October 23, 2009

Hello. Hello. Hello! :)
So the Summer Season at Palmer Station has officially began. The big orange boat has come and gone. Taking with it the remainder of the Winter-Over crew and bringing  us 12 Summer folks. The feel on Station has changed for sure. Having Science here brings a whole new energy. The Birders ( two girls that are documenting the penguins and the giant peterals around a 3 mile area of station) are out in the boat everyday, the Krillers (three grad-students that are documenting the krill pattern. Everything down here eats the krill- Krill are tiny like shrimp)  Are all set and building their boat down on the pier getting ready to head out on the water as well. Lots more radio traffic and lots more hungry people. Diane also is here. She is the 2nd cook. What a blessing she is. Not only is she an amazing women, but she is an excellent baker and makes me feel like I do  nothing all day long. She has TONS of energy! :) She started cooking breakfast and lunch on Wednesday. It frees me up greatly to do "manager" type stuff. I think I spent $6,000.00 yesterday replacing all our old equipment. Of course it won't be here until the month before I depart, but hey, at least I get to see it. The weather has been so beautiful. Clear cold sunny days. have been able to get out in the back yard ( the area from station to the glacier) and snow shoe around, see some penguins and seals. Slowly the wildlife is coming back for summer. The snow is melting ( it does that here on the peninsula, it is wetter here than other parts of the Continent and warmer as well) we have had a couple days of rain which speeds up the melting. This is an important part, to have rocks exposed so that the birds can start their nesting. The Giant Peteral and the variety of penguins we have here make their nest out of rock. So if it is covered in snow???? No babies. We are a total of 30 people on Station now. It will stay that way until December. It's a nice way to ease into the Season. Our first cruise ship comes November 16th. Crazy. It's our favorite one though. National Geographic Explorer http://www.nationalgeographicexpeditions.com/home
We have a great relationship with them and their crew. They take a couple of us out with them to tour the area for the day and we get to enjoy their ship and crew and be spoiled rotten. It's quiet lovely. :) And they always come over to our bar (the crew) and we have a little party and snacks.
Well this is getting a bit long so I will let you all go. I have uploaded new pictures on flickr.
I hope you enjoy. And I also hope that this email finds you looking forward to a very fun and "FALL-type" day where ever you are.
Again, Thanks for sharing this adventure with me and sharing your life as well.
Cheers,
Stace

Settling in

Oct 4th 2009
Greetings!

I think I am finally settled in. Yeah! The boat departed with the winter crew on Thursday. So we are just down to 25 of us. It will once again return on the 20th of October with the remainder of our Summer crew and some science http://www.norbertwu.com/galleries/Antarctica.html Norbert Wu is coming, he is an underwater photographer. It will be pretty wonderful to see his stuff and talk to him. We met last time I was here, but it was only for a couple of weeks. This time he will be here for almost 2 months. I am the lone cook for a couple of weeks so we are not fixing a hot breakfast but I'm trying my darnedest to fatten um up with cinnamon rolls and cookies. Lots and lots of cookies. Diane, my counterpart, comes in on the next boat. She is fantastic. She will cook breakfast/lunch and I will do dinner and lots of paper work. My favorite. Have had the chance to go up the glacier a couple of times and see a week old Elephant Seal. Amazing. It's still so fuzzy and little. Over the next 3-4 weeks more wildlife will be migrating this way for mating and hopefully lots and lots of whales.

So we have been in on/off safety stand down due to wind. That is when we have to stay where we are and not go outside. We have been having guest of 80mph. Aahh. it makes the whole building shake. Amazing what power the wind has.. Today is my day off, Sunday's as a rule unless the boat comes in and I am getting ready to go out boating. The winds have died down to about 15 knots so we are going to try and go for it. Hopefully we will see some penguins. :) Not much more going on here. We are settling in to our jobs and routines as a group and getting to know each other. The crew over all is fantastic. I feel very blessed to be surrounded by such great people that have done so many wonderful things and traveled so many parts of the world. Of course we played poker in the bar last night and I very shortly afterward was sitting at the bar watching the rest play.. oh well. :) I have uploaded some photos of time when the ship was here and a couple from the glacier and seals. Hopefully I will have more upon my return from boating. Well that is all for now my friends. Just wanted to share that all is well and I am settled and looking so forward to this season. Thanks in advance for sharing it with me and all your encouragements and e-mails and love. I am so very thankful for you all and count it a privilege to share this journey with you.

Have a blessed Sunday,

cheers,

Stace