1 December, 2000

Greetings,

We had company today at Palmer Station. Around 10 am a ship from the Chilean Navy came and dropped anchor in our harbor. We arranged for a visit of their ship and they came to see the station. I was one of the fortunate ones to visit the Chilean ship. At 1:30 we climbed in a zodiac and headed for their ship. We pulled up to the rear of the ship and climbed on board. Junior lieutenant Patricio greeted us and showed us around their boat.

Their main function is a rescue vessel and used as a tug. The day before it arrived at Palmer it had gone through some very rough weather that included twenty foot seas and high winds. The first stop on our tour was the helicopter pad. They don't use it often but it is available if the weather is cooperating. We were shown the bridge, engine room, kitchen, dining facilities and their quarters. It was a very interesting tour. They also had an officer on board from the Argentinean Navy. He was there to learn about the Chilean Navy.

Later in the evening four members from their crew had dinner at station, while four members from Palmer ate on board their ship. One of the crew that came ashore spoke English while the others communicated in Spanish. My Spanish is very weak. I know enough to get myself in trouble, but we all a good time. After they returned to ship I had a lot of work to catch up on. I was mixing new batches of acetone for chlorophyll samples. We also run some more clean water calibrations on the ac9. I'm also learning how to use the station microscope. I hope to post a few pictures of phytoplankton soon. I have sent a few short movies to be posted on the web site with many more that are coming. If there is something you want to see just send me an e-mail.

My only problem at Palmer is time. There are so many things I want to spend time on. It's like being in a candy store and you can take anything you want, but I WANT IT ALL. I guess I'm a little greedy. Be looking for the movie "Night of the Living Krill". A major motion picture produced by myself with casts of thousands. I gave it two thumbs up.

C-Ya,

-- Bill

p.s. I'll get to the previous day's question tomorrow.

Chilean ship visiting Palmer Station.

A group from Palmer Station on the bridge of the Chilean navy ship.