Kubb!

So what happens when your on a small island at the bottom of the world and need a good distraction? You play Kubb!!! Kubb is a game that dates back to the Viking Ages and originated in Sweden. It is a lawn game just like horseshoes however the objective is to knock over all your opponents wooden blocks by throwing wooden sticks at them. Once all your opponents blocks are knocked over you then have to knock over the King which stands in the middle of the field. To simplify you throw shortened broom stick handles  at 2x2 blocks. It turned out to be a really fun game however at points it almost felt like dodgeball trying to avoid wooden sticks being thrown at you as hard as possible. Get ready folks I plan on starting a Kubb trend once I am back in the states!

Happy Holidays!

On Christmas Eve we were all lucky enough to be faced with a beautiful day. The prior weeks had been filled with clouds, precipitation and very high winds but when we woke up on Christmas Eve we had bluebird blue skies, winds around 4 knots and the temps right around 40 degrees F which is down right balmy in Antarctica. So Alex, Brian and myself decided to take full advantage of this moment so we took some holiday photos. Essentially what we did was wrangle an iceberg. This was a small bergy bit about 5-6 feet from shore so Alex waded out to it and climbed aboard. He then attached an ice screw and threw Brian and I a rope and we pulled the bergy bit a bit closer to shore. Brian and I really had no desire to get as wet as Alex. After we were all on the iceberg we celebrated the victory with some great photos. Alex has a nice blog post showing the steps we used to make this photo shoot possible as well as the unfortunate after shots of me not staying so dry once it was time to go back to shore. Ice Wranglers

Polar Plunge!

There is a tradition here at Palmer that when fellow station members leave or when the boat that brought you to Palmer leaves you do a Polar Plunge from the pier. Well I didn't plunge when the boat that brought me here left because it was far to early in the morning. So the next opportunity that presented itself was when our station manager left which also happened to be the same day RU27 successfully crossed the Atlantic. With Scarlet's success it was definitely a day for celebrating so I decided to take the plunge!

No comment on my jump position!

Rex collecting style points!

PQ diving right in!

It was by far the coldest experience of my life. The water was right around 0 degrees Celsius and instantly your body is numb and prickly. The worst part is that in order to get out of the frigid water you have to climb a ladder that seems to never end. Then you get to run barefoot through the snow to the hot tub. The hot tub sounds good in theory but initially your so cold and the water is so warm its actually rather painful until you get used to it. I am not sure if I will partake in this event ever again but at least I can say I have done it once!

Ahhh nice and warm in the pickle barrel!

Halloween on Station!

Like the old adage says "A picture is worth a thousand words", so here are some photo's from Halloween at Palmer Station.

I was the one of course dressed like a glider. My roommate was the Joker from "The Dark Knight" when he dressed like the nurse.

Maggie was a settler from the game Settlers of Catan. Her she is representing with longest road.

Dan was Danger Mouse!

Alex sported his authentic costume from his travels in Pakistan.

And lastly we have a glider encountering some biological interactions with Jenn the jellyfish!

Drake's Passage!

So in the past two months I have been back and forth across the USA and on 4 different continents. Life has been busy but thats what brought me to my current location of Antarctica.
On October 10th I departed Newark International Airport with a final destination of Punta Arenas (PA) Chile. It was about 24 hours of straight travel which is never really that fun but I was fortunate enough to get quite a bit of sleep on my various flights. On Sunday the 11th around 5pm Chile time I finally landed, met up with a bunch of other Antarctica folks and then started weaving my way through security and customs. On the outside I was greeted by screaming winds and a wintery mix of precipitation. We all funneled into various vans and set off for our respective hotels. Most of us met up that evening for dinner and drinks. For the newbies it was time for introductions, not only to others but to Pisco Sours.
The next day Alex, Brian and myself ventured down to the dock where the Gould was stationed. We checked to make sure everything arrived safely and then we were issued our cold weather gear. Afterwards we had some time to kill so we wandered around PA. There is an old legend that says in order to make safe passage you have to go to the center of town and touch the toe of Ferdinand Magellan. A little history lesson... Magellan was a Portuguese explorer and the firt European to enter the Pacific from the eponymous Straight of Magellan, which he discovered. He also conducted the first successful attempt at circumnavigating the earth. Unfortunately, he died in 1521 but 18 other crew members carried on the mission successfully. So anyway, we felt it neccessary to honor the tradition and touch the toe! That night we left our hotels and spent out first nght on the Gould tied to the dock.
The next day shortly after lunch the Gould set sail. The weather had calmed since we arrived and made for smooth sailing down around Cape Horn and then we entered Drake's Passage. To be honest I was actually surprised at how well I handled the crossing of the Drake. We definitely had days where moving wasn't really an option without being thrown across the room. So for the most part a lot of us just setup camp in the lounge and had endless movie marathons. Including a 12 hour spectacular of watching all three Lord of the Rings straight through! Once in the safety of the first set of islands along the Antarctic peninsula things calmed down a bit. We spent two days opening up field camps, Copa on King George Island and Cape Sheriff on Livingston Island. It was a lot of manual labor and long tiring days but it felt so good to use your body and move around after almost of week of being confined on a boat. Finally, on October 20th I finally saw what I am now calling home until February... Palmer Station!

The Long Lost Blogger Returns!

Yes it has been an insanely long time since I last updated on what's been going on and yes a lot has been going on, so lets see if I can cover the main events since March...

RUCOOL - I started working full-time at the Rutgers University Coastal Ocean Observation Lab. I work with Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV's) called Gliders. One of our big projects in the lab was the deployment of RU27, a 200m glider that is attempting to cross the Atlantic Ocean. RU27's mission is actually the focal point of a documentary so we have had a film crew following our every footstep. Should be interesting to see the final product!
Miami - In May I took a short trip to visit Kelsey. It had been a long time since I had been in heat like that. (90+ degrees with high humidity) But Kelsey showed me a good time and we had fun at the beach and teaching her dog Sesi how to swim.
Azores - Working with gliders sometimes means traveling so at the end of August I was sent to the Azores to meet up with RU27 and check on her progress out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. I set sail on a 50ft sailboat and went 200 miles offshore after Hurricane Bill had gone through. It was a rough trip but quite the adventure.
Arizona - After the Azores I decided I needed some down time and personal travel time. So in mid-September I flew out to Arizona where I met some new people and explored a desert for the very first time. It was one of best trips I have ever gone on. Went hiking and camping at the Grand Canyon, horseback riding in Sedona, and spent two unforgettable nights at a B&B in Prescott. The B&B had a picturesque background with beautiful sunsets and was very cozy. The trip ended with a whirlwind roadtrip to and from LA in the course of three days. All in all it was pretty relaxing and exactly what I needed.
Yankees - Three days after getting back from Arizona I attended my very first professional baseball game. Myself and a bunch of other co-workers went to Yankee Stadium to see the Yankees play the Kansas City Royals. It was a cool experience and a definite highlight was eating a Carmel coated apple that was bigger than my fist! :)
Longwood Gardens - The first weekend in October I was finally able to connect with my good friends Sadie and Sean. We were having some amazing fall weather and ended up picking a perfect day to visit the gardens. The displays were beautiful and the colors vibrant.
Antarctica - Now I am on my next work assignment... I am here at Palmer Station in ANTARCTICA!!! I will be here until February as part of this years LTER (Long Term Ecological Research). I will be updating this blog as well as a work blog pretty frequently. So if your interested in more of the science check out this blog.

Fun with Friends!

In early March, I was lucky enough to get to see a bunch of different friends who I hadn't seen in a while. The excitement started when Sadie and Sean came up to New Brunswick for a brief visit. I gave them a little taste of Rutgers by going to Stuff Yer Face for dinner. Afterwards I introduce Sadie to bubble tea which we both enjoyed. We chatted for a bit and then it was time for them to hit the road and continue their adventure. Later in the week Sadie was able to come back down and stay the night. We went to game night at a friends place where we played Risk as well as Rock Band. We then stayed up way too late chatting away! It was so great to have some Alaskans back in my life! Then the weekend of the 13th I did a little road trip up north. First I stopped in Waltham, Massachusetts to see Cody and help him move to a different apartment. There were some beautiful swans I had the pleasure of stalking and the weather was amazing. I spent two days with him and then headed north a little more to Durham, New Hampshire. An old roomie of mine lives there and it was great getting to see her and catch up. Vicki and her boyfriend Andy are quite crafty and they taught me how to screen print my own t-shirts. Very Cool!! On Sunday Andy took us to Boston to see his mom's bakery where we got some very delicious treats and then went on a nice walk near Walden Pond in Concord Mass. After an eventful weekend I headed back to Jersey. Later that week on Wednesday, Tucker was in town from California and she came and hung out with me for a bit. I met Tucker and her friend Kelly at Harvest Moon and then we headed over to Easton Ave. for some ice cream. Later that night I taught Tucker how to play Ticket to Ride before we crashed for the night. The next morning it was very rainy which canceled our South Street Philly plans. Instead we headed towards Philly and stopped by REI and hung out before Tuckers flight. So thank you thank you to all my friends for keeping me in mind during your travels or for letting my crash on your couch. Your all great and I can't wait to see you again.