Well, the long line is back to haunt us again. I guess it never really left. I just stopped thinking about it as others were working on a solution, and I had no good input. Currently, the line is still laying under the ice, and unless we want to do another Gamage Point port call, it needs to come up so the Gould can tie up to our pier. Unfortunately, pulling the line itself up from the pier is not possible since it would most likely break. It's not a hardy rope. Therefore, the goal is to stay above it as if we were in a Zodiac while hauling it in, and the ice has finally complied by firming up enough that we can now walk out on it.
So yesterday, we started a 24/7 operation of chipping a path through the sea ice and pulling the line as we go. I was on the 2:00-4:00 a.m. shift with Neal and Chris. Geared up in immersion suits and armed with headlamps, we made our way out through some slush and past bergy bits to where the last team let off. As luck would have it, all the power tools (the chainsaws and the auger) were broken, so it was ice picks and manual labor for us. We made some headway in the ice but it really just seemed like a lot of effort for little progress. We'll be out there again today from 3:00-5:00 p.m.
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