Boat trip
The working week at Rothera runs from Monday morning to lunchtime Saturday, with the weekend beginning after Saturday lunch. If the weather’s good, some form of outdoor trip is organised by the folks on base.
This Saturday, a signup sheet for a boat ride went up on the whiteboard in the mess at morning smoko1. I needed no further encouragement, and after lunch and donning a survival suit, I had my first Antarctic boating experience.
The weather was perfect – a so-called “dingle day”2 – and we left Biscoe wharf in two rhibs, making our way through the broken sea ice and icebergs, towards Anchorage island. Crabeater seals were lazing around on the ice and Antarctic Terns were in abundance – all in all, a great introduction to the marine environment at Rothera.