20.01.2013 - First day on the Polarstern

20.01.2013 (Sunday). Today is the day. After the breakfast, I do my packing and leave my nice little hotel. I still have some time to loose. I go to the sea front, seat on a concrete chair and stares at the sea for a long time: it is not everyday that you are facing the Strait of Magellan! The weather is still very nice but not as hot as yesterday: 18 to 20°C, as far as I can judge. This is sunday morning and there are very few people in town. After an hour of relaxing at the sight of the sea, I say goobdbye to the black and white cormorants crowding the two old wood jetties close to the harbour and I go to the tall building of the Diego Almagro hotel, which is the meeting point. Several colleagues are welcoming me, and more and more are coming: both familiar heads and people, which I meet for the first time. Marie is the last one to arrive: just in time. At 12:00, we sit in an autocar and have a long drive to the harbour of Cabo Negro where the Polarstern is moored. This is kilometers away from Punta Arenas, in a north-east direction. Cabo Negro is actually a raffinery and/or a gaz terminal. The Polarstern is moored at the tip of a long concrete pier. Everybody is supposed to wear a helmet on this pier and there are only 15 helmets available. So we have to move by groups of 15 and one member of the crew has to go back with the helmets in a plastic bag for the next group. This is a non-sense comedy but we don't care. 

 

My room is number C-344 on the left (port) side of the ship. I will share it with Marc Eleaume of the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris (a specialist of crinoids ore sea lilies). I will occupy the upper bed. Marie will share her cabin with Freija Hauquier of the University of Ghent. All our passports are checked and conserved for the cruise by one of the officers of the ship. 

I realize that in six years I have forgotten many things concerning the structure of the ship but this is fast coming back. Actually, I pay a visit to most parts of the ships and systematically photographs everything. During my first Polarstern cruise, six years ago, I forgot to take pictures of many things, which I regretted this afterwards. So I have decided to make a complete photographic catalogue of the ship and activities on board. And now this is the right moment for completing my documentation, as we have some time to waste. 

Suddenly, Julian Gutt enters into my cabin and tells me to go to his own. I go there  with several other people. There is a serious problem. The front crane of the ship is badly damaged and cannot be repared (one piece is completely broken). No container can be removed from the front hold of the ship and at this stage it seems impossible to close the front deck of the ship: we can see the blue sky from the hold. We will have to go to Punta Arenas in order to have access to another crane, in order to close the front deck and moving some of the containers, which are not in the hold. There is another problem, which cannot be solved (that is the reason why I was called). The container containing our lander system (i.e. the frame for our baited traps) is located in the deepest part of the hold. In the current situation, that container cannot be moved and items stored in it will have to be removed one by one by a narrow trap. This is impossible for the lander (a cubic structure of with sides larger than 1 m) because the passage is too narrow. Either we will not use the trap system, or... we will have to saw the frame and re-solder it afterwards. We will inspect it later to see if this is possible. 

We are dining at 17:30-18:30. The scientists and the marine officers eat in a cantine on deck C. The marine officers have their own table. The crew eats at another cantine on deck D. The number of scientists is twice the number of places in the cantine. So, the first coming scientists are eating first. The others have to wait in the adjacent 'red saloon'. As soon as somebody has finished, his/her place is clean up and somebody else is called for eating by the staff of the cantine. 

Actually the timing of the meals on board is:

07:30-08:30 - breakfast (2 shifts)
11:30-12:30 - lunch (2 shifts)
15:30-15:50 - coffee and cake
17:30-18:30 - dinner (2 shifts)

Some food is kept in a fridge for the people who could not attend the meal because they were at work.

Today at 19:30, a small shop does open at the lowest level of the ship, where it is possible to buy something to drink or to eat. This shop is opening twice a week.

At 20:30, we have a meeting in the conference room. Every scientists, the helicopter crew, and the two journalists of the German television, who will stay on board, briefly presents himself/herself. On board there are people from many different nationalities. Julian Gutt explains to everybody the worrying situation, which we are facing. He says that it is possible that we will have to wait three days at Punta Arenas to have access to a pier with a crane. Another possibility would be to have to use the crane from another ship, but this would be a risky operation. Anyway, the ship is supposed to leave Cabo Negro tomorrow at 06:00 to go to Punta Arenas. At this stage, we have no idea when the expedition itself will start. 

Meeting point at Diego Almagro hotel.

Ready to go on the Polarstern.

Seeing the blue sky from the hold.

(Cédric)

Today is D-day. I take a good breakfast in my hostel in Punta Arenas, make some last minute skype-calls to friends and family and take my luggages. I’m a bit nervous but mostly exited. This expedition was planned for months, I need some time to realize it’s finally happening. I’m leaving by foot to the meeting point, it’s a few hundred meters from my hotel and at last meet all the other participants. The bus travel to the boat takes a good half an hour, plus the waiting time at the entrance. We enter the boat by groups of 15, wearing protective helmets according to the regulations. 

The ice-breaking vessel is huge. I guess it’s always impressive to see it and mostly to visit it for the first time. It’s a real maze inside, all small corridors leading to similar rooms. I will need some time not to get lost anymore. The cabins are bigger than I expected, with a sofa and table, enough place to work, and a nice little bathroom. I share mine with the other Belgian PhD student. The ship has 6 levels, I’m trying at least to remember the useful paths, to the mess, the lecture room, the labs, the computers room, the fitness and the laundry room.

At 15h30 it’s coffee-time. We are informed of the situation. The trip will be delayed by an unknown amount of time due to technical problem. For the moment, we wait for more informations, gather on the deck and enjoy the exceptionally good weather in Patagonia. We take this opportunity to learn to know the other scientists with whom we’ll soon share 2 months of an incredible scientific and personal experience … 

(Marie)