Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 10/05/2007 - 12:40
Forums
Antarctic Undersea ROV

Hi Mindy!!

My students and I have read all of your postings and gone through your pictures earlier today.  As Brandon said... the awesomeness is sinking in and I am so excited to go.  My students kept teasing me last week when we were in Yellowstone that  I needed to not have on any jackets and the cold was good practice! we shall see!!! I leave for New Zealand on Nov.12, and go to McMurdo on the 15th, hopefully I will see you at the landing field for a few minutes!!  Feel free to send any advice my way!!

Have a great experience!!

Ann Linsley

Sat, 10/06/2007 - 06:03

Kirk Beckendorf

Hi Mindy,Hope you are having fun in Happy Camper School.
 Brandon and Ann definitly have it right about how you arriving on the Ice and reading your journals has boosted my excitment level and sense of reality. I too would love all the advice you can send us. One specific bit of advice I would like... I have been debating about if I should buy a high end SLR digital camera to supplement the point and shoot camera. Any suggestions?
Kirk 
 

Mon, 10/08/2007 - 00:08

Mindy Bell

Hi Ann and students,I should overlap with you for a tiny bit. I leave the ice on the 16th so maybe we can have a little time the evening you get in!
Advice so far: Check EVERYTHING in the CDC. I thought I'd checked all my zippers but missed the faulty velcro on my snow pants so now I have saggy pants. They are NOT issueing the big fur-back mittens so ASK for those. They also don't issue "Field Pants" so ask for those as well. The snow pants are bib style and it is handy to have pants that you can just pull down without taking "big red" the parka off. I asked for felt liners for the bunny boots as well (I need bunny boots instead of the blue ones because I'll be working around water) and they usually only give those to folks with the blue boots.
Bring vaseline, your own very-insulated gloves and/or mittens if you have them, and a small rolly-lint-remover if you don't like your hair over all your fuzzy clothes! In fact, bring a mister to zap your hair back into place! I could use all four of those things - and don't have any of them! You do get warm gloves from CDC but I wish I had my own as well... It will be warmer when you are here but if you drive a snowmobile you will want warm hands!!! Bring insulated hiking boots for walking around MacTown so you don't have to wear your big boots.
I'll add more as I think of it!

Mon, 10/08/2007 - 00:06

Mindy Bell

Hi Kirk and everyone I bought an Olympus SP550 with a 10x Optical Zoom - for about $600 - but I think I should have listened to Dena's advice on her Canon Powershot.  One of the guys here has that camera and his pictures are consistently better than mine...
It is nice having a slightly larger camera to hold onto with gloves, but check out the resolution and all the other things with the camera before you commit to big bucks!  And then get a camera you will use afterwards as well.  If you want  a high-end camera you will get better pic's than I am getting...I am carrying the Pentax in my pocket as a backup but the batteries tend to die quickly - so I'm glad I have the Olympus for that.