First Day at Palmer Station

Just got back from the bar / lounge on station and winding down before bed.  It's been a really great day - I've enjoyed it.  When I woke up and looked out of my window this morning, I nearly jumped.  There was land!  For the first time in three days.  And it was rocky and covered in snow.  I knew we were close, so I got up and dressed and ate breakfast super fast so I could get out on deck and go look.

It's really quite beautiful.  In a way, it's exactly what I expected and nothing at all what I expected.  There's ice and snow everywhere, but there's other elements I didn't expect to see (like rocks and deep blue water).  I'm in love already.  I stood out on the back deck as we began to back into the station this morning, and it was really cool to see it.  However, the winds were too strong, so we were forced to move back out and circle until they died down.  Unfortunately this took a few hours...so we waited...

and waited...

and waited...

Finally, around 2PM we were able to get in without the danger of being slammed into the dock.  The captain masterfully guided the ship in as we waved at the Palmer Station crew who had been isolated since the first week of June.  They were happy to see us.  :)

Once the ship docked, we went over a brief "station rules" orientation, and then headed onto land while the crew started unloading supplies for the station.  There's a lot more here than I expected.  It makes sense - it's an isolated community that has to function on its own without help from anywhere else for 3 months (at least).  And even though all the buildings are metal on the outside, they're really quite nice inside and have a "home-y" feel to them.  It's a shame I'll only be here for 10 days...but maybe I can make another trip later on in my career (at least I hope so).

At dinner back on the ship, I got the good news that the CTD had been fixed (ETs to the rescue!) and that we were going to try and head back out for a brief sampling trip on Thursday and stay out one night.  This is really exciting for me, because they are talking of letting me get 4 stations in...which is exactly what I want.  If this works out...I get to do every experiment I wanted to do while down here (with the exception of some side projects that are looking promising as well...I know...I'm a dork).

After dinner, everyone went up to the bar/lounge area on station to hang out and relax (and have a beer...the LMG is a dry ship, which is good, but it's fun to be social too).  On the walk over it had begun to snow...it was really neat, especially since I've only seen snow while it was falling a handful of times.  The wind is killer though - not sure what the wind chill is, but it's COLD.

I got to meet a lot of the Palmer Crew that will be coming with us when we head back to Punta Arenas after 10 days, and to talk with those we'll be leaving behind.  It's weird - only three of us "non-crew" people will be going on the return trip, so it will be a completely different dynamic.  It'll be neat to meet twice as many people, but it just shortens the time I spend with them.  Just more of a reason to come back for longer, eh?  :)

Alright, time for bed.  LONG day.  But I made it to Antarctica, stepped foot on the ground the farthest south I've ever been (64 S, 64 W), and I'm loving every minute of it.