After quite a few delays, I found myself sleeping on board the Nathaniel B. Palmer (NBP) last night. From the picture below you can see it's quite a large boat and there's about 70 people on board including all the scientists and crew members. There's a tugboat tied up next to us at the pier which can help you see how big it actually is.
Our beautiful boat, the Nathaniel B. Palmer
Before I got onboard, I had to get my Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) gear. I brought a lot of stuff already, but now I have two more bags of warm clothes. Camilo did a wonderful job serving as my fashion consultant at the warehouse picking out all kinds of gear to wear.
My amazing fashion assistant Camilo who helped me pick out my ECW gear
One of the most amazing sights is watching cargo being put on board the boat. A huge crane lifts up the goods from the dock and then swing around and sets them down on the lower deck or on the helicopter pad up above. It's no easy task and requires a bunch of different people. Below you can see our luggage as well as a Zodiac (a rigid inflatable rubber motorboat) being placed onboard.
The crane onboarding luggage and a Zodiac onto the NBP
In addition, our security orientation happened this afternoon and as part of our briefing, we tried on our immersion suits which are more commonly referred to as Gumby suits. They're made of extremely thick neoprene that would keep someone warm in the case that everyone had to abandon ship and possibly end up in really cold water. However, in the cold waters of the Antarctic, they won't keep you alive for very long.
Megumi Shimizu, me, and Jameson Clarke trying on our immersible Gumby suits
We also had to gather in one of the 2 lifeboats so we knew where to go in an emergency. They fit 70 people and carry plenty of food and water to last everyone aboard for about 48 hours. However, there are no bathrooms on board so I can only imagine the smell after a few days.
The back of one of the two lifeboats found on the Nathaniel B. Palmer
Lastly, the NBP is having a few delays actually getting started on our voyage. We are stuck for another two days in Chile, but we should be on our way soon!