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Cruise Report for NBP 95-07

Living and Working Conditions

The Antarctic is an extreme environment. The constant wind, waves and ice regularly remind a visitor of this. Much of the weather during our trip was overcast and inches of snow periodically blanketed the ship. All of these elements combine to make deck work particularly difficult as we discovered when working with the streamer. Having the correct gear is a necessity when battling twenty knot winds on a heaving ship under a thick snow as waves wash across the deck. Conditions such as these cause you to check your harness and safety line twice before approaching the back of the deck. Even during our best sunny days we had to remember that the lack of ozone in this region can quickly lead to a sunburn and cause serious problems down the road.

Life onboard the RV/IB N. B. Palmer required adaptation to new routines. Living quarters were cramped and there was little room for personal space. It was difficult to find places to get away from everyone and everything, although there was usually solitude out on deck. Also, the ship was always noisy. People were active and working at all hours of the day and night. There were plenty of mechanical sounds; the engines or thrusters activating, the constant chirping of the depth sounders, hoists, cranes, and weekly fire drills.

The wind and waves drove the constant pitching and rolling of the ship, and motion sickness was a common problem. Although I didn't have any difficulties with sea sickness, many did. Other adaptations to life aboard ship included getting used to the scheduled meal times that corresponded to normal local meal times and changed occasionally with our location. Even the type of food was something of an adjustment. The captain, officers, and much of the crew were from Louisiana and preferred spicy Cajun style food. Having grown up in Chicago on hearty Irish and Italian dishes, spicy food proved to be something of a gastro-intestinal challenge.

To cover the survey areas and accomplish the project goals required much steaming back and forth but also included many course modifications to avoid icebergs and rough weather. A quick glance at the ship track might give one the impression that the ship wondered aimlessly or was just plain lost, but this was not the case.

Our remote location also made contact with the rest of the world difficult and left us isolated from many events. There was no television or even radio. Our main contact with the outside world was through electronic mail, but even its operation was not as consistent as most would have preferred. Upon returning from the trip I began to assimilate the events that had occurred while in isolation - the United States Federal Government shutdown, the assassination of Israel's Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin, the raising of speed limits, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting above 5000 among other things.

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