This week an ice storm rolled in covering our boats with 3 inches of ice. Among various Palmer related activities, I have been working steadily in the Boathouse on getting two new Zodiacs up and ready for their lives in Antarctica. The Gould currently sits in Arthur Harbor after arriving this morning with my new crew. It sits, trapped by a thin, nylon fishing line sunk across hero inlet 5 days ago. Unfortunately the sea ice has been so thick this past week, the scientists who hoped to catch and study the fish have been unable to retrieve their line. This nylon line can wreak havoc on the Gould if it were to get sucked up into it's engines, so until we can retrieve the line, or until some other plan is formed we wait for the wind to blow the ice away from station.
The Laurence M. Gould as it sat this morning.
Photo courtesy of Carla Appel.
The Laurence M. Gould as it sat this morning.Photo courtesy of Carla Appel.
5 comments:
...and there it still sits.
...and now the line still sits.
How often do you get new Zodiacs? You must have a big fleet by now :-)
Or do you sell the old ones?
The fleet of Zodiacs at Palmer is rather large. We have about 8 on the water at the busy times of summer with a few extra, usually older boats in storage. They sustain heavy usage in rigorous conditions. When they are damaged to the point being unsafe they are destroyed. If they are still safe, they are used as back up boats or for Ocean Search and Rescue training.
Thank you for the answer. I have never thought of destruction. But if the damage is too bad then it's alright (from the ice floes?). Always safety first. But on the other hand it sounds like fun to do it (some variety to the daily work). Maybe you can do a blog report about the destruction of such a boat. I have never read about that on the internet.
Bye,
Matthias (Germany)
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