Before anyone can ride in a Zodiac, he or she must take the course called Boating I. The POPs team took this course on our first day here at Palmer.

Jeff Bechtel is the boating coordinator. He is in charge of all the Zodiac operations, and he also teaches Boating I and Boating II. Boating I is the course that tells us about safety and clothing. We learn the rules about what to wear when we are riding in the Zodiacs. We often are wearing four layers of clothing when we are on the water.

The weather can change quickly here at Palmer Station. Sometimes people are out in a Zodiac and cannot return to the station. So, there are "caches" of supplies on many other islands. Each "cache" is made up of three blue barrels. Inside the barrels are the things that people would need to live while waiting for a bad storm to pass.