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Victoria University Antarctic Research End-of-Season Report 1995-96: VUWAE 40
01 - 26 November
01 - 26 November.
On 04 November Pyne, Ridgen and Knox returned the 55 km to Marble Point with the D6 and H28 to recover the remaining two fuel sledges and NZ9. The unladen trip took 5hrs 20mins and the return 6hrs 30mins. In good weather GPS waypoints from the initial traverse were used to make this relatively quick trip.
At Cape Roberts throughout November the main task was to commission the core buildings of the CR Base Camp. The eight container buildings, with their sledges, that- make up the nucleus of the Camp had been off-loaded at CR the previous January. After clearing the accumulated snow from around these buildings they were towed out onto the sea ice just off the 'South Beach' transition (6 hrs). Minor damage from the off-load and winter was repaired (2 days) and on 03 November the buildings were sledged to the north side of CR where they were positioned and then 'joined' by plumbing and electrical cables. This work took four people over 6 hours in good weather.
On 09 November Martin Barrett (Works Consultancy), Peter Davies and Warwick Muirhead (Dawn Construction) arrived to assist with the commissioning process. Potable water was produced for three days from the Reverse Osmosis desalinisation plant and all electrical and heating services were run in the buildings. Staff were able to have hot showers with good water pressure. Decommissioning took two days and the buildings were then sledged back to the South Bay on 18 November where further repairs/adjustments were made and winterisation begun. The buildings were finally pulled ashore on 22 November after the storage area was prepared with a covering of snow. Barrett, Davies and Muirhead departed CR once the decommissioning process began.
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| a. | Excessive melting out of the sea water intake -brine return hole in the sea ice. Solution: a deeper brine return hose to disperse warm water. |
| b. | Poor insulating 'sleeves' for plumbing between buildings. Solution: redesign. |
| c. | Poor heat output in Ablutions building. Solution: reposition thermostat at doorway. |
| d. | Poor connection system for external overhead heat ducting. Solution: redesign. |
| f. | Big, unsafe step down from container doorways. Solution: ensure floor of cold porch (not fitted for commissioning) is high enough. |
| g. | Reverse circulation of hot water when boiler pump turned off. Solution: install one way valve/ small back up pump. |
| h. | Some incompatible electrical extenuation cords and plugs. Solution: revise all electrical cables to external buildings and points. |
In November Peter Walton built a cold porch and deck onto the main NZAP hut at CR to give additional storage and shelter to the front door of the hut. This project was successfully completed and will prove invaluable during the colder months of September and October.
On 17 November Pyne did a sea ice reconnaissance aboard Kiwi 02 to ascertain likely sites and routes for the second ship off-load. An off-load site was identified some 19 km due east of CR. A surface reconnaissance followed the next day and a route was pushed through to the ice edge. This route initially trended south from CR before heading east through rough ice and then north east. This early reconnaissance proved invaluable when the party returned in January to be confronted by deteriorating ice conditions. The off-load site tentatively identified in November proved to be the only feasible one for many kilometres along the ice edge.
On 26 November Hagglunds H28 returned to SB with two Hagglunds sledges, the empty Oskam sledge and Pyne, Ridgen, Knox and Walton. The 150 km journey took 8 hrs 15 minutes in the good conditions.