Still Under Quarantine - 10 more days.

Since I am confined to the ship here are a few pictures from last season at the dock in Punta Arenas, Chile.

A model of the Gould.

A never-ending supply of ice cream.

My tight bunk.

Snacks and more snacks.

A never-ending supply of fresh fruit.

A tight fit in my bunk. I'm always hitting my head during ingress and egress.

During Drake Passage crossings we place our survival immersion suit under our mattress.

This creates a snug wedge so that we don't get thrown out.

Beautiful sunrises in Chile.

Dress ship due to the 140th anniversary of a sea battle between Peru and Chile.

The Gould is operated by Edison Chouest Offshore. The Chilean flag.

The food aboard the Lawrence M. Gould is excellent.

Tuna this evening.

Onboard the Lawrence M Gould at dock in Punta Arenas

A view of downtown Punta Arenas from the Gould.

The Gould is under quarantine for 21 days. The gangway is raised off of the main deck.

The bridge.

The small but loaded gym.

Serving line in the galley.

To the left are salad and fixings and to the right are cereals, bread, and desserts.

At sea, there are mats to hold the plates. Each seat has a cupholder. It can be quite difficult to eat.

A never-ending supply of ice cream.

A pretty Sunday morning in Punta Arenas.

One of two 44 person lifeboats and three of the liferafts.

18 more days of quarantine left. Last October when I redeployed there was social unrest and rioting in the streets and it took us several days to safely leave Chile. Now there is covid lockdown. What a disaster to Chile's economy. 

2020 - Mike is once again headed to Palmer Station, Antarctica for my 6th Antarctic Winter

Due to COVID-19 Palmer Station winter deployment 2020 is six weeks late. The winterover crew flew by chartered aircraft from Denver, Colorado to Punta Arenas, Chile two days ago. After four different COVID-19 tests we boarded the Lawrence M. Gould where we will be quarantined for 21 days before sailing across the Drake Passage to Palmer Station on the Antarctic Peninsula.

This will be my 6th Antarctic winter and 4th in a row - one at McMurdo Station below New Zealand, two at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, and three at Palmer Station south of South America.

In late February I attended Firefighting School in Colorado and Ocean Search and Rescue School on Lake Mead, Arizona.

Class picture with instructors. I'm in the middle above helmet 5.

Fun training. Third from the left!

Ocean Search and Rescue Class on Lake Meade, Arizona. The primary boat we use at Palmer Station is an 18 foot Zodiac.

We flew a chartered flight from Denver to Punta Arenas, Chile.

Sunset.

My cabin onboard the Lawrence M. Gould.

During my daughter's and my bicycle ride around the world we were stopped by the winter weather in Puerto Montt, Chile about 1200 miles short of our goal of Ushuaia, Argentina.

Our flight route from Denver to Punta Arenas, Chile.

Last year after leaving Palmer Station I toured an old ship's museum in Punta Arenas. This is a replica of the first ship to circumnavigate the world (1519 - 1521) by Ferdinand Magellan

A replica of HMS Beagle. HMS Beagle was the ship in which the naturalist, Charles Darwin, sailed around the world from 26 December 1831 to 27 February 1832. 

The Straight of Magallanes. We sail through here to the Atlantic ocean south and across the Drake Passage to reach Palmer Station on the Antarctic Peninsula.

The voyage of the Beagle.

A replica of the James Caird which Shackleton converted from the rowboat to a sailing vessel. The voyage of the James Caird was a journey of 800 miles from Elephant Island in the South Shetland Islands through the Southern Ocean to South Georgia, undertaken by Sir Ernest Shackleton and five companions to obtain rescue for the main body of the stranded Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917.