Boating is a large part of life here at Palmer station. There are several zodiac boats that get taken out for scientific reasons, like diving, but also for recreational purposes, such as just driving around, visiting islands or grabbing ice for the bar (appropriately called "bar ice").
The rules are, however, that you can't go out on a boat alone. There have to be at least two people who have completed Boating II class to go out. So the day after I arrived at Palmer, I took the class. It was exciting as it was my first time out on the water here. Also, we have an awesome boat master, so under his instruction we all got a chance to man the tiller, learn how to dock the boat to let people off at islands, and practice man overboard drills again (a good refresher after OSAR training).
Click here for some photos
Nice photos! Have you gone on your maiden voyage for bar ice yet? I'm curious - do you collect brash ice with a net? Or chip it off the side of a glacier?
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ReplyDeleteWe only collect what has already fallen off the glacier. To pick it up, we just lean over and grab it so the pieces can't be that big.