Holy cow!
So another adventure on the ice has begun… well really it’s already under
way. It’s my blog that is just,
um… rebeginning. I’ve been down on
the ice now for nearly four months!
My eyebrows just rose in amazement as I wrote that, which I assume is
the opposite of what my moms eyebrows are doing as she reads this… Well this time I’m not a scientist, or grantee
or a beaker as they’re called down here (you know like the Muppet scientist
Beaker… cause they’re scientists…).
I won’t be studying Weddell Seals; instead I’ll be down as a contractor
for a full season (5ish months) working as a fuelie! I’m very excited to get to see Antarctica from a different perspective
and stay down here three months longer than last year!
You’re probably wondering a few things right now: “why
aren’t I working with seals anymore, what the hell’s a fuelie, why are they
called beaker?” First off, I
already answered why beaker, dummy… I’ll get to why not seals sometime later,
so as for ‘what the hell’s a fuelie?’
Simply put, I’m a gasman at the bottom of the world. Now, factor in all the complications of
getting fuel to Antarctica via a tanker vessel, offloading millions of gallons
of fuel then managing a combustible liquid at subzero temps, dispensing it, filtering,
testing, transferring… and this ‘gas man’ at the bottom of the world becomes an
enormously complicated and critical job!
But for now, there’s no reason to get too much into the depth that is my job. I’m a fuelie, which is a job that is
very physical, gets me outside everyday, allows me to work with an inspiringly
unique and entertaining group of good hearted souls in the fuels department;
plus I get to travel all over including twice now to the mainland (think about
it, wherever people go, so too must fuel and therefore little fuelie minions to
worship and care for it).
The fuels dept. is made up of nearly two dozen beautifully
tortured souls. They come from all
walks of life and times in their lives.
The average age of our dept. would probably be in the early 30s with a
few in their mid-late 20s and a few enjoying their 40s and 50s. Most if not all love traveling around
the world and pushing the boundaries of how they experience their travels, be
it roller-skating across the US, biking the entire Silk Road, flying med. Evac
missions in Africa, peddling a pedicab through city streets, guiding clients
through the Alaskan wilderness, building cabins in the woods, creating trails
in remote beautiful public spaces, working on farms or in distilleries… these
people are out there in the world challenging the status quo and living life as
they want. This incredible variety
in worldview and experience has made for an outstanding work environment and
social life. We tend to travel in
packs around town. We joke, you
can smell us comin, because typically our clothes are mildly to severely soaked
with diesel most of the time. In
fact one day in the galley (where we eat) the fire department came in with full
gear and lights going. We fuelies
were sitting at a table and started to laugh joking that the fire department
came because we smell. Then I heard
one of the firefighters say he couldn’t smell it… yup, turns out someone
smelled fuel in the galley and called the fire department thinking it was a
leak. Nope, just some no good fuelies.
We unabashedly enjoy one another’s company in and out of
work. Be it a long day sitting on
fuel tanks or haulin hose, or filling fuel drums or throwin darts at fuelie
game night, it’s usually done with smiles and crude jokes and lots of laughter.
The camaraderie and companionship
felt throughout the department has made this year, my second year on the ice,
so enormously enjoyable.
I could go on… really, not just saying that. The gush fest is genuine. Another fuelie and I have an agreement
worked out, called the duct tape patrol.
If either one of us starts to go a little overboard with how much we’re
loving fuels (usually after we’ve been imbibing somewhat) we say ‘duct tape’ to
the other as a code word suggesting, maybe it’d be a good idea to allow those
thoughts you’ve been spewing out to anyone who’ll listen to maybe just stay
locked up in the ol’ head there. I mention all this not just because I’m
obviously having an awesome time but because this is such a stark contrast to
my last experience on the ice. Last
season I had maybe the best job in the world. I’m not exaggerating. I slept in an insanely beautiful place chasing and wrestling
baby and adult seals, snowmobiling in and around icebergs and glaciers… but paired
with that extreme high was the most toxic work environment I’ve ever experienced
in my entire life (which for those of you who know me, that’s saying a lot). The entire reason I wanted to come back
to Antarctica this year was so I could redefine my Antarctic experience. I didn’t want my memories of Antarctica
to be forever colored by those horrible experiences. Thankfully, this year is such a complete and total opposite
to last year. It’s really hard to
put to words how important this year has been for me and how grateful I am for all
these goofy fuelie friends I’ve made.
Duct tape…
There is a lot to cover from the past four months. Hell, there’s a brick ton to cover
since last I had to look up my account info for this blog! I would love to tell a few stories from
my adventures capturing Sage-Grouse in the wilds of Montana and of my time in
Rocky Mountain National Park. I
apologize for not updating the blog sooner, but the fact that I haven’t till
now is a testament to how much freaking fun I’m having down here. There are many stories I hope to share
with you over the next month or so (I promise to of course devote some time to explain
the new absurdities involved with bathroom activities on the ice). I hope you enjoy them and thanks for
reading. Till then, go move some
fuel.
Our ride to the ice. C-17 at the sunny and warm Christchurch airport
Inside, it's pretty bare bones, but comfortable seats... ish...
View from an observation bubble in the cockpit. That's Justin and Jen wavin. Fulie, and solar energy tech.
This was an amazing and would quickly become rare sight. Perhaps the last sunset for four months. It's been nothing but 24 hr sun since the second or third week of October... man i miss stars.
McMurdo at night... weird for me to see this photo now.
Of course we need training on how to set up tents for when we go out into the field. Here's Lisa nailin it! Lisa has been with the fuels dept. for nearly 18 years and knows so much about our job. She's been so much fun to work with and learn from!
Justin and Bob working on their trucker's hitch. These training classes were good but ridiculous at the same time. "here's how you tie a knot, set up a tent, start your stove, make a plan for how to survive since your hypathetically stuck out in a storm somewhere... while you're inside!" Yeah, real world training :)
Ah, finally we got out of the classroom and into the real classroom. We're learning how to profile a crack in the sea ice in order to determine whether or not it's of the appropriate thickness for vehicles to cross it.
Oh, yeah... the penguins wanted to help us profile the crack too.
These are two of our mobile fueling vehicles. On the left is the lovely and strong Delta Scharen and on the right is our town Gashopper. This was a rare moment captured on film showing Delta Scharen fueling Gashopper, and Justin enjoyin the view on top. Scharen is meant to go on snow and ice so we use her to fuel the various vehicles and buildings out on the ice and snow runways.
Suzie filling some fuel drums at the 'pass.' Early season the weather can be brutal! Cold and extremely windy! Though weather doesn't matter for a fuelie. We are out there when the rest of the folks aren't, cause fuel has to move!
Myself, Hannah, Brian and Jeff out at the ice Runway watching a C-17 land and take off. We were there in case it needed fuel which it didn't that day.
Out of a hike, Justin stepping into the warmup shack.
Enjoyin a mid hike break and breakdance session!
Fuelie family at Christmas
Fulie Family remembering David Bowie... see what i mean :) nothin but fun!
