Firm ground (ice!!!!) at last

Following a quick safety briefing from the Halley Base commander, we were ushered to our cabins to finish packing and change bedding and clean up in readiness for disembarking our dishwasher, sorry ship. It has been a bit confusing at times....

Beautiful blue skies, a gentle but icy breeze ( about -2 but with windchill -5ish) a skidoo with painful looking trailer and a welcoming party of about 30 penguins. Kitted out in our thermal winter togs and bags offloaded, now it was our turn. The gangway was impossible to use because of the distance to the ice so we were dropped onto the ice, by the war geordy ( not sure if thats spelt right) and the smaller crane. Once on the ice it was straight onto the skidoo and up the ramp to the ice shelf, and to the caboose, to wait for the rest.

The views were fantastic, the winds bitterly cold but glorious sunshine to boot, the only thing missing were a few sledges for a run back down the ramp..

It took about 20 minutes to offload everyone ( 9 of us) and luggage ready for the trip over to Halley V and the Halley VI construction site. After we have left the ship the Relief begins in ernest to offload the Cargo of food, materials, equipment and some 2500 fuel drums. The ships crew and team from Halley work around the clock for anything up to a week to complete this operation then load the ship with the waste from the previous 12 months to be dropped at the Falklands.

Preferred mode of transport for the journey, which is actually 15 km inland ( ok ok ice....) was by Snowcat and trailer but what the hell we (the 4 intrepid male explorers) opted for the hardcore trailer along with 5 ton bags of timber sent over for the bbq (braai), tight squeeze but worth the experience all day long. This also gave us our first taster of the ferocity of the south polar sun, the relentless power of the high uv due to the hole in the ozone (which by chance is right above us!!!), and was discovered by BAS at Halley, but also the reflection from the snow and ice. The sunburn reaches places you wouldn't believe....

I am struggling to get photos uploaded from here but I have the IT department working on it for me ;)

On the Continent!

It seems like ages since i've updated the blog but hopefully now we are settling in to the Halley way of life, it will be easier to update. I thought things were slow and awkward with the computers on the ship, but believe me that was luxury compared to Halley ( about 6 computers between about 70 of us).

There's been a lot to take in since we arrived last Saturday so i'll have to bring things up to speed over the next few nights.

Halley is the name of the British Antarctic Survey research station on the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica. There have been 5 over the years in varying forms ( will post some pics when i get chance of the previous bases) with the fifth coming to the end of its life recently. Halley VI is a totally new design concept ( or at least it was 6 years ago when the project started) and I am privileged to be part of something so unique, challenging and amazingly remote!!

We eventually reached the Brunt Ice shelf on Saturday morning (25th December) at about 08.30. There are a number of options as to where the ship can dock alongside the sea ice creeks but unfortunately due to the harsh nature of the weather and environment mooring the ship to enable the safe unloading of the immense amount of cargo was going to prove challenging.

A few days prior to our arrival a team from Halley had prepared the creek with marker flags, tested the stability and suitability of the sea ice and carved and groomed a ramp up through the Ice shelf. The preceeding weather had caused quite a bit of erosion to the upper levels of the sea ice leaving a large ice foot (or underhang) beneath the surface that the Shackleton was unable to break off despite numerous attempts. How bizarre to be standing on deck as the ship crunched head long into, and glided gracefully up on to the thick slab of ice. Only then to slide back to the waters in defeat.

The captain eventually decided that he would moor at this location as the remaining creeks were pretty much the same. This meant that there was quite a gap for the ship to safe ground ( hey too easy to forget you're on ice!!!) we were joined on board by Matt the Halley Base Commander in readiness to land on Antarctica and journey on to Halley.

sorry but its getting late and i've got quite a bit to catch up on, more to come tomorrow........

Update

Just thought I would let everyone know that we might not hear from Neil for a few days. I spoke to him yesterday evening and he confirmed that they had arrived at the landing bay that had been prepared for the ship. Unfortunately the weather over the last few days had caused ice to build up around the landing bay which made it impossible to moor. This bay is 12km over the ice to get to Halley and if they couldn't moor there the other option they had was a landing bay which is 50km from Halley, so not ideal. They were eagar to moor and unload as the materials that are on the ship are desperately needed at Halley. Anyway when they do finally moor there will be a few heavy days of work to unload the ship and to get settled in their accomodation. Communication is poor at Halley as they only have 3 computers to share between everyone and for some reason he will not be able to use his laptop whilst he is there. This means that opportunities to update the blog may be few and far between. 

Amanda

We've arrived

Christmas Shackleton style!

Merry Christmas from the RRS Shackleton!!!!!!!

Our Christmas festivities have been brought forward to the 24th due to our iminent arrival at Halley and the Brunt ice shelf, so to begin with style for our Christmas Eve the crew joined us in the red room and we proceeded to drink the beer fridge dry! and then some!!!! the supply of beer and cider appeared endless. We joined Matt ( who is going to Signy as Base Commander) in the galley to assist with making a nice pan of Mulled Wine. I took charge of the music and DJ Nej rocked the night away with some classic tunes from the 90's followed by some corkers from the 80's......have some good video clips of the dancing.....most of us had turned in by about 04:00 with the prospect of a 09:15 Sit Rep and Relief briefing!!!! funnily enough there were no hangovers as most were still inebriated ;)

The real wake up was at 10:00, the captain managed to find a suitable slab of ice to wedge the ship into, and the game was on!!!!! Football, extreme Antarctic Style!!! We played for about an hour! What a scream! ended up a bit of a mix of football and rugby due to the fact that the pitch (ice) had a good foot or so of surface snow!! To think that we have played football in one of the most extreme locations on earth, in the Weddell sea, on the sea ice (approx 1 metre

thick) with about 3.5km of water beneath us was absolutely mind blowing!!!

The series of unbelievable events is the only thing that is managing to keep the edge off the fact that this is the first Christmas away from my beautiful wife and children, and belive me that's b****y tough!!! I love and miss you guys more than i can ever tell you!!!!!!  xxx

12:00 and we congregated on the Foc'sle (the front part of the ship) for the traditional Christmas carols, Mulled wine and mince pies.. between us we put on a pretty good show!!

14:00 and time to be seated for Christmas dinner. Ray and Rab did an astounding job in catering for us with an impressive 5 course feast that would easliy grace the tables of any top notch restaurant!!  Well done boys!!

Needless to say the beer fridge is nearly dry again and its only just 11pm, although the steward was prepared for tonight with a few crates in reserve.... The music is blasting and spirits are high ( should make for some interesting sights tomorrow)

Not far to go now until we should reach open water for the final leg to Halley although we have been informed that they are expecting a blow this weekend.

Merry christmas to all the followers of this blog, your interest and messages of support are fabulous and i'm chuffed that my gorgeous wife has been able to set this up to enable me/us to share our experiences on this trip of a lifetime..

On that note i'd better dry my eyes and try and find my beer!!!!!!

CHEERS!!!!!!!

So near yet so far!!

Well that basically sums up our current situation!!

It's been such a mix of good progress and dead ends, thin ice (half a metre or so thick) to pretty good thick ice ( between 10-15 feet ) the best being 2 days ago when we were jammed solid.

The crew displaced all of the remaining fuel to the starboard tanks, then the main crane was swung around to no avail. On with one of the shipping containers and that was swung over the ice! Final task was to flood the ballast tanks with 40 tonnes of sea water with not alot of movement at first. Then the ship gradually began to list to about 20 degrees, which made walking around quite interesting ( just as well it was too early for a beer!!!!)  I think that was the longest we've been stuck (or temporarily stopped as the bridge like to call it) approximately 12 hours. Cant believe how much time we've spent drifting with the ice!!

On Tuesday we managed to arrange, with Jamie the chief engineer, for a tour of the computer rooms and the engine rooms. What an awesome setup! To understand and appreciate the technology ( albeit a tad dated) that is involved with the ships operation was amazing. The ability it has to divert power and energy via various routes and the operations that the ship undertakes in the north sea during its summer as a DPO vessel (dynamic positioning). I will go into a bit more detail sometime when i've got a bit more detail myself...

The captain decided that yesterday would be a good opportunity for a group photo. Jen the doc volunteered to act as photographer and was placed onto the ice with Duncan Cameron (logistics) who has been south before as an outdoor guide for a winter. Very jealous of that experience!! If you look very closely you can see me on both of the Christmas photos.

We are now amongst the lucky few to be able to say that we have travelled in the Weddell Sea!!!!! I think we are currently in the Deutschland Cove??? The satellite pics of the ice are proving interesting, I think we still have a good 50-60 miles of ice to navigate but do seem to be heading in the right direction.

Prep is under way for tomorrow! Christmas dinner on the RRS Ernest Shackleton yet another first!!! For our 24th December celebrations we have.....

10:00 (weather and conditions permitting) football and photos on the ice!!!!!!!!!!

12:00 carols in the red room, which i'm led to believe Rich has been recruited as head choirboy due to his welsh heritage....

followed by

14:00 Christmas Dinner!!!!!

The menu is pretty impressive too with a selection of starters, crab soup, springbok steak and a fancy pate. A choice of Turkey, belly pork and roast beef. Brocolli, roast parsnips, cauliflower gratin, roast pots, a fancy mash and croquets followed by xmas pud and brandy, Trifle and another that I cant remember....Then cheese and biscuits with port and all topped off with an irish coffee. If I am not careful they will be rolling me down the walkway when we arrive :)

As i type we have ground to a halt yet again!!!

I think it will be another night for the film club - me, Richie and Jaibo- although we've already managed most of the good films and the complete back catalogue of only fools and horses!!!! Class viewing..

The wildlife has been a little sparse, with a few leapord  and elephant seals, a mild splattering of penguins (which are difficult to capture with a point and shoot) and a good selection of Petrels. Oh and a sighting of a whale in one of the pools.

Well after being diagnosed with tendonitis, i'd better go and put my feet up with a nice cold beer or 2 or 3..........

Merry Christmas

Progress is very slow!

This is the view from the Conning  Tower at 16:00 today. Looks like we may be spending Christmas on the ship!!!

My gash duty today so I have my nose to the grindstone. I will try to come back later with another update.

Antarctic Ice Shelf

Our route

As you can see we are really struggling to get anywhere near Halley!!!

If you can see the times on the big curve, we have been stuck since 09:00 and the movement on the curve is us drifting with the iceflow!!!!

Stuck!

The journey over the last few days has been exhilarating to say the least, we have had a mix of stormy open waters, some quite free flowing sea ice and some really thick ice.

A bit more wild life in the way of seals and penguins. what a brilliant sight when all of a sudden 5- 10 penguins pop up out of a clear patch of water onto the ice evidently spooked by the ships presence.

After the decision was taken to open the bar to all, we had a good crack and copious bottles of beer with the crew, to awake on the 17th to a motionless ship!! stuck since 3am in a big chunk of ice. We eventually freed up at about 10:00 following a lot of swinging of the crane, moving the ballast around and shifting the fuel between tanks. This meant that Will, who was on watch has had to provide free beers for the crew for tonight!!!!! The ship then doubled back and later yesterday found a shore lead and we were coasting gently alongside the continents ice shelf!!! what a sight.

For the rest of the evening yesterday (17th) we made slow progress as you can see from the ships tracking device. For the last few days we have not got any closer to our final destination at Halley (on the Brunt ice shelf) than about 230 nautical miles.

Today, 18th December was the ships captains date for arrival on the sweepstake!!! It was the captain apparently that has led us to a complete standstill at 04:00 this morning, it is now 11:30 here, 14:30 uk time and the ice is solid all around!!! totally solid. So while you guys are battling with cold temperatures and a few inches of snow, we have a blow of around 15-20 knots and are stuck fast in around 12 feet of sea ice that is drifting at about 0.4knots.

At about 07:00 the generators failed and there appears to be a problem with the ships main drive that the engineers are working all out to repair. The crane has managed to swing a container and move the ship slightly to a nice listing position, so making sitting straight an interesting task. It may be that if we are stuck in the same position for a while that the captain will give the order to put the gangway out to allow us to have a walk out on the ice!!!! that will be awesome!!!!!

So we are pretty much sitting ducks at the moment. There is an apparent clear stretch of water close to the continent that we were heading for that would have given us approximately 40 miles of fairly clear run but then into a thicker patch of ice than we currently find ourselves in. As i am typing we have managed to move backwards although the ice has frozen solid all around so should prove a challenge.

We have approximately 140 miles until we reach a notoriously bad stretch of water/ice known as the Stancon Wills ( I think thats how its spelt) named after the lady that provided a lot of the funding for Shackletons expedition, as she was a bit of a battle axe.

We have a total view of white all around,what an amazing sight!!!! I still struggle to find the words to do this experience the justice it deserves and still feel so humbled to be given this opportunity of a lifetime that very few individuals will ever get!!!

The adventure continues!!!!!!!!!!

We are going round in circles!

It has been a cracking day on the weather and wildlife front, with an amazing mix of icy wind, driving snow and near zero visibility!! We are currently in a large patch of sea ice and have ground to a halt!!! This is what we've all been waiting for ;)) lol the ship is carving through at a snails pace, yet another amazing experience!!! I am sat in the cabin typing this with the the eery scraping of the ice, the thundering roar of the engines which send bone juddering waves through your spine and the thud as she slams into the ice ( which is in the region of 3-5 metres thick and solid). The creaks and squeaks within the ship are quite surreal baring in mind the size and stresses that it goes through.......one word that keeps springing to mind is WOW!!!

Pictures capture only soo much and certainly go no where near doing justice to this whole experience. Meeting the crew on deck and seeing their reactions in line with ours is also such a powerful reminder of how lucky we are to be experiencing this adventure and also so humbling.....

Not sure what the ships tracking shows at your end but since we have been stuck the ships computer shows that we have done two loop the loops, we're currently heading back on ourselves to find a passage that is a bit clearer...

We are crossing our final timeline tonight, and I think we have about 300 ish miles to go...

and yet more ice!!!

The last few days have been pretty uneventful in the big mass of water that is the Atlantic ocean!! Really calm seas, almost like a mill pond at times.. Been a little emotional reading the emails from home. Makes me realise just how far away I am from everyone. Although Amanda is fab at keeping me updated (thank goodness I have a wife who loves her laptop almost as much as she loves me!!!!) Almost makes me think I am there :)

We had the last proper sunset 2-3 days ago which was an awesome sight and have now moved another hour back and we are in 24 hour daylight!!! This is really messing with everyones body clock.

If we were to keep to the current speed we would arrive at Halley on friday!!!  :(( For the last 12 hours or so we have had a cracking tail wind pushing from the east, blasting us up to 15knts at times, which isnt bad considering the top speed of the ship is only 12.9!!!!!

The decision was made yesterday to lift the 2 beer rule as the crew dont have any restrictions and have felt that they needed to stay up top so as not to upset anyone.. so last night most of the crew joined us for a beer (or 2,3,4....) and we had a great night. I think the highlight was Jenny the doctor leaving her camera in the lounge!!!! not sure if she's checked it yet but lets just say she will have a surprise!!!!!!! will keep you posted as the day unfolds.

We had our first sighting of Antarctica this morning at about 07:30.... Awesome! with some amazing shots of some big bergs. The kadettes on watch have been upsetting some local wildlife, with some collision courses for the seals, got a good shot of a big boy this morning.

At last we've reached the ice we've been waiting for which has slowed us down considerably. Standing at the front of the ship as she crunches through the ice is something words can't describe! what an awesome experience! and to see the reactions of the crew, some of which have been coming here for years, and are still in awe of the sights.

One area that i havent covered much is the food and catering staff, namely Ray and Rab the cooks. The quality of the food served every day is astounding!! you would pay a right pretty price (as they say in Sheffield - Deano) back home! 5 star quality...... will expand on this over the next few days, but for now the ice  crunching beckons....

Two more briefings today, one on ice safety and then some first aid too.

This is truly turning into the experience of a lifetime!!!

Ice!!

Yesterday was a day filled with very turbulent waters, crew said it was force 9!!!! :O No wonder people were progressively dropping like flies(me included). When the ships motion is so bad the tiredness and fatigue really set in, that coupled with the fact that the further south we go the drier it gets and so we have to keep topping the fluids up.

Had a brew with Ray, one of the cooks, at about 05.30 this morning and then Bang!!06:00 we hit the first bank of sea ice!! wow what an unbelievable experience, totally breathtaking.

Saw some pretty awesome sized bergs yesterday but nothing of any size today. The bands of ice have ranged from 20-30 metres wide up to in excess of 6-700 metres... the crunch and jolting of the ship and the scraping of the ice along the hull is unreal!!! some of the ice is 3-4 metres thick and then some... like a knife through (frozen) butter;) and we're still averaging 11knts on impact!! Can't wait for the thick stuff when we'll need to back up and take a couple of runs!!!

I'm sitting here and being thrown around by the impact as i type and the noise is amazing, sleep should be interesting tonight.

I have stopped taking the sea sick tabs today as the sea is a veritable mill pond:))) looking forward to a couple of beers tonight:)

Thats about the lot for today....did i mention the sunburn??? Day one left capetown, out on deck for 5 hours or so, yeah you know it!! no suncream:(( last few days i could have had a leading role in the singing detective!!! Better now, and yes i've learnt my lesson the hard way...

12th December 2am!!!

Wow where did yesterday go? I managed to finish my days gash!! Having been well and truely bossed around by the boss!!! lost count of how much i've polished, cleaned(even the fire extinguishers), hoovered, washed up....... and my punishment for being a smoker was making me clean the coffin(smoking room) ceiling:(

The captain had altered the ships course to take us to bouvet island!!! top bloke! We came fairly close at about 07:30 yesterday but weather and visibility was very poor, so just caught a glimpse of the outline.

The seas have been pretty relentless (think Deadliest Catch!) with some very big swells!!!extremely rough yesterday...a few grey faces around that keep disappearing, Rich not eaten for a couple of days, managed to keep an apple down for about half an hour...

I started nodding off watching a film yesterday afternoon, went for a lie down and woke up at 01:45am this morning then realised we'd crossed another timeline so back an hour she goes...;)

So by 01:00 i had been down for a cup of tea.... yes a cup of tea!! cant seem to stomach coffee... I now have total respect for anyone suffering morning sickness :) Been out on deck for a while to get a few photos, getting colder by the day. Some nice sized bergs appearing all around us this morning.

We have a sweepstake on board for the date and time of arrival at Halley, only 2 entries so far, 24 and 26 dec, and that is from 2 people who have been on the Shack a few times before... I can't decide what to put as although we have travelled over half way already we will slow down now we are hitting the ice. Should be interesting...

The sunrise with the icebergs is something else... and the wildlife is getting better and better! I missed the penguins this morning but managed to get the first picture of a seal!

We have cabin inspections today so better get tidied up i suppose, dont fancy the wrath of the boss!! 

10th December

Wow! I must have turned over a new leaf!!! Been up and showered since 5 :O

It's my turn on gash duty today!!  and the seas are very rough!!!! galley, food prep and general cleaning duties all day should be interesting!!

Breakfast shift is out of the way!!!

I've hoovered the 3 lounges polished every wood surface(and theres flippin loads of the grainy stuff) polished every window, door and glass panel.

Just finished the washing up from breakfast and the kitchen lunch prep.

Now for a nice cup of tea and brave the outside deck for a while!!!

We should be reaching the ice on Monday which means the sea will be calmer. Check out here to see how close to the ice we are!

9th December

Only just been allowed  at 11pm to use the internet and comms as captain and crew have needed full access all day.

Well today has been a marathon movie day! 5 films in total!!

Had a break this morning with the first iceberg sighting!!! that was very unexpected for where we are, wouldn't normally see them for a good few days yet..

Captain (John Harper) was on the bridge so took us off course for a close up look!!!

We're hitting some pretty big swells at the moment so will need to get some sleep! whoever said life is like a rollercoaster must have spent some time on the Shack!!! (what the Ernest Shackleton is fondly known as) cos they're not wrong!!!!!!

It's going to take a few days on land(ice) to get back to normality(whatever that is)

Found my sea legs!

Back to GMT tonight, another timeline crossed! only 3 more to go!

We can definitely feel the difference in temperature now we are further south, the sea is a lot choppier but so far so good on the weather and storm front.

Everyone now seems to have found their sea legs (albeit a little wobbly in some cases) cant believe the duty free prices onboard!! mega cheap!

Internet is a bit hit and miss so I will update when I can!

Wildlife

We are hoping that we get to see Bouvet Island! officiallly classed as the remotest place on the earth!! now theres an interesting fact for you!!

We are 1 hour ahead at the minute. I think we hit GMT just south of Bouvet Island

As far as birdlife I've spotted Wandering Albatross (the old man of the sea), one of which was enormous, some greyheads and a couple of white chinned petrels ( which I am told are from the same family as the Albatross). Of course it does  help having a biologist on board who has spent a year or two on bird island.

We are expecting it to be a bit stormy tonight which is a shame as everyone is pretty good today, mostly over the sickness.

We have another emergency boat drill at 16:15 this one for an injured person so should be interesting ( we've nominated Rich to be on the stretcher :))

IT have now sorted the internet lan to our room so will be a lot easier to keep in touch!

Seasick!!!!!

I am on the ships computer at the minute but I should be able to get laptop and some pics sorted later. Last couple of days have been rough!! The ship's been like a ghost town. I was fine until we  (me and dean) paid a visit to the bridge on sunday afternoon, there for about 30 minutes and within 5 minutes of leaving up came lunch!!!!!!!! Slept through tea and decided to start taking sea sickness tablets, woke at about 6am yesterday, went down for a coffee and that was up by the time i made it up 1 flight of stairs!!! no need..

Was ok the rest of yesterday had roast pork and all the trimmings for tea (albeit a small plate:)) sunset at about 20:30 was superb and sunrise at 04:30 this morning was just as spectacular with a relative mill pond sea!! ;)

I spotted the first hump back whales before, 3 small ones!!!!!! too far for photos but apparently rare for where we are!!!

We are only 1 hour ahead now, crossed a timeline last night!!

Gotta go now and get some fresh air :)