Monday 16 September 1974
Today I cut the heat machine free of ice preparatory to extracting it. Chris Wilkins, Tony Atkinson and Bob Grant climbed Observation Hill to continue work of excavating for the cross but the power pick would not start and they brought it down again. Stuart Clarke now works each evening with Ian Thomas. Mike Wing is repairing the sledge room bench.
Conditions at 0900 hours Wind Calm 14 knots Temperature -33.0°C
Tuesday 17 September 1974
In the morning I went with Chris Wilkins and Dr Sam Treves (a USARP) to see if it was possible to pass the tip of the “dirty ice” in a wheeled vehicle and also, if conditions towards the mainland were suitable, to locate DVDP site 3. We got past the “dirty ice” but poor visibility made accurate resection impossible so we returned to Base. Meantime Bob Grant had been modifying SnoTrac toboggans as instructed by Antarctic Division, Tony Atkinson had been repairing a faulty ionosonde time unit and Garth Cowan had worked on the Arrival Heights radio. In the afternoon Bob Grant and I took the front end loader to Winter Quarters Bay and pulled the heat machine out of its fish hole. We brought it back to Base. My efforts with the device have been fruitless; and there is now not enough time to try again.
Conditions at 0900 hours Wind South-West 2 knots Temperature -39.2°C
Wednesday 18 September 1974
The weather was unsuitable for a further attempt at locating Site 3 so we remained at Base. I made up and fitted a fuel line from the incinerator burner tower to the burner injector, Bill Johnson and Chris Wilkins worked at replacing the ablution block hot water tank, we all carried the Herman Nelson heater into the hangar and set it up to de-freeze the big refrigerator for Ray Colliver, and Mike Wing continued work on the sledge room bench. Because of high relative humidity we had a heavy frost deposit over the Base and aerial guy wires.
Conditions at 0900 hours Wind North-East 20 knots Temperature -32.2°C
Thursday 19 September 1974
We are having problems with vehicle transmission freezing up in the current cold snap. Apparently the oil in the transfer cases, gearboxes, and differentials becomes so stiff that the cold engine cannot turn them over. We can expect clutch troubles soon I suppose. The Landrover is the most prone to this trouble.
It being a fine day Chris Wilkins, Sam Treves and I were able to locate Site 3 by fixing the point at which a line drawn between the centre of West Dailey Island and the northern tip of the Strand Moraines crosses a line from Observation Hill to Bettle Peak. Back at Base Bill Johnson completed installation of the hot water tank. He put up a notice to the effect that we were using mogas faster than planned and sparked off some tart remarks by other Base staff who pointed out that they couldn’t do the job without using gas. This was unfair to Bill who was merely giving a situation report but was prompted by the fact that his previous notices have tended to be critical and a little ill-tempered.
I laid a fire in the incinerator ready to try it out when Chris Wilkins has wired up the blower. In the evening we had a number of CPO’s to dinner. Whilst talking to one of them I stupidly put my finger in a ventilator fan and now have a crushed finger.
Conditions at 0900 hours Wind North 14 knots Temperature -40.0°C
Friday 20 September 1974
Today Garth Cowan and Les Walker made a further attempt to locate Point 213D with its buried thermo couple wires. They located a number of nearby markers and drove over the reported site but nothing was seen. Also, today Mike Wing and Chris Wilkins cut a hole though the ice at Site 3 ready for current measurements. I made up a frame with which to do the measuring. Neither Bill Johnson nor I could get the incinerator burner blower to work. Apparently its bearings are packed with unsuitable grease as it can only be turned with difficulty using a pipe wrench. It ran quite freely in the warmth of the Base.
Conditions at 0900 hours Wind North-North-East 20 knots Temperature -38.8°C
Saturday 21 September 1974
Today Garth Cowan and I left at 0500 hours for Site 3. We had arrived; broken the ice off it and measured the depth (540 feet) by 0800 hours; and commenced measuring current velocities at 100 foot intervals. We did this at hourly intervals until 1400 hours and as the results all showed a slight northerly current with little variation I decided not to complete the full 12 hour cycle and set off home. After a few miles we met a Landrover coming towards us with in it Mike Wing, Chris Wilkins and Sam Treves. Apparently a signal had arrived cancelling DVDP drilling in the Sound so all our work had been a waste of time. The Landrover had been able to reach us by driving on the new ice north of the “dirty ice” tip. It is now over 18 inches thick.
At Base Bill Johnson drove our other power wagon out the US road to the airfield and home across the snowfield to Scott Base. It will be useful to be independent of the US road. In the ablution block a hot water pipe burst.
The sea ice runway (Williams Field)
In the evening we competed with the CPO’s club for the “Winter Olympics” (darts, shuffleboard, pool, drinking, etc) and lost.
Conditions at 0900 hours Wind North 1 knots Temperature -39.2°C
Sunday 22 September 1974
Rest day. Bill Johnson and Chris Wilkins walked up Crater Hill in pleasant calm conditions but were unable to see any open water. In the evening we attended a talk by the Oregon University scientific divers. It was very interesting and made me wish I could participate.
Conditions at 0900 hours Wind West 1 knot Temperature -36.5°C
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