More Ocean Search & Rescue

Antarctica, General, Nomadic Lifestyle

Last Friday the OSAR team participated in a training exercise. Temperatures here have dropped a bit – I think somewhere in the high teens, possibly lower 20s. Those temperatures really aren’t much of a consideration when around station; not much bundling up is required when shelter is never further than a few short steps away, and in fact, the buildings of station provide a significant windbreak. Out on the open water, however, can be quite a different story. There was a light breeze blowing in the morning with a tad bit of snowfall. I was braced for a day full of misery.

My anticipation of misery caused me to prepare for the worst – I dressed right and fared well during the exercise. It turned out to be quite an enjoyable day actually. Presently there are lots of icebergs out and about and an escape from the constant drone of the diesel generator on station was welcome.

Here we are in the boat – approaching a hairball landing. The intention, I guess, was to boost confidence in one’s abilities to actually land a boat in big swells and go ashore over snowy, ice-encrusted cliffs. As it turns out, the proper motivation needed to scale up an icy rock is 20 feet of ice cold water below it.