Monday 12 August 1974
Lady has a lump inside one teat. We are now giving her milk and have brought her inside. Tony and Stuart are attacking the field mill which is once again giving trouble. They are also tinkering with the metrological clock in an effort to get it to keep time at low temperatures. Bill has again had to dismantle the range for special cleaning. I am trying to catch up on paperwork generated by the mail drop. Otherwise – routine work.
Conditions at 0900 hours Wind North-East 14 knots Temperature -32.0°C
Tuesday 13 August 1974
Chris Wilkins has spent several days repairing humidifiers. The job takes so long and has to be repeated so often because he does not have the proper parts. We found two guy lines loose in the ground. They could have come loose during the blizzard but I suspect the bulldozer driver isn’t telling all he knows. Whilst driving the bulldozer from the garage cold porch Mike Wing clipped the door and has had to spend a day repairing it. Bill Johnson is still overhauling the big lathe between maintenance tasks. In the laboratory the daily routine of film reading and chart annotating goes on.
Conditions at 0900 hours Wind North-East 16 knots Temperature -30.5°C
Wednesday 14 August 1974
Mike Wing and Bob Grant accompanied the US party endeavouring to find a route to Marble Point for the tanker. They got past the North tip of the dirty ice but only by crossing ice with a thickness of less than 30 inches. Since the tanker requires 50 inches the route will only be usable if we get rapid ice build-up. In Mike’s absence Stuart Clarke looked after the dogs. Garth Cowan and Stuart made an attempt to get a full night of records with the photometer but in the early hours the mirrors frosted over and a further attempt will be necessary. I have made a vane for measuring current velocities. Bill had to repair a water valve. Late in the day we heard that the flagging party had encountered an open water crack. They had bridged it but could go no further. Bill Johnson has not been well. He suffered a viral chest infection and dermatitis as a result of diesel. He has been slow to recover and is irritable.
Marble Point. Used as a helicopter refuelling base
Conditions at 0900 hours Wind Calm Temperature -28.8°C
Thursday 15 August 1974
Tony Atkinson got the solarimeter in action again and is getting a reading. I was to cut a hole for my heat machine today but in view of low temperature and a 20 knot wind postponed the effort. The flagging party got to within two miles of Marble Point and then hit very rough ice. They could see no way to get through it and returned defeated for the time being. I am waiting to see what they will do.
Conditions at 0900 hours Wind North-East 17 knots Temperature -30.0°C
Friday 16 August 1974
We re now packing unserviceable and other stores for return to New Zealand. Bill Johnson has produced monthly Base fuel consumption figures which show a very close correlation with temperature. Apparently fuel consumption is not affected by wind strength to any degree.
A signal arrived today for me to pass to Bill Lokey. Mike Wing found it in the Post Office rang it through to Bill Lokey got an answer which he put in the form of a signal to New Zealand and then gave it to me for clearance. Mike has a lot of initiative but he shouldn’t intercept my signals.
Conditions at 0900 hours Wind North-East 25 knots Temperature -27.6°C
Saturday 17 August 1974
Ray Colliver went with Bill Lokey and two other Americans to Tent Island “manhauling”. At my request they took three dogs as I am keen to learn whether the dogs can be used this way. Apparently the dogs were a great help and well worth taking. However the group found problems in tethering them at night. They pulled out ordinary screws without difficulty and only one type of ice screw belonging to Bill Lokey was effective. There were a few cracks in the ice on the seaward side of Tent Island and wet ice in between it and Inaccessible Island.
“Manhauling!”
Tent Island
Tony Atkinson and I drove in a SnoTrac on a line from Arrival Heights to Marble Point. The Americans had two strobe lights aligned in that direction. After about eight miles we drove a chainsaw into the ice but it was still thicker than the blade length. Since the aim was to find thin ice through which I could put my machine, we gave up and went home.
Late in the evening with a strongish Southerly blowing Titch Gibson rang from McMurdo. He said he would have difficulty getting home in the poor visibility. I told him to wait half an hour and try again. Within the hour he arrived safely.
Mike Wing finally finished the garage door but not before Bill Johnson had to be quite rude to him.
Conditions at 0900 hours Wind North-East 9 knots Temperature -29.0°C
Sunday 18 August
Today the Americans declared a “Condition One” so the flagging party stayed home yet another day.
Conditions at 0900 hours Wind North-East 18 knots Temperature -36.6°C
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