Palmer Wrap Up

I have long since left Palmer Station and am heartily enjoying the New England summer.  I had a wonderful time there.  Boating was the high light, but I had a lot of fun with friends and especially my two co-workers.  Here are a few highlights:

Double Rainbow!  What does it mean?!!

The "recreation" hut a short hike from the station. I slept on the little porch one of my last nights. 

One day went for a beautiful coastal hike around the station. 

One of my favorite days involved going outside of the normal boating limits, driving the boats through various degrees of brash and open water and landing our zodiac on the side of the island in packed ice slowly surging up and down as the waves under the ice reached shallower water.  It was a foggy day and we had to rely our on our GPS to get us back to the station.  So foggy we could not see land at some points, just ice and water.  I loved it.  I drove with safety glasses on so I could keep my eyes open through the falling snow.  I felt like we could have been in the middle of an ocean.  No one else wanted to drive so I had the helm to myself.  It was one of those days, where I have to say to myself, again and again, I'm getting paid right now!! 

A beautiful iceberg, connected underwater. 

Our galley, during the international day of jazz.

Had to drive our boats through a mess of brash ice and small icebergs.  Amazingly clear water. 

On our way home we got to go through the Lamaire Channel to drop off a cable at a Ukranian base.  This channel was one of the most beautiful I had ever seen and I was very happy and felt very luck to go through it.  Huge mountains on both sides rise out of the cold ocean while penguins and whales cruise about.  One humpback whale even swam with us for about 20 minutes.  Back and forth under the boat.  We could see the white underbelly as it turned its belly upwards as it swam under the boat and we all rushed to the other side.  It was a remarkable place.  If only for a day to stop and explore on foot!

 The ride home we cam across "Drake Lake" as it is known when it is calm.  We were very thankful for an easy ride home.  Antarctica continues to be an amazing place to explore.  Palmer was no exception.  It was amazing to be on the boats, to see elephant and leopard seals and penguins up close.  Continuous on the job laughter made the already exciting work lots of fun.  I hope to go back next spring, but will have to wait and see if my number gets picked again.  Here are a few time lapse videos I made while down there...Enjoy!

Working on a 100 foot tower.

Building a 40 tower.

There are more if interested on my YouTube channel.  Thanks for reading and watching!