Post the Thirtieth

The Davis summer season of 2012/13 is rapidly drawing to a close.  Before we leave, however, there is once final paroxysm of frenetic activity - the resupply.

Or, as we like to call it:  THE RESUPPLY!!!  [cue dramatic sting:  dahm dahm daaaaaaaahm!]


But first, before the resupply could begin, the ship had to arrive.  Naturally.

As luck (or the weather gods - those treacherous so-and-sos) would have it, the Aurora was just a day's sailing away from us when an intense low pressure system paid us a visit, bringing the strongest winds we'd yet experienced all summer.  Which, I suppose, indicates that summer here will very soon be coming to an end.

So that forced the ship to remain safely out to sea, and we waited to two days for the weather pattern to move on.  Two days.

On the third, day, however...

Can you see it?

No?

OK, I'll zoom in a bit.

How about now?  Do you see it now?

You can, right?  Well, I'll zoom in a bit more anyway, just to make certain.

Boom!  There she is!

The weather that morning was still wretched, so she spent the first few hours after arriving in the vicinity of Davis doing laps outside the belt of grounded icebergs.  As the morning wore into the afternoon, however, the wind died away enough to make it safe for her to come into anchorage.

And so she did that.

Peek-a-boo!

At anchor.  Hoorah!

  
The wind was still a bit too stiff for any resupply action to get under way, but by 4pm things were in place so that when the wind died away enough, a few barge trips were conducted in order to make a start on things.

As beautiful a sight as the Aurora at anchor that afternoon was, though, she was even more beautiful to behold the following morning...

A beautiful lady

Swim-Swim was so overcome with happiness to see his old friend that he couldn't contain himself.

Ecstatic

"So what happens during a resupply?" I hear you enquire (in an inquisitive manner).

"A fine question!" is my response, because I really don't know either.  So I thought if I snapped a few pictures during the process then we'd all know a bit more.

It starts each day with the barge (which came down on the ship) being put into the water.  So here is that happening:

Barging ahead

You'll remember from a previous post that science never sleeps.  (Sorry - that should be "SCIENCE never sleeps).  So even though much of the station is directly involved in the resupply, the boffins are still working to collect as much data as they possibly can before things are wrapped up.

So even though the wharf is all resupply-ish, so too is the adjoining boat ramp busy.  Busy with SCIENCE!

'ello!  Wot you lot doin' then?

 While that second RHIB goes in, Cath and Cassie watch the goings-on on the wharf.

Patiently waiting.  With patience.

Once it's in the water, the barge beetles off to the ship to collect the first load of cargo.

Beetling.  Brum brum brum.

Each morning the first load of cargo is: not cargo.  It's people.  Either coming ashore because they have work to do, or just to visit the station if they have some time up their sleeves.  (Which, if you wear a wristwatch, is where you generally keep it.  Time, that is).

Cargo.

But that's merely the first barge trip of the day.  Subsequent trips are either taking RTA (return to Australia) back out to the ship, or resupply cargo in from the ship.

And while it's going on the Davis wharf is a hive of activity, with loaders and whatnot going all over the place. Why, here comes one right now...
 

Loader

 This particular barge trip has brought, among other things, a shiny new quadtrac.  That will be very useful indeed up at Whoop Whoop.

Shiny!

And going back is the RTA.

We have no more use for this.  Take it away!

One of the most important aspects of the resupply is the station refuelling.   The Special Antarctic Blend (SAB) diesel forms the basis of station operations - without it there is no electricity or heat, from which flows everything else; water, for example.  No fuel = no station.

So the fuel is a necessity.  Getting the fuel ashore safely though represents a bit of a logistical headache.  The consequences of a spill here are too face-whiteningly scary to contemplate.

Could you imagine it?  Good lord, the environment impact could well be devastating!  And worse, the AAD would be on the front page of the Australian for a week! At least!  Horrors!

Every single risk must be addressed.

Consequently the fuel line is constantly patrolled by 3 boat crews in Zodiacs, watching out not only for potential leaks/spills, but also standing ready to fend of things that may damage the line, such as ice.  And since refuelling takes about 24 hours, that's how long the boat crews must maintain their vigil.  (Although they do it in shifts).

There are also crews monitoring the connections at each pumping station and also on the tanks at the top of the hill.

In this shot we see the Aurora, the Aurora's workboat (imaginatively named Aurora II), the barge and one of the boat crews in their Zodiac.

And an elephant seal, who is doing precisely nothing to help at all.

Flotilla

Here's the point where the fuel line comes ashore, held in place by a couple of anchored buoys.

Buoys will be buoys.

Swivelling 180° we can see the line running up to the intermediate fuelling point before heading up the hill to the tanks at the top.

Up to the tanktop.

Although fuelling operations continue ceaselessly until all fuel is pumped ashore, the cargo transfer ops come to an end at 8pm each evening.  And here is the barge preparing to tie up of the evening, with the barge crew doubtlessly looking forward to a bite to eat and a solid sleep before kicking off at 7:00 the following morning.

Barging in.

No such rest for the boat crews, though.  Armed with bags of snacks and a thermos full of hot beverage, they press on into the night, travelling up and down their allotted sectors of fuel line.

Indomitable

And that's the basic outline of the resupply.  And it is not a quick process.  This one will have taken a week (at least) to complete.  At the time of publishing this post, the resupply will still have a day and a half forecast to run.

And that will likely be it for Jeff of the South.  At least from Davis, anyway.  I hope to be soon boarding the Aurora to head to Mawson for their resupply. While on the ship I will have no internet access and therefore no way to update the blog.

Despair ye not, though!  Swim-Swim and I plan to keep writing about our adventures, and we will upload posts whenever the opportunity presents itself.   With a bit of luck (and a light nor'easter) we will be plugged back into the world once we're at Mawson.

If not, I will definitely publish the remaining chapters of our story once we've returned home.

Adieu!