Monday 22 July 1974
Mike Wing is now replacing tool handles throughout the Base, Bob Grant is strengthening the SnoTrac springs and Chris Wilkins is repairing the fans which serve the drains from the Public Relations Officer’s darkroom. I put four blow lamps on the boiler of my heat machine but the pressure so generated merely seeped through the air motor without turning it over. I suspect that the required starting torque was too high and will endeavour to introduce into the system a means of isolating the boiler from the condenser into the system. During the night a blizzard blew up.
Conditions at 0900 hours Wind North 5 knots Temperature -28.9°C
Tuesday 23 July 1974
At 0230 hours a blizzard struck the Base. Tony Atkinson, the duty mouse, walked through the buildings and found snow blowing into the engine room, melting and flooding it. He roused Bill Johnson who turned off the fans and was about to go back to bed when the garage doors blew open. It took about two hours to get these levered shut and propped against the wind. There were some anxious moments as the roof looked as though it might lift if the doors could not be closed. Between 0230 hours and 0800 hours the wind was continuously above 80 knots with a peak gust of 92 knots (106 mph).
The lino in the Mess began to lift and had to be weighed down. One of the empty bunkrooms in ‘C’ Hut sprang a snow leak through its fire escape and filled with snow before anyone noticed. Throughout the excitement I slept peacefully and was not aware of any problems until I awoke at 0700 hours. Again I had to make the point that in any emergency I must be called. Later in the morning when the wind had dropped I walked over to McMurdo and out to the off shore fish hut to measure the doorway with a view to using the ice hole for my machine. The door had been blown off and the hut was full of snow so I achieved nothing. McMurdo seemed to have suffered more than we did. The ham shack roof was gone, some garage doors blown in, their water plant temporarily out of action and debris everywhere.
Conditions at 0900 hours Wind North-West 25 knots Temperature -20.5°C
Wednesday 24 July 1974
Stuart Clarke went to Arrival Heights to check it for blizzard damage. All was well. Yesterday, when I decided to walk over to the fish hut I could feel that the staff generally thought I was foolish. I went anyway because I think it is dangerous to get a “foxhole mentality”. In the event I had no trouble in knowing exactly where I was at all times and my only problem was that (in deference to their fears) I had over-dressed and got soaked in sweat.
I learned that when the Ham Shack roof blew away the man in it telephoned for help and the Americans sent one man from the nuclear power station in a big forklift machine to rescue him. I would have sent three men on foot roped together.
Chris Wilkins had to repair the laboratory Waterbury and Bob Grant took advantage of the warm weather to get the front-end loader out and fill the ice melter sledges. Bill Johnson repaired the leaking fire escape in ‘C’ Hut. The Superintendent rang with news of incoming flight timings.
Conditions at 0900 hours Wind North-West 15 knots Temperature -20.5°C
Thursday 25 July 1974
Garth Cowan had to repair another break in the earth current line. Tony Atkinson has modified the nib of the thermograph in an effort to get a clearer record. Tony and Stuart Clarke are having a clash of wills. The sponsor in New Zealand wants some specific results and Stuart has put off getting them ready. I was happy to see that Tony quickly got what they wanted.
At midday I attended a lecture on relativity by one of the USARP scientists Ken Rezeck. Afterwards Ken offered me a lift to the Cosmic Ray Laboratory on the road back to Scott Base. When I opened the door of his truck to get in I found the passengers side full of snow. As we drove off I could tell the engine would not run much further. We reached the Cosray Laboratory by proceeding in 3rd gear. Ken seemed unconcerned. When I got back to Scott Base I found Bill Johnson had shaved. His smooth pink cheeks and short back and sides look’s quite odd amongst my generally hippie-style group.
Bob Grant has put luggage racks on the footrests of the toboggans. Chris Wilkins has repaired the ‘D’ block humidifier and is working on the Post Office electrics. Mike Wing is checking all survival kits.
Conditions at 0900 hours Wind North 14 knots Temperature -28.2°C
Friday 26 July 1974
In response to an invitation from Chris Stockwell I went to McMurdo to watch a trailer mounted boring machine drill a hole in the ice. In the event I didn’t see it work as it was clear that action might not start for some time and I thought I should return to Scott Base. Whilst I was away a spark from a grinding wheel had ignited a tray of mogas. This in turn touched off the fire alarm. Bob Grant had no trouble putting the fire out with a CO2 extinguisher but it is good to know the alarm system is sensitive and functioning. Whilst at McMurdo I asked for, and was given, a check valve for my heat machine modifications.
Conditions at 0900 hours Wind Calm Temperature -28.5°C
Saturday 27 July 1974
Bob Grant made a towbar for the power wagon. Mike Wing repaired crampons, Bill Johnson repaired sundry spare valves and I stripped the heat machine down. The trouble may be a combination of things. The oil in it had turned to grease in the cold, there was ice in some of the fine pipes and the boiler tubes themselves were full of a fibrous dust which had somehow come off their inside surfaces. I cut off one of the end caps and re-machined it ready for re-welding into place again.
Conditions at 0900 hours Wind North 13 knots Temperature -28.4°C
Sunday 28 July 1974
Mouse – Nothing to report
Conditions at 0900 hours Wind North 14 knots Temperature -32.5°C
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