Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 03/22/2011 - 16:46
Forums
Seawater Property Changes in the Southern Ocean

Hi Juan, I am Wil WHite and am taking the Polartrec/ UA course 593 and look forward to the webinar on Wednesday. The question I have is how long is the Palmer out to see before it has to come back in again for refueling, and What do you miss most being out to sea? Keep up the good work. Wil

Tue, 03/22/2011 - 18:58

Juan Botella

Hi Wil, thanks for writing with those great questions.
Let's start with the question about the Palmer. I went up to the bridge and
found the second and third mates. I asked them you question and the second
mate said 'the Palmer has an endurance of 60 days'. Sixty days? But our
cruise is longer than that!
So technically, the Palmer can be sailing for 60 days, but if we go slower
we can stretch that endurance time, which is what we are ding now. We have
been sailing mostly at 9 knots (9 nautical miles in an hour), which is not
very fast. We steamed at 12 knots the other day when we were trying to
reach a mooring before dark, for example.
Another factor that affects how much fuel we use is how much sea ice we
encounter. We use more fuel when we need to move aside large planks of ice
or when we move around loose pieces of ice as there is more friction with
the ship.
What do I miss the most? My family, no doubt. It is not only not being with
them that I miss, but experiencing so many new and exciting things that I
wish I could share with them. I know I will talk with them about all this,
and even bore them with picture after picture, but I wish I could hold my
wife's hand while watching the auroras, or talk with my kids about the
difference between that tall penguin you see over there and the little ones
on this other float that started waddling as soon as we got close.
I also look forward to the webinar. Thanks again for writing,
Juan.