Busted!

We have been very fortunate so far in the sense that very few things have broken or gone horribly wrong, but last weekend we had a bit of a disaster weekend, making us even more thankful for the normal boring SANAE day where everything is working as it should.

Thursday ended off with one of the water tanks in the hangar breaking. Luckily the boys were quick to bypass the tank, so apart from the 10 000 litre water loss, it wasn't a major problem. On Friday a proper storm started and by mid day the wind was up to 40kts (74km/h)  average. This meant only one smelly session where roping up was required to try to replace some of the water that was lost the previous day. Laundries were closed and showers had to be used sparingly. By 3:00am the wind was up to 65kts (120km/h).

Saturday morning brought more wind and snow, and everything in the base vibrated and rattled like crazy. No smellying would be possible, so showers were closed too. After french toast (I think, darn T3!!) for breakfast, Johan discovered that the window in the leader's office has been taken out by a part of one of the antennas that has apparently been blown off the roof. Even though the wind blew from the opposite direction as the broken window, there glass and snow was still flying in, and needless to say, the room was freezing! A little blood, frozen sweat, and no tears later, the window was patched up with rubber and wood, so at least the wind and snow was kept outside, where it belongs.

The broken window caused the temperature in the base to drop significantly, leaving some rooms as cold as 0°C. The whole of Saturday we had raging winds of about 90kts (167km/h) average and gusts of more than 100kts. This did not help the already freezing temperatures inside, and by Saturday afternoon it was discovered that some of the taps in the AB-link did not want to work anymore. The conclusion: frozen pipes. So new worry - what if the pipes burst because the water in them freezes and then we lose more of the little water we have left?! Some quick thinking and acting, with the help of a few heaters in ducts, and the frozen pipe problem was fixed - without any pipes bursting or water spillage.

The rest of the weekend went by stinky and on high alert mode, but without any new major problems, well not inside anyways. After the storm kinda passed it was discovered that, among other busted things, some of the other antennas on the roof had also been blown to pieces, the VLF antenna was broken, and the HF antenna mast isn't what it used to be. 

Most of the broken things have been fixed, but others will have to wait for better weather and summer supplies before they can be reinstated.

Bro baths!

As you probably know by now, if you have a birthday at SANAE you get to partake in the long-standing tradition of a snowbath. In short, run out in shorts, jump in a freshly dug hole in the snow, and sit there while the others cover you in snow and force you to funnel a beer (or some other fizzy drink) while happy birthday is sung in various different levels of tone and frequency.

Here are some pics of the boys' snowbaths and birthday cakes so far..

 

Back in the sun

So, its back..

The storm raging outside and the freezing temperatures inside the base wouldn't convince you of the fact, but apparently summer is on its way again.  

Halfway

I am a very big non-fan (or whatever the opposite of a fan is) of counting down the days that we have been here and especially the days that we have left, but since people back home and even some here have the tendency to count down the weeks till we are back, and since my science data is labelled in the form of day numbers, its kinda inevitable not to be up to date on how far into the trip we are.

So thanks to maths, an assumption or two, and the Julian calender we have the following:
- days we will be gone from SA ::     23 [days of 2011]
                                                  + 366 [days of 2012]
                                                  + 31 [Jan 2013]
                                                  + 20 [assuming we are back around
                                                           the 20th of Feb 2013]
                                                  = 440
- where we are now :: 15 July = Day 197, and when adding the 23 days of last year we get 220, which makes today pretty much the middle of the expedition.

Of course nature had to announce this too last night with ridiculous aurora and pretty much perfect weather.

And yes, perfect is relative..

So, to all the counters out there, now you are up to speed with where we are at and how long you still have to wait..