries a lot of the fragile and delicate goods that would suffer if they froze on a sledge attached to the back of a Sno-cat. Amongst these fragile items is over a quarter of a ton of medical supplies, which once relief is over will be unpacked and put away, while the out-of-date kit is packaged up and returned to the UK for incineration.
Off-loading Medical Supplies
However, the majority of the incoming goods make the slow journey overland, including a thousand-plus 205 litre barrels of Avtur (AViation TURbine fuel) that forms part of the fuel requirements of the base generators and plane, along with a limited amount of petrol for the vehicles. The empty barrels at the end of the year then have to be returned to the ship to be removed to comply with our obligations under the Antarctic Treaty. This means a certain amount of digging as they are stored in stacks three high but are now buried deep in snow and frozen solid.
Digging Out Avtur Barrels
Relief like most of the year round at Halley is epitomised by hard physical labour for everyone, whether that being manhandling large boxes, moving barrels of Avtur or digging, digging and digging- the customised cranes and vehicles can only do so much given the nature of the Antarctic. Smoko- mid-morning and mid-afternoon break- is a welcome relief to warm up and eat more food.
Vicki Hands Over the Base Medical Supplies
Given the brief time I had with Vicki, the outgoing winter doc, and the plethora of things to do, time flies away particularly as the ship- now behind schedule- was champing to get away. There is a lot of new information to acquire rapidly from day-to-day mundane material to discussing the Major Incident Plan, should the worst happen. She has has a relatively quiet medical year here and jokingly rues not even having had the chance do any suturing, I can only hope that mine is similarly peaceful.
So as the fifty-first Halley doctor It is phenomenally exciting to be here at last since I known that I have wanted to work here for a long time and I know my year will live up to those heavy expectations.
Halley Research Station Panorama (click to enlarge)
Platforms from left to right: Laws (Accommodation)- Simpson (Science- Meteorology) - Piggott (Upper Atmosphere Research)
The relief of the station is a major undertaking as all the supplies (including fuel, food, medicines, science equipment and building materials for the summer) have to be brought up to the station, as well as all the waste from the previous year removed. It usually takes about seven days and did so this year despite the weather stopping operations occasionally. Once the wind starts to pick up (a blow) it whips up the ice off the surface leading to a rapid deterioration in visibility along with a complete loss of contrast.
Tying the Twin Otter Down for the Night in a Blow
Of the four Twin Otters that BAS operates, one is assigned to Halley over the summer (more to follow about these another time). During relief it ferries a lot of the fragile and delicate goods that would suffer if they froze on a sledge attached to the back of a Sno-cat. Amongst these fragile items is over a quarter of a ton of medical supplies, which once relief is over will be unpacked and put away, while the out-of-date kit is packaged up and returned to the UK for incineration.
Off-loading Medical Supplies
However, the majority of the incoming goods make the slow journey overland, including a thousand-plus 205 litre barrels of Avtur (AViation TURbine fuel) that forms part of the fuel requirements of the base generators and plane, along with a limited amount of petrol for the vehicles. The empty barrels at the end of the year then have to be returned to the ship to be removed to comply with our obligations under the Antarctic Treaty. This means a certain amount of digging as they are stored in stacks three high but are now buried deep in snow and frozen solid.
Digging Out Avtur Barrels
Relief like most of the year round at Halley is epitomised by hard physical labour for everyone, whether that being manhandling large boxes, moving barrels of Avtur or digging, digging and digging- the customised cranes and vehicles can only do so much given the nature of the Antarctic. Smoko- mid-morning and mid-afternoon break- is a welcome relief to warm up and eat more food.
Vicki Hands Over the Base Medical Supplies
Given the brief time I had with Vicki, the outgoing winter doc, and the plethora of things to do, time flies away particularly as the ship- now behind schedule- was champing to get away. There is a lot of new information to acquire rapidly from day-to-day mundane material to discussing the Major Incident Plan, should the worst happen. She has has a relatively quiet medical year here and jokingly rues not even having had the chance do any suturing, I can only hope that mine is similarly peaceful.
So as the fifty-first Halley doctor It is phenomenally exciting to be here at last since I known that I have wanted to work here for a long time and I know my year will live up to those heavy expectations.
Halley Research Station Panorama (click to enlarge)
Platforms from left to right: Laws (Accommodation)- Simpson (Science- Meteorology) - Piggott (Upper Atmosphere Research)
