Chillin' in Chile, the Crossing, and Palmer Arrival

On Wednesday, March 19th, I left Portland, Oregon for my new Antarctic home, and after a week of travel, I arrived back in Antarctica. This time, deployment consisted of flying to Punta Arenas, Chile and then catching an icebreaker, the Laurence M. Gould, for a 4 day crossing to take us to Palmer Station on Anvers Island.

Upon arrival in Chile, we were greeted by Jimmy, a long-time liason for Antarctic-bound folks, who took us through immigration and customs without having to wait in line and without any hassle. It was sort of like being a VIP...I'm sure Jimmy was also holding the paparazzi at bay somewhere.

Finally, after over 24 hours of traveling, I was finally settled in my hotel room in Punta Arenas, Chile. Though tired, I joined my fellow Palmerites, coming from their various hotels all over the city, to have dinner, drinks and some pre-season bonding. The next morning, I went to the clothing center to get issued my new Extreme Cold Weather gear which included slickers and then got myself settled on the ship for my first night on the boat. There are three of us that shared and are still sharing a milvan-turned-dorm-room in the bottom of the boat. After our second night in Chile, we set sail! Our course was southbound, past the tip of South America, and into the Drake Passage. This is where the Atlantic and Pacific meet causing some of the roughest seas in the world. It took us a couple of days to get into the Drake. Once we did, the swells got bigger and the boat started rocking more and more! This caused unheld cups to spill over at dinner, a person to gain enough momentum to be practically running down a hallway when you started at a nice, easy walk, and occasionally giving you a sense of weightlessness when climbing stairs. At this point, several people got sick and had to stay horizontal, sleeping or just laying down for the rest of the crossing. To me, however, it was kind of like a mini-roller coaster and I loved it. According to the captain, the crossing was average. We did have some swells up to 40 feet that definitely rocked the boat.

On the boat, there wasn't much to do except read, watch movies, etc, but at least we were getting paid for these days of leisure while traveling. While in transit, I was lucky enough to see dolphins, penguins and various other sea birds, as well as iceburgs and random pieces of floating ice.

On the 5th morning, we finally reached Palmer Station. My first thoughts were how beautiful it is here and that I can't believe this is my new home for the next 7 months. So here I am, ready to begin my winter. What the season has in store for me, we shall see.

Click here for some photos