27 November, 1996

November 27th, 1996

Snow Storm: Day Three

This is our third day in the tent during the snow storm. We had some problems with our tent this morning. The snow was blowing really hard when we woke up. It was a little disappointing because the forecast yesterday from McMurdor had said only another 24 hours, so we were hoping it would be clear. Weather predicting is more difficult here than in the States as their are many fewer sights to get accurate daily data from.

When Mrs. Bennett and I closed up our tent, we had to dig out the door to get it shut. The door on the wind fly tore, so as we were getting quite cold working in the wind, we grabbed some duffel bags and shoved them in the gap. Then it was a quick trip to the pee flag. Although I stood facing into the wind, some swirling snow got into my long underwear. When I got back into the tent, it melted so I was wet and therefore colder than I had been before. We elected to turn one of the extra water bottles into a pee bottle for Mrs. Bennett and I to use until the storm abated. We kept it in the latrine tent.

After breakfast, Dr. Braaten, Suruj and I went to try to fix the tent door, leaving Mrs. Bennett with the stove. We pulled the banana sled over the opening and stuffed duffel bags in the cracks. It worked pretty well. The rest of the day was spent reading in the cook tent. It was colder today. Usually the air is dry and as you work outside your outer clothes dry off (the snow sublimates). However this wasn't happening. Instead all the snow the storm blew into out clothing would melt as we sat inside the tent. The door to our tent got quite icy and we were using the dish towels to mop everything up with. Our parkas were wet and then they would freeze when we went outside. They were still warm, just difficult to get in and out off. I finished my book today and started another just before bed. We had the second portion of shrimp and scallops for dinner tonight. Yummy!

Suruj helped Mrs. Bennett and I crawl back into our tent. Some one will need to dig us out in the morning. It should be better weather though!