Ella Down South: And Then There Were Ten ...

Well nine actually. There are meant to be ten people on this island over winter. The eight members of BAS staff and two government officers. One of the GOs, Keiron, had to be shipped out to the Falklands with the SGHT (South Georgia Heritage Trust) team for a dental problem but it has all been fixed and he is on his way back as I write. Once he returns the full team will be here. It is a rather odd feeling sitting at dinner and knowing that the eight other people in the room are the only people for hundreds of miles. We dropped down to nine on Thursday. Before that we had an incredibly busy three days.

On Monday HMS Argyll arrived fresh from South Africa. Close on her heels was RFA (Royal Fleet Auxiliary) Black Rover. The Black Rover is essentially the tanker ship for HMS Argyll and allows her unrestricted movement in remote locations. Since we only had the nine wintering team, Richard McKee (the Executive Officer for the government, down on a visit) and Andy Black here it was all hands on deck. We actually lost Joe (sparky) and Erny (mech) because they were working on the hydroelectric plant. We have been having a fair amount of trouble with the power and the manufacturers had sent an engineer down to help them fix it. Poor Joe, Erny and Tom (the engineer) worked from early on Saturday morning till late on Wednesday evening trying to fix the system. So far it seems to have worked and we have had steady power since. It did mean however that we were two people down for helping to do things with our visitors.

Argyll had two hundred people aboard and Black Rover forty and they all wanted to get ashore for a leg stretch, a visit to Shackleton’s grave and the museum, so we lent a hand with boating. This meant that from 0900 to 1530 (civil twilight and the limit of our day operations) Paula and I were running a ferry service back and forth between the two ships and the jetty in Grytviken. While we were doing that (each of us took either the morning or the afternoon and spent the other half of the day acting as back up and doing other odd jobs necessary on base) the other winterers either had to be our crews, man the museum, take the post office on board the ships or help with social events (there was a lunch at Carse House on Monday, on board Argyll on Tuesday and Black Rover on Wednesday). Everyone helped out or went to at least one of the lunches and they were very nice. I went on board the Argyll and we had a lovely lunch in the Ward Room (the Officers' Mess) and then got a tour around the ship. It was fascinating, because different to other naval vessels I have seen.

Paula and I had a bad time on Tuesday; while I was on the Argyll she discovered an oil leak in Pipit’s starboard engine. This meant that Pipit was out of action until we could fix her. Very annoying.

As soon as we bid farewell to our guests on Thursday morning Paula, Erny and I headed down to the jetty and then spent the rest of the day in the engine bay testing and checking, retesting, fiddling and trying to figure out what on earth was wrong with her. We couldn’t see anything (but then Paula and I are not engineers so it was not surprising we couldn’t see anything) but after some testing and some deep thought by Erny she was declared operational within Cumberland Bays. We have to keep a close eye on her and if anything untoward happens then we will have to strip the engine but till then (and we all have our fingers crossed that nothing will happen) we can use her which is the main thing.

As a reward and thank you for all the hard work we had done Jo Cox (GO) hosted a pizza night on the sofas of Carse House. It is wonderful to just be able to sit on a sofa in somewhere which is actually a house and not a base and just feel normal for a while.

During all of this we have had every type of weather possible. Last week we had had a glorious covering of snow but then we had some torrential rain that managed to sweep it all away. At the same time it swept large parts of the track to Grytviken into the sea and started some landslides. Very unpleasant. We had snow and sleet on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday interspersed with brilliant bouts of sunshine. On Thursday we awoke to large amounts of ice in the bay which had blown in there. It cleared again but is now back with a vengeance.

Last weekend was the first in a while that I hadn’t gone off walking and I felt the lack of it by the end of the week so Rod, Hazel and I decided to get out no matter what on Saturday. We started early in bright sunshine with some haze, hoping it would lift so we could go to Glacier Col again and walk along the tops. As we paused for smoko at Upper Gull Lake it started to snow so we decided to make our way to the Ice Cave we had found before and decide on a plan after that. No matter the weather, the grandeur and grim beauty of this place always grips me. Walking along the bottom of a valley, surrounded by steep hills with their tops hidden with veils of snow slanting through the air was very special and invigorating and I thank my lucky stars every day that I am here.

En route to the Ice Cave

Hazel and me in the Ice Cave (photo: Rod Strachen)

I actually get paid to be here ... (photo: Rod Strachan)

The rest of the weekend has been taken up with my Midwinter Present. I am not sure if I have described it before but we all draw a name out of a hat and have to make a present for that person to be presented on Midwinter’s Day (21^st June). People take it more or less seriously depending on their nature. I think that as long as it isn’t horrifically bad and you put some effort into it, it is the thought that counts and the fact that you have spent time making something for someone that is important, so I am not worrying about it as much as some people. I am very much looking forward to seeing what everyone has been doing shut up in the workshops for so long though. After an afternoon yesterday and a long morning today I think I am pretty close to finishing. I need to bolt something together, put a lid on a box and then it is a matter of sanding and waxing till I am happy that it is done.

Speaking of which I think it is time to go see if my box has glued together.

I hope you have a good week, we are counting down till Midwinter week now.

In the meantime, here are some more photos I thought I would share with you all: