Currently at the science station it is pretty quiet as far as visitors go. Right now it’s just me, Mike Loranty, and Heather Kropp from Colgate University, but come July 5 that will all change when a large crew of graduate students and researchers arrive from Mississippi State University, University of Alaska at Fairbanks, Woods Hole Research Center, Colgate University, St. Olaf College, and a research team of four from Germany. All together there will be 25 people at the station. We will fill all the rooms in Orbita, where I am staying, and the overflow will be sleeping on the barge. Since there have been a number of questions about the barge and the new guests will be making use of it, I thought I would give you a quick tour.
Mike Loranty on deck of the barge
The barge is powered by the small boats attached to the side of it. When the barge is moving, a generator is used for electricity. There are two wood burning stoves, for heating the cabin and for heating the water. The room where the water is heated doubles as a sauna. The water is pumped up from the river and heated above, in these 55 gallon drums.
Wood burning stove in the corner of the dining area of the barge
Wood burning stove in the stern of the barge heats the water and warms up the sauna
In the bow there is a full kitchen with a fridge, stove, and running water. The cabin also includes a dining area that doubles as a workspace and dry lab. Down the hall there are four bedrooms. Each room has two bunk beds, which makes for tight quarters, but that extra body heat keeps it warmer. There are two showers, a bathroom, and the aforementioned sauna towards the stern of the barge.
Full kitchen on the barge with a stove, fridge, sink and an oven
The small tugboats attached to the side are what power the barge up the river
It doesn't look like we will be using it to navigate up and down the river while I am here. Even though it is likely that we will be visiting some sites up and downstream the Kolyma river, it will only be for the day and therefore we will use one of the smaller boats for access.
I think this barge is so cool. It is an excellent way to access some of the most remote places in Siberia.
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