November 12 - Nasty weather = Clean socks

Since we left Cape Shirreff we’ve been hitting stations along the northern side of the South Shetland Islands at the southern edge of the Drake. It’s been a little bumpy but all in all, not so bad. Yesterday we managed to take in a pretty good haul of krill at station 8, then we headed east to station 9. Conditions weren’t too bad last night, but the forecast looked rough for today and the swells were getting a bit bigger so we took it slow, planning on reaching station 9 around 6 in the morning. The barometric pressure dropped over the course of the night as the winds and swell height increased. Right now we’re looking at winds averaging between 30 and 40 kn and swells around 25 ft, so unfortunately we had to bypass the station and head northeast or risk seriously damaging our equipment. The weather is due to improve in the next 24 hours, so we should be able to get back to work fairly soon.
       
At the moment there isn’t much to do, so I’ve decided to fill my time by doing my first load of laundry since getting on the ship! The most exciting part of this for me is having clean socks to wear. I realized not long after arriving in Chile that I had forgotten to pack the majority of my socks. Thankfully, I got a few extra pairs in my ECW [Extreme Cold Weather] gear [Ed: We're provided with extra sets of gloves, socks, and other cold weather clothing for the duration of our project -- but we have to give it back at the end of the trip so that others can use it], but I’ve still had to ration my sock usage and rewear any pairs that passed the sniff test. Yesterday I reached a critical point in sock availability. Only one pair passed the sniff test. Not good. Those socks are currently on my feet, but the rest will soon be clean as a whistle and ready for another round. My feet can’t wait. Neither can my shoes.

The laundry room aboard the Gould. It comes fully stocked with detergent, soap, and anything else to fulfill your laundry needs.

[Ed: Sometimes if the seas are too rough, they'll even close the laundry room. That may happen in the next 48 hours.]

Melissa M. (a.k.a. Little Melissa, a.k.a. Munchkin)