Jim just communicated the whole science team that the cruise will be extended for another two weeks. The National Science Foundation (NSF) approved his request for 15 days more of ship time to finish the work we have not been able to do due to bad weather. It turns the NSF has an emergency fund that we can tap on. People aboard the ship did not take the news very well. They are used to cruises being 40 days long, and this one was already 25 days above that. Adding 15 more is beyond what most people can take.
The current plan is to stop at Ushuaia, Argentina on March 25 to fuel the ship and pick essential supplies that would allow extending the length of the cruise. I asked to be let down in Argentina so I could head back to school as scheduled, but they said there are no provisions for us to go through immigration in Argentina. I am bombed down. I have to find a good way to break the news to my family before I post this entry. I hope that we will, at least, be able to get fresh vegetables at Ushuaia.
Happy fools day! The night watch has been very busy preparing for this day, and the pranks began to roll at midnight. As Mary said, 'creativity comes from boredom'. It is true that the science team is used to cruises lasting about 40 days, and we just passed that mark. The length of this cruise is starting to sink in on some people, so prank day comes as a relief to those who are starting to be bored. Luckily for me I am swamped with projects to do and have not hit that stage yet. I would like to see my family, but I am not bored. Let us take a look at the pranks that have happened:
Buzz , the Marine Project's Coordinator (MPC) and contact person with Raytheon Polar Services has a nice office that has become the place to be when socializing. He also has a nice expresso machine that attracts coffee connoisseurs. I have heard it is also the mate drinking central for the night watch. Here is the view of Buzz's office this morning:
Starbuzz serves four different types of coffee to Palmer residents
Brian is replacing Buzz as the barista at the moment. You can send your drink request through our blog.
Brian the barista is the employee of the month at Starbuzz
Our fearless leader, Jim, is more disciplined that I am and shows up in the gym every morning. I will describe the gym on another entry; for the moment I will say that someone must have thought that looking at pictures of bodybuilders would help motivate gym goers, so the gym is decorated on this theme. The decoration changed slightly and here is how the walls of the gym looked like this morning.
Our fearless leader at the jim
Alex Orsi, the co-chief scientist, did not escape the prankers. He asked me politely no to show a picture of the photoshopped picture that appeared in the mess hall. Diverse recognitions for the Palmer are hung in one of the walls in the mess hall. A pictureof Alex 'el guapo' Orsi appeared on this wall; he is portrayeyed as the sexiest oceanographer of 1978. Too bad for censorship, as it is truly a master piece.
You know Tony from the March 26 entry. Tony developed a superstition around the bear-shaped honey dispensers (honeybears) during the seven years that he commercially fished in Alaska with a captain that had that superstition. He does not touch the honeybears that we have on the dinning tables and, if it were up to him, he would vanish them. This great diorama appeared on his desk this morning, with lights included.
Lucky charm for Tony, who is superstitious against honeybear in ships
An unknown photographer, not me, took a picture of Robert and Kris in their underwear inside the shower in a surprised position. They printed it on the plotter and glued it to Lily's shower; she faced the image when she was ready to take a shower and pulled the curtain. She said they really got her.
Barry out on deck, getting ready to lower the trace metal rosette told through the radio to Chris Measures, who was in the dry lab powering the rosette, 'Oh my! sparks are coming from the rosette'. Chris disconnected the power in a hurry and then heard 'April fools day!'
The galley staff pulled a good one on most everybody by posting on the menu that we would have Mexican Night for dinner, most people's favorite on board (not me. I am not trying to be a snob, but I know what Mexican food really is). You could hear voices on the lab excited by the idea of dinner, and this is what we found the menu to be at dinner time:
Updated menu at dinner time, after a whole day of people salivating to the prospect of a Mexican dinner.
No fools day joke, we are moving our watches an hour forward. We will do this seven times in the next three weeks. We also just crossed the Antarctic Circle for the first time. We will see what is up with that ceremony. I am not looking forward to that...