Hello friends! Yes that time approaches, a fresh adventure looms and a new blog post must be written....
...So whats the deal this year? Like last time we will be taking hydrographic measurements in Drake Passage and the Scotia Sea, and I will be working as a part of the tracer team. However this year we are lucky enough to be leaving from Rothera, a base on the Antarctic Peninsula!!!! I am completely over the moon to get to spend a little time on the continent! I have put a full itinerary below.... and it is looking sweet!
I am working with our American counterparts this year so while the work will be pretty much the same as the last cruise, however the set up will be a bit different. NO CONTAINER. Yes, that is right folks, I will be working inside the ship, not in some claustrophobic box of crazy. I will also be working alone... so no container buddy to help me out/wind me up.
I will also be working on an outreach project with Katy Sheen my friend from Southampton. We are going to be writing a school outreach blog (so go there for cool photos and for the posi 'Yey! Science!' stuff... come here for the bleak reality.) as well as getting some footage to make a wee documentary film about the cruise which we will take round some schools in June. The blog is adropinthesouthernocean.blogspot.co.uk so do check it out!
Cruise plan:
2nd March – flying from Heathrow to Punta Arenas in southern Chile via Madrid and Santiago. The airline is infamous for losing baggage... and I have vital cruise kit in mine so keep your fingers crossed!
4th March – flight from Punta to Rothera base on Antarctica... Yeeeehaaaw! There is a good chance of weather delays to this flight but we should still arrive on Antarctica with a few days spare!
8th March – the good ship JCR should arrive to take us off on our grand voyage.
10th March – In the name of science we will have a quick stop off at the US Palmer Station to swap some samples, stretch our legs and get to hang out on another bit of Antarctica. You know, for science.
10-22nd March – Drake passage hydrographic section. We will be doing 24 hr ops here and I will be working 8h shifts plus helping whenever a CTD is on deck and I am awake/sober. My job will be to sample and analyse our tracer as well as take samples for CFC analysis.
22-25th March – A brief stop in Punta Arenas to resupply the ship (extra gluten free supplies for me please!) and change over some personnel. If I am not needed on the ship (fingers crossed) we will have the opportunity to do a little sightseeing.... Torres del Paine here I come!
25Th March -26th April – Depart Punta and begin part 2 of the voyage. This will start with some mooring work south of Signy Base (sea ice dependant.... this has not been a great year for ships in the sea ice in Antarctica....). Then we will be doing a northward hydrographic section towards South Georgia (small chance of another stop here), followed by a westward section along the North Scotia Ridge towards the Falklands.
26th April – Arrive in Stan-vagas to once again experience the delights ofThatcherland The Falkland Islands.
29th April -> MoD flight from Stanley to Ascension Island. Here a group of us PhD slackers are off for a wee post-cruise, pre-reality holiday on the stunning tropical island/barren rock.
2nd May – Arrive back in the UK. Get out the bunting.
4th March – flight from Punta to Rothera base on Antarctica... Yeeeehaaaw! There is a good chance of weather delays to this flight but we should still arrive on Antarctica with a few days spare!
8th March – the good ship JCR should arrive to take us off on our grand voyage.
10th March – In the name of science we will have a quick stop off at the US Palmer Station to swap some samples, stretch our legs and get to hang out on another bit of Antarctica. You know, for science.
10-22nd March – Drake passage hydrographic section. We will be doing 24 hr ops here and I will be working 8h shifts plus helping whenever a CTD is on deck and I am awake/sober. My job will be to sample and analyse our tracer as well as take samples for CFC analysis.
22-25th March – A brief stop in Punta Arenas to resupply the ship (extra gluten free supplies for me please!) and change over some personnel. If I am not needed on the ship (fingers crossed) we will have the opportunity to do a little sightseeing.... Torres del Paine here I come!
25Th March -26th April – Depart Punta and begin part 2 of the voyage. This will start with some mooring work south of Signy Base (sea ice dependant.... this has not been a great year for ships in the sea ice in Antarctica....). Then we will be doing a northward hydrographic section towards South Georgia (small chance of another stop here), followed by a westward section along the North Scotia Ridge towards the Falklands.
26th April – Arrive in Stan-vagas to once again experience the delights of
29th April -> MoD flight from Stanley to Ascension Island. Here a group of us PhD slackers are off for a wee post-cruise, pre-reality holiday on the stunning tropical island/barren rock.
2nd May – Arrive back in the UK. Get out the bunting.
I am a mixture of incredibly excited and a little worried about this cruise. May feels very far away. My back is in pretty bad shape... and the cruise will most likely make it much worse. But I do think it will be totally worth it.... so bring it on! I have tramadol.
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