Long days are coming

The days are getting long in McMurdo. As of today, the sun rises around 4:30 AM and sets around 11:00 PM. In about ten days, the sun will no longer disappear below the horizon - it's perpetual daylight.

John's now on the morning shift which he reports is much better - he finishes his shift at 4:00 PM and has more options for activities.

The mainbody flights have started, according to the Antarctic Sun newsletter, which is when the science people and the rest of the support staff start arriving. This will bring McMurdo up to its full complement of people: around 1,200. John was part of the first group out this season (the Winfly).

A quick update

I talked to John a couple of time yesterday (thank you again, Google Voice).

The weather has been a bit stormy, according to him. The change of the seasons are stormy here, too, but where as we get rain, they get blizzard-like conditions. Since he spends most of his time inside, that's not a big deal. Just for fun, here's some storm footage someone shot several years back just to give a little flavor. Again - this is not what John saw.



He's been on the later shift (working the galley and washing dishes) from 10 AM to 8 PM, but is trying to get on the morning shift which ends at 4 PM, so he'll have more time to hang out with some of his buds in the evening.

There's quite a bit of programming in the evenings - lectures and what-not - that's available to anyone who's interested. I gather there's entertainment as well (movies, etc). So far he hasn't done a lot of that, but an earlier shift would make that more of a possibility.

Right now he said there's around 400 people at McMurdo. The winter crew is only about 100 people but by mid-October there will be closer to 1,200 there. Another 17 staff for the food service will be arriving as part of the Mainbody (John was part of the Winfly: the earliest group to return after winter).

In addition to his regular duties, John's been picking up a little work at the local rental shop, which is also managed by his employer, NANA Services. Since he's worked as a bartender in Toronto, he's also looking at picking up some hours behind the bar at the local watering hole.

The room he's in now is a suite (they live in dormitory-style housing). The rooms don't have internet access, but there are publicly available computers in some common area that are on the internet, although some sites are blocked - such as YouTube; this is probably a bandwidth issue. If he gets his computer scanned, he can get on the internet using it, though the blocked site would still be unavailable. Facebook must not be blocked because I see occasional updates from him there.

So that's the news from the coldest continent on earth. More when I hear it.

On the ice...at last

I got a quick email from John today- it's his one day off.

So he's been at McMurdo for five days (or six...the International Dateline plays hob with my ability to keep track). He was part of the Winfly (Winter Flight - the flights to McMurdo after the end of the winter season, before the MainBody arrives).

His work schedule is 10 AM to 8 PM, six days a week. He'll be working the dining hall (so he said) but I gather duties are flexible - people do what needs to be done. His assignments will rotate so he'll never do any one thing longer than two hours at a stretch. Once the full complement of residents arrive in October I suspect work life will develop more of a routine.

There are some established trails set up outside but one has to go through a safety lecture before being authorized to venture outside. John completed one of those one evening and is waiting for the weather to clear up a bit before venturing out.

Living accommodations are dormitory style. John has a roommate and speculates he may get another once more people start arriving. Today, on his day off, he was going to do laundry and get a hair cut.

By the way, I ran across a glossary of Antarctica slang, which looks to be a few years old. Don't know how much is current but what's there is pretty amusing.

Antarctica Q and A

John's employer is NANA Services, LLC, which is a subcontractor to Raytheon Polar Services Company (the primary contractor to the National Science Foundation).

NANA provides culinary, housekeeping, recreation, and retail services. Their website has a PDF which describes the job openings for the 2011 - 2012 Summer season.

NANA website has another PDF entitled "Questions and Answers About Our Antarctica Project ," which is targeted to prospective employees. It's a good overview of what one would expect in terms of day-to-day life while on the Ice.

As a side note, NANA Services is part of the NANA Development Corporation, which is a by product of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), a legal agreement the Federal Government reached with Alaska Natives. NANA's primary shareholders are the 12,500 Iñupiat of Northwest Alaska. I guess if anyone would know cold, they would.