Monday 21 January 1974
Bill Johnson finally managed to get the new drain coupled up and flowing. He had a lot of trouble as a vital Starkie fitting was not in the package. The job was done just in time as with the new cold snap and the necessary disconnection of heat from the old drain it had blocked and frozen. Colin Monteath has finished all but one of his survival courses. The laboratory seems to be functioning satisfactorily in Tony’s absence. Alex Wilson is in the hills somewhere between Lake Joyce and Vanda. He has missed one schedule. Ian Clement and Gary Brehaut are still at Lake Chad. Repairs to the ice sledge are delayed because the arc welder is playing up.
Late in the day I noticed a tanker lying upside down by the road to Williams Field just past Scott Base. As I walked towards it I was passed by the McMurdo fire engine and ambulance. The driver had got too close to the edge of the road which collapsed and the tanker rolled spilling a couple of thousand gallons of gas into a melt pool. The Americans closed the road which was a nuisance since it forms our temporary route to the ice collecting point. We solved the problem by dragging a packing case across the crevasse blocking our old route; filling it with ice and winching it back again with the front end loader winch.
A US Fuel Tanker
Lat in the day Bob Newland returned from Vanda and Neil Thompson and Chris Sloane from Siple.
Conditions at 0900 hours Wind North-North-East 8 knots Temperature -3.4°C
Ration Strength 33
Tuesday 22 January 1974
Brian Sissons and Doug Northley of Victoria University returned today. Their project to obtain soundings in a particular section of the McMurdo Sound has not been too successful. First their device had displayed faults and then when these were rectified a heavy swell set in which made the work impossible.
Titch Gibson, Les Walker, Stuart Clarke and Ray Colliver departed with Colin Monteath for their survival course whilst Janet Crump and Graham Rowe took over the cooking. Alex Wilson reported to Vanda just in time to call off a search.
Conditions at 0900 hours Wind East-North-East 14 knots Temperature -3.6°C
Ration Strength 31
Wednesday 23 January 1974
Today Jim Lowery, Howard Dengate and Chris Wilkins arrived from Vanda. I had intended to send Bob Newland to NZ on the aircraft departing tomorrow but it seems I misunderstood the intention and he is not to go. He was grievously disappointed but took it well and continued preparing brackets and fixtures for Vanda.
The survival course ended this afternoon and Colin Monteath spent the evening returning gear to the USARP Field Centre ready for his departure for Christchurch next morning. Gary Brehaut arrived from Lake Chad but Ian Clement has now gone up to Cape Bird.
The Superintendent has asked me to report on whether or not Vanda should remain open for the winter in view of the personality changes there and the questions raised about the adequacy of food and fuel supplies and communications. I have spoken with Jim Lowery who feels that whilst one must always have misgivings, nevertheless the objectives justify the risks. I hope to visit Vanda for three days over the week-end.
At midnight the following departed for NZ: Colin Monteath, Janet Crump, Graham Rowe, Neil Thompson, Chris Sloane, Steve Porter, Warren Featherston and Doug Northley.
Conditions at 0900 hours Wind North-North-East 8 knots Temperature -6.1°C
Ration Strength 34
Thursday 24 January 1974
Today we finally got the repaired ice sledge back into action but sadly, within two hours an inexperienced D4 driver had broken the towing eye. The day was otherwise normal except in the evening when we had dinner in two sittings with the last sitting confined to those wintering over. This was done to enable the Lazi film team to film a “mid-winter” dinner. We put screens over the windows and did our best but, none of us being actors, the “last supper” may have been more hilarious than the Lazi crew expected.
Chris Wilkins has expressed misgivings about the adequacy of the fuel stocks now at Vanda. His concern is not shared by the Vanda staff and I feel he is over insuring. Nevertheless the situation deserves a careful check-out. A similar situation obtains with respect to food with Ray Colliver and Gordon Nation uttering dire warnings. Vanda has no frozen food and unless fresh stocks arrive from NZ we will not be able to provide the variety that we would hope to. Again, the Vanda group is unconcerned saying they would live on dehydrated stew for nine months if they had to.
Conditions at 0900 hours Wind North-East 2 knots Temperature -2.0°C
Ration Strength 28
Friday 25 January 1974
We were able to obtain seats to the South Pole for Maurice Conly and one of the Lazi film team. Shaun was horrified when he received advice from VXE-6 Squadron of the helicopter hours we had used in the last two weeks. We don’t do the book-keeping and cannot argue with the totals charged to us but suddenly each trip seems to take half again as many hours as before. I suspect that the actual book-keeper, whoever he is, is faced with the problem of writing off a number of unexplained hours of flying and is adding a few minutes to each flight. Fortunately DVDP having decided to close early, the helicopters are physically capable of flying more hours, so we were successful in our request that the hours allocated to us before the Crozier accident be restored.
I had another problem today in that having decided to make an 0800 hours check that everyone was out of bed I found Shaun and Fred Szydlik sleeping in. I entered both on the list for Sunday mouse duty and was disconcerted to find that initially Shaun objected to this. He had been working long hours and felt the rule should not apply to him. At one stage I thought we might meet head on but fortunately, to my enormous relief, he eventually accepted my argument that the person to whom I could make the fewest concessions was my deputy. He has done a fine job for the Antarctic Division and me and I am very glad we did not end the season at loggerheads.
Conditions at 0900 hours Wind North-North-East 15 knots Temperature -9.1°C
Ration Strength 26
Saturday 26 January 1974
This morning Bob Newland, Bob Chambers and I set off for Vanda. Bob Newland had a sackful of fittings he had made up for the station – mainly parts for the Petter and generator shed heater fuel systems. Bob Chambers had the up-to-date accounts and balances for the Vanda staff and I intended to make my final inspection and check for the season.
During the weekend I saw the Vanda wintering staff together and separately and made sure that the team was confident it could do its job during the winter. Although I felt the station already had adequate fuel stocks I arranged with the helicopter pilots to bring another 400 gallons from Marble Point. They were unworried about expected poor communications with NZ and their main concern over the frozen food was that if it did not arrive soon the Superintendent might decide to close the station as an alternative.
Meantime back at the Base, Shaun organised a clean out of the Mess. It looks much brighter now the walls and ceiling have been washed. Alex Wilson and the rest of the Waikato team were returned to Scott Base on the helicopter which delivered me to Vanda.
Conditions at 0900 hours Wind North-North-East 14 knots Temperature -10.9°C
Ration Strength 28
Sunday 27 January 1974
A quiet day. At Vanda we three visitors walked with Tony Smith to the met screens at the head of Lake Vanda and the top of Dias. It was a perfect day and gave me a chance to get some exercise which I badly need as my rib and back have been hampering me in this respect.
Back at Base Fred Szydlik’s situation to the problem of providing an acceptable lunch in the face of his grave inadequacies as a chef was to prepare a lethal compulsory aperitif. Apparently the solution was acceptable. Jim Lowery, Alex Wilson, Howard Dengate, Chris Reynolds, John Gumbley, Adrian Field, Brian Sissons and Gary Brehaut emplaned for NZ. Alex Wilson and his Waikato group had to work most of the night in order to be ready. Maurice Conly and Franz Lazi arrived back from the South Pole.
Conditions at 0900 hours Wind North-North-East 9 knots Temperature -9.8°C
Ration Strength 22
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