Visiting the neighbours

It’s the weekend and a beautiful sunny day. The wind has been up and the turbines have been churning out up to 750W each - an amazing amount of power. But something seemed wrong with Kelly. There was no power coming through.

We had to wait for a lull in the wind. No one wanted to take down a wind turbine in full flow. The wind dropped and the team rushed out, bringing Kelly down and taking the head off to find out what was wrong. There seems to have been a small problem with friction between two of the plates, with the cable ties rubbing off, allowing some of the wiring to come loose and shorting the circuit.

This is going to have to be a phone call back to the UK to see what we can do to adjust the settings. Just a difference of 3-4mm could make a massive difference. We’ll see tomorrow what needs to be done and take it from there. It was never going to be plain sailing and we’re constantly adjusting and improvising to make things work.

With repairs to Kelly on standby, we took a walk along the coast to the Uruguayan base just down the way. It was the first time that we’d ventured outside of the immediate area around the E-Base, apart from heading down the hill to fetch water.

We wound over headlands and pebbled beaches. The slopes were speckled a pale luminescent green from the lichen and moss. The Uruguayan base is laid out on its own, a cluster of small red buildings and a larger modern accommodation and research unit. As we crossed the bridge over a small gully leading to the base, there was a sensation of entering a different country. The Uruguayan flag cracked in the strong gusts and a large sign proclaimed ‘Bienvenido a Base Cientifica Antarctica Artigas’.

The base seemed deserted as we wandered through. A voice called out welcoming us and asking if we wanted to stay for a cup of coffee. It was the Base Commander Waldemar Fontes. He is currently on a 3 year secondment, having spent previous years in the Congo and southern Sahara. Apparently he likes the isolation.

Coffee turned into a tour by the base doctor. Envious eyes took in the pub, sauna and pool table. The doctor’s specialisation is psychiatry. No one volunteered to be case studies. The tour turned into lunch. A magnificent sit down affair in the communal building. Wood panels were covered in team photographs of the winter (March - October) base crews and plaques from visiting diginitaries and high-ranking officers.

Bread was a treat we had missed, as was real meat. Well meat that wasn’t cooked using the ‘just add boling water and leave for 12-15 mins’ method. And fresh fruit! A reciprocal visit has been arranged for Monday for the Base Commander and the doctor. ‘Would you like to stay for dinner?’ offered Russell.

The base commander tactfully asked which one of the team did the cooking, and on hearing that we sort of shared rehydrating packet food and boiling up pasta, said, ‘I think we will just stay for coffee.’

Continuing towards the glacier, the fact that we were in Antarctica started to sink in. A fur seal blended into the seaweed, roused itself to menace us as we disturbed its sleep. A Weddell seal was more relaxed, slowly opening an eye then rolling over back to sunbathe. Gentoo and Chinstrap penguins waddled across the rocky foreshore, before the sea allowed their grace and agility to show.

On the glacier, the melt-water had carved a network of small channels in the muddied ice surface. As we sat there looking out to sea, bright blue above, with gurgling glacial brooks and a buffeting breeze, it really did start to sink in. This is a special place.