South Again

 

The crossing this year was on the rougher side of average. We were greeting by sunny skies and many bergs. 

The bergs always melt in the strangest ways. 

This berg appears to be blurry, because the right half used to be underwater. 

Note the size of the bird. 

Unfortunately we crossed through the most scenic areas in the middle of the night. 

But the areas that we did see were spectacular. 

Glassy seas. 

Several bergs were parked around station. Seems to be many more than in years past. 

Sea ice forming around the ship. 

Neighbor at the dock.

Sky scrapers in the distance. 

The power went out on station the morning we pulled up to the dock. Both generators and the emergency generator stopped working and we were without power for 62 hours. With the ship in port everyone ate on the ship and the mechanics and the rest of the facilities team worked almost around the clock to return the station to a functional state. Thankfully it wasn't too cold or too windy for the duration and most of station didn't fully freeze. It was a very surreal. 

Ice berg alley. 

Friendly berg. 

Finally, five days after scheduled, the ship was able to take the winter overs North and the summer could begin. 

More majestic bergs!

Good bye Gould! See you in two weeks. 

Note the birds.