Catch Up 2: It's not all work, work, work

With the summer build season underway everyone was busy. The 2010 Halley winterer's were busy with their tasks and were handing over the reigns to the 2011 winterer's who were just flinging themselves into their tasks. For me, the science handover from Richard was ongoing as were the daily met tasks. For others like Brett the wintering vehicle mechanic the work volume was consistently high due to the amount of vehicles in action around the base which varied from little ski-do's to the mobile cranes that were required by the Halley VI project. Everyone was in the same boat and with everyone up to their eyes in it it gave no time for the new winterer's to spend some time together and to bond as a team.

2011 started with a couple of days at the seaside for this years Halley winterer's. We didn't go far, after all it was only a wee jaunt down to Creek 3 (about 10 kilometres away).

On our way to Creek 3: Ben, Brett, Jenny and Emma

Once there we were welcomed by some beautiful weather and some beautiful skies.

Crepuscular Rays bursting through the Stratocumulus clouds

The objectives were three fold: Learn some Antarctic field and camp craft from our top Field Assistant's, Ian McNab and Kirk Watson, bring the wintering team together for, what was essentially, the very first time and to have a nice wee break away from the madness at Halley V (a change is as good as a rest etc).

The trip was arranged to bring us up to speed on Antarctic survival equipment and techniques. Instruction was given on camping craft which included erecting the pyramid tents, assembling stoves and generally becoming better acquainted with the camping gear.

Setting up a pyramid tent as demonstrated by Kirk and Ian

The night ended with a barbecue Antarctic style followed by some tall tales and a bit of team bonding.

Jenny demonstrating what an Antarctic barby is really for

The following day was all about traversing the crevasse riddled Antarctic terrain with an introduction to the equipment and techniques utilised if a situation took a turn for the worse. Our field assistants, Ian and Kirk, are an experienced pair so the instruction was both concise and informative.

Traversing the ice. Crevasses are the biggest hidden danger. Luckily Ian can smell them

We will take the skills we learned on our trip to Creek 3 away with us on our winter trip and I am sure that we will take our burgeoning friendships with us well into the future.

With the expedition over it was time to head back to Halley V

Catch Up 1: The Halley VI Build Season

This summer season at Halley was the penultimate build season of the Haley VI project. There were over 100 people staying at Halley V during the summer period. All being fed watered and entertained. That's a strain on a base that was never designed to cater for that amount of bodies. The Laws platform is the primary facility at Halley V. The platform can accommodate around forty personnel and also contains the catering facilities, support services and their associated workshops, the communications hub, some office space and, of course, the bar. In addition to this space there is the Drewry Annexe that only operates during the summer season. The Drewry features accommodation space and catering facilities only. These two buildings were still not enough to cater for the numbers required for the Halley VI build so temporary containerised accommodation was implemented to take up the slack. 

The Drewry annexe being moved into place at the beginning of the season (Photo: Kirk Watson)

All these extra bodies were necessary as the 2010 / 2011 build season saw numerous skilled teams working on many different aspects of the Haley VI build. There was a team working across at the Halley VI site preparing it for the imminent arrival of it's modules. This team was also responsible for erecting the masts, arrays and cable catenary's that would be required for the science that will eventually be implemented at Halley VI. 

The Southern Hemisphere Auroral Radar Experiment (SHARE) array under construction at the Haley VI site (Photo: Unknown)

Teams of tradesmen were employed at the Halley VI construction site at Halley V to complete the modules exteriors and as much of their interiors as possible. Another major task to be completed this season was the implementation of the hydraulic systems that would enable the module legs to be jacked up and down to enable the raising of the new base as and when necessitated by snow accumulation.

The module legs can be extended and the modules raised as snow accumulates

Each module was then towed the 16 kilometres from it's construction site at Halley V to it's new home at the prepared Halley VI site. With the blue modules weighing in at a hefty eighty tons and the big red 'Module A' tipping the scales at a whopping two hundred tons this final phase presented arguably the biggest challenge to the project. Some individuals speculated that Module A would be the heaviest single item ever to be towed across Antarctica. Could something that big and heavy be supported by the snow and ice without it digging in to the very surface that it was travelling on? With the expertise of BAS and Morrisons construction on the job the task of moving the big red one the necessary 16 kilometres was achieved with apparent ease. The image of the monstrous Module A being moved is one that will stay with me for some time. 

Module A being moved from Halley V to it's new home at the Halley VI site

As the modules arrived at the Halley VI site they were arranged in their final configuration. The final arrangement and connection of the modules was one of the many Antarctic firsts that the project has had to contend with. It was conceptually and, obviously, conceivably possible but what would it actually take to join all these modules together and make a functioning Antarctic scientific base out of them? The Halley VI base, as a concept, has never been tried in Antarctica and it's realisation is a feather in the cap to all the individuals who have been involved with the project in whatever capacity. The completed configuration of Halley VI is definitely an impressive sight.

The assembled Halley VI base in the Antarctic evening light

Things to do in Antarctica

Cycling?

You maybe thought you had seen it all.....

Maybe not such a good idea.

A belated Merry Christmas and the happiest of New Year's to one and all.

Big hugs and kisses to my wife Sharon and the wonderful children that she gave me; Katie Rose and Alec. Love you more than you could ever imagine.

Hubby / Dad xxxxxxxxooooooooxxxxxxxx

Halley V and Halley VI Relief 2010

The summer season at Halley is the busiest, most important time in the Halley V calendar. Whilst the science and maintenance activities continue all year round it is during the long 24 hour days of summer that the work necessary to sustain absolutely every endeavour throughout the winter is carried out. Antarctica is a frozen desert that will not sustain land based life without external support. At the very least Halley V is dependant on food and fuel just to keep the base and personnel going. To keep the whole base and science in tip top shape other supplies are necessary e.g. tools, equipment spares, vehicles, gases. In fact, too many things to describe here. To keep the base running an annual exercise called 'relief' is undertaken. A British Antarctic Survey research vessel docks at the sea ice just off of the Brunt Ice Shelf. The supplies are unloaded and transported to the base which is some 20km away.  The RSS (Royal Research Ship) Ernest Shackleton departed from Immingham in the UK some months ago and travelled via Portsmouth and Cape Town to pick up more passengers and cargo. It was due to arrive at Halley in mid December but heavy sea ice provided difficult navigating conditions which eventually delayed the Shackleton's arrival at Halley until December the 25th. Aye, that's Christmas Day. Heavy sea ice conditions have prevented the ship from reaching the Brunt Ice Shelf once before when, in 2002, the ship was unable to pass the Stancomb - Wills ice tongue.  It subsequently docked at the Drescher Inlet about 200 miles away where a partial relief was carried out by Twin Otter's flying the supplies from the ship to Halley V (thanks to Andy Smith at www.Zfids.org.uk for this information). This type of supply line is limited and all but the heavier, awkwardly shaped items can be transported. Base supplies are stocked such that a base can survive by missing one relief. If Halley misses two reliefs then the base will probably have to be mothballed and restocked from scratch. The best option for getting all the supplies and materials in to Halley V in one go is by ship. RSS Ernest Shackleton moored onto the sea ice at Creek 3 The RSS Ernest Shackleton arrived on Christmas afternoon and the first big job was to get the ship moored onto the sea ice at Creek 3. Sea ice can be very unstable and great attention was paid to Creek 3's condition prior to the Shackleton arriving. Heavy vehicles and cargo would be traversing the sea ice for many days so the sea ice at Creek 3 really had to be up to the job. Peoples lives depended on it and the Creek was rigorously inspected by the Field Assistant department over many weeks. Creek 3 sea ice and the edge of the Brunt as seen from the Shackleton To the left of this image is the ramp up to the Brunt Ice Shelf from the Creek 3 sea ice  All the BAS staff at Halley V had a job to do. I was selected to work on the depot line and the fuel dumps. My love of drums would be further tested after the pleasures of raising the drum line to Windy Bay. There were other teams. The teams on the ship took care of getting the cargo off the Shackleton whilst the Halley V sea ice team got the cargo to the top of the ramp onto the Brunt. A vehicle mechanic support team was based here as well to enable a quick response to any vehicle breakdowns that could seriously hamper progress. The vehicle operators working on the Brunt delivered the cargo to the Halley V supply line where it was logged then either parked or distributed immediately. It was a twenty four hour operation with two shifts splitting the day evenly between them. Once the cargo was delivered the Shackleton would then receive Halley V's outgoing cargo such as recyclable waste and items that were being returned to Cambridge depot for whatever reason. And so the relief of Halley V began…….. I was working days from 7.30am to 7.30pm and the important task on the first full day was getting the food into it's appropriate storage. There was a lot of pallet work which took me back to my first job in the Safeway foodstore. The following night shift took care of the rest and when we took over from them the next day they had begun stacking the aviation fuel or Avtur into dumps. There were over 1200 drums of fuel being delivered with over 700 being dumped at Halley V and the rest being stored at the new Halley VI site. The team assembled for fuel dump duties was Antarctic legends Richard Sands, Mike Ramage, Bryan Brock, Nigel Blenkharn and Big Al Geach. From left to right: Richard, Nigel, Mike, Big Al and Bryan Nige and Mike would be transferring the drums from the sledge to the dump. Nigel and Mike unloading the drums Big Al, Rich and myself would be stacking them.  Big Al and Richard stacking the drums And Bryan would be driving the machine. Guess who's got the best job? Nigel was living the dream and his goal was to break the 12 hour stacking record. Over 700 was the target on day two and we charged on with our mission. Delivery after delivery arrived with little pause between loads. This is a testament to the efficiency of the operation on the whole. By the end of day two we had stacked 726 drums of Avtur. The record had been broken. Nigel was happy and I was dead beat. Dumps of Avtur We repeated the task at the Halley VI site the next day where we managed to move over 500 drums. No mean feat considering that the Halley VI site was 16km further on from Creek 3. One thing that really helped move the relief process along was the fantastic weather we enjoyed from start to finish. The Relief of Halley V was completed with the final load being delivered and loaded onto the Shackleton on New Years Eve. The RSS Ernest Shackleton arrived one week late but departed one day early. Christmas and New Year were essentially cancelled but the job got done. I've never see such dedication in people at a time of the year when they all should all be kicking back, relaxing and enjoying Christmas and New Year with their families. My hat comes off to the entire  Halley V relief team and, for that matter, anyone else who finds themselves working in Antarctica over the festive period. Shackleton Panorama 1 Shackleton Panorama 2