All Aboard...The CAT Train, Part II - The Cabooze Cruise

Challenger 3 makes her way towards Summer Station.

After nearly six weeks on the ice, the summer take-over had finally come to an end. During this time the take-over personnel had managed a great a deal and with only a few short weeks of summer remaining, it was time for them to make their back to the SA Agulhas for the return leg of the trip.

This brought about mixed feelings; many were now anxious to get back to their families and loved ones; some had up-coming work commitments; others had not quite had their fill of Antarctic adventure and were still running around taking photographs.

The flight lists were posted and while people were still trying to trade flights, attempting to steal just another few hours at the base, the weather rolled in. All air-travel was suspended.

This left us with a bit of a debacle. How were we going to get everybody back to the ship? Fortunately, there were still two scheduled CAT trains that had to depart from SANAE towards Summer Station, carrying the cargo which was to be back-loaded onto the ship. It was therefore decided that the people still at the base would become human cargo and travel with the CAT Train in the caboose.

With the first CAT Train on its way with half the take-over crew, making their way towards the ice-shelf, the remaining 40 or so personnel re-settled back into basic base routine as the weather once again rolled in. After a day of high winds, we were able to get a couple of flights out, which meant that several people arrived back at the ship before the first CAT Train!

Unfortunately, the weather made another turn for the worse and flights were once again suspended. But by now we had got most of the people back to the ship. There were now less than 30 people left at SANAE, including the year team. I remember this time fondly, as it gave me my first glimpse of what the base would be like without the hustle and bustle of people moving back and forth. The base was now quiet and more relaxed.

Fortunately, our DCO had shrewdly made sure that the take-over chef had remained on base and we were able to enjoy some very nice meals as he no longer had to cater for 70+ people. The first CAT Train had arrived safely back at SANAE and we were preparing the second CAT Train, when we got the news that our passenger helicopter had sustained some damage and could no longer fly.

So the remaining take-over personnel and six of the ten year team members, including yours truly, got on board the CAT Train and headed towards the Summer Station. We were now running rather late and the take-over crew were starting to get anxious as the Agulhas had been scheduled to leave in just a few days. In addition to this, the people already on board the Agulhas were starting to exhaust their supply of nice things to eat and general supplies were starting to run low.

Back on the CAT Train though, the party was in full swing; sort of like a party bus on ice! We dubbed it the

Cabooze Cruiser and the party people were referred to as the Caboozers. With a 36 hour trip ahead of us, there was plenty of time for everyone in the Cabooze Cruiser to get nicely inebriated, sleep it off and then drink some more.

Caboozers chilling out...

At one stage, while towing the Cabooze Cruiser with the infamous Challenger 3, I recall hitting a rather bumpy stretch. In order to ensure the comfort of the passengers, I slowed down a bit, only to be told off on the radio that I should go faster because they were rather enjoying it and would radio back if it got too hectic! Sadly, the year team could not partake in the festivities as it would have been irresponsible to drink and drive.

The Summer Base, which is situated about 15km from the ice-shelf, is built to accommodate 20 people. However, by the time we rolled up, there were 26 people under the same roof. This put great strain on the sleeping arrangements as well as on the food supplies. The weather was still not letting up and we had to spend nearly a week in the confines of the Summer Base.

Summer Station needs a new flag after some pretty heavy winds.

Fortunately, after having spent nearly 3 months together on the ship and at SANAE, everybody was fairly familiar with everybody, so being in such close quarters did not really bother anyone. Some of the activities to keep us busy included: drinking, Xbox, Internet surfing, poker, drinking, throwing smelly, cooking and drinking.

Waiting out the storm...

By this time, we learned that the current spate of storms had brought in about 15 miles of bay-ice, which was too thick for the Agulhas to navigate around. Due to a combination of factors, which mainly involved flight hours and supplies on the Agulhas, we had to make the decision to leave the majority of the cargo on the ice-shelf in the garage.

Our poor dozer will have to over-winter in the garage before being sent back to CT for repairs.

Eventually the weather cleared and we were able to get the remaining members of the take-over team to the ice-shelf, from where they were flown back to the SA Agulhas by the Belgians, who had a mini helicopter they were sending back to Cape Town.

At long last the 51^st over-wintering team were alone. Or were we? Actually, the trip to the Summer Base takes us right past our nearest neighbors, the Germans, and their base, Neumeyer III. Although we still had plenty of cargo work to finish as well as the shutdown procedure for the Summer Base, we were able to spare some time and make a couple of trips to visit Neumeyer III and meet our German counterparts.

Spacestation: Neumayer IIII

The German hospitality was amazing and they spoiled us with beer and snacks, which was a welcome relief as our supply of luxuries at the Summer Base had dwindled during our long week of confinement. We also exchanged gifts of wine and beer as well as team memorabilia, which we had brought from South Africa.

Yay, prezzies!

We were also able to have a very well guided tour of the base, which was recently completed in 2009, which makes it one of the more modern bases on the continent. Like SANAE IV, Neumeyer III is also a raised structure, but because it is not built on solid rock, the base has to be constantly lifted above the ice using hydraulic stilts. It was very interesting to see how this unique technology has been integrated into the base design and it seems to be working very well for them.

After a much longer trip than we initially anticipated, we were finally ready to leave. Overall it was a very enjoyable trip and I look forward to the opportunity to go back at the end of the year and to share over-wintering stories with our new German friends over some amber liquid!

The Germans have Becks on tap. Very nice!