Today was another day of being “on delay.” In the morning, we were ready at 8 am to get ENDURANCE out the door and to follow ourselves shortly thereafter. However, there was some light snowfall at McMurdo which restricted visibility too much for us to go out. So we were put on weather hold for two hours, and then two hours more. We finished up getting our stuff packed and the final cargo arrangements made. Then, as it cleared up in town, the winds at Lake Bonney began to pick up. So, though the helos could fly out, they would not be able to safely place ENDURANCE on the small area of the wooden platform as it hung beneath them. HeloOps did send out some loads of our other cargo slung underneath the helicopters (loads that could just be set on the ice, not targeted to a platform), so that the pilots could get a feel for what the conditions were out at the lake. If it was reasonable, they’d come back for ENDURANCE, and we’d follow. So we waited to hear their report back.
They reported back that it was no good. ENDURANCE wouldn’t fly today, and there was really no reason for the rest of us to go out if there wasn’t a ‘bot to work on, except that it would free up room in town to help accommodate a planefull of Australians that just arrived. HeloOps was still trying to work out whether we’d be able to get some of the group out tonight. So we waited some more for the call back, just chewed the fat in the office.

Chris, Rachel and Shilpa sitting in the office in Crary passing time while on delay.
Finally at 5:30 pm, we got the call that none of us would be flying today. We were released from waiting at the phone, free to try again tomorrow. Here’s the helicopter flight schedule for tomorrow. ENDURANCE’s flight is hightlighted in red, team SAS in yellow, and the remaining cargo in green.
Flight # | 31L | Pilot | |||||||
161 | Dimov | ||||||||
. | Weight (lbs.) | Duration (hrs) | |||||||
Time | Event | Activity | PAX Name | PAX | SVB | Cargo | External | CS | GT |
8:15 | G-078-M | MCM PU 2 pax & cargo to MT Newall PI 2 pax & cargo | Boris, Leppo | 390 | 60 | 80 | 0.50 | ||
9:25 | G-078-M | MT Newall PU 2 pax & cargo to Bull Pass PI 2 pax & cargo | Boris, Leppo | 390 | 60 | 80 | 0.50 | ||
10:05 | G-078-M | Bull Pass PU 2 pax & cargo to MCM PI 2 pax & cargo | Boris, Leppo | 390 | 60 | 80 | |||
11:50 | B-211-M | MCM PU cargo (2 triwalls) to END-W Lobe LK Bonney PI cargo | 1115 | ||||||
12:50 | B-211-M | LK Bonney to MCM | |||||||
14:00 | G-078-M | MCM to MT Mewall PI cargo (conveyor) | 620 | ||||||
15:00 | G-078-M | MT Newall to MCM | |||||||
Flight # | 36H | Pilot | |||||||
162 | James | ||||||||
. | Weight (lbs.) | Duration (hrs) | |||||||
Time | Event | Activity | PAX Name | PAX | SVB | Cargo | External | CS | GT |
8:30 | N-021-M | MCM PU 2 pax & cargo to AWS 109 (White Island South: S 78 06.82, E 168 19.54) | Dermody, Hochstedler | 310 | 60 | 185 | 2.00 | ||
8:55 | N-021-M | AWS 109 to MCM | |||||||
9:40 | B-211-M | MCM PU 2 pax & cargo to END-W. Lobe LK Bonney PI 2 pax & cargo | Hogan, Richmond | 400 | 60 | 160 | |||
10:30 | B-211-M | LK Bonney to AWS 109 (White Island South) | |||||||
11:25 | N-021-M | AWS 109 PU 2 pax & cargo to MCM PI 2 pax & cargo | Dermody, Hochstedler | 310 | 60 | 185 | |||
12:40 | B-211-M | MCM PU cargo (batteries) to END-W Lobe LK Bonney PI cargo | 125 | 855 | |||||
13:40 | B-236-M | END-W Lobe LK Bonney to Blood Falls PI cargo | 45 | ||||||
13:55 | B-211-M | Blood Falls to MCM | |||||||
Flight # | 08H | Pilot | |||||||
163 | Murphy | ||||||||
. | Weight (lbs.) | Duration (hrs) | |||||||
Time | Event | Activity | PAX Name | PAX | SVB | Cargo | External | CS | GT |
9:15 | B-211-M | MCM PU cargo (BOT) to ENDUR-W. Lobe LK Bonney PI cargo | 2000 | ||||||
10:25 | B-211-M | ENDUR-W Lobe LK Bonney to MCM | |||||||
12:00 | B-211-M | MCM PU 4 pax & cargo to END-W. Lobe LK Bonney PI 4 pax & cargo | Flesher, Price, Siegel, Gulati | 800 | 120 | 720 | |||
12:50 | R-811-M | END-W. Lobe LK Bonney to MCM | |||||||
14:30 | T-988-M | MCM to Tres Hermanes (Shear Zone area) | |||||||
14:55 | T-988-M | Tres Hermanes PU 5 pax & cargo to MCM PI 5 pax & cargo | Hallman, Armstrong, Bradley, Seifert, Koubek | 1000 | 180 | 295 | |||
15:40 | R-841-M | MCM to LK Fryxell PI cargo | 30 | ||||||
16:20 | R-841-M | LK Fryxell PU 5 pax & cargo to LK Hoare PI 5 pax & cargo | Fabre, Dell, Nichols, Klegstad, W. Murphy | 950 | 180 | 300 | |||
16:35 | R-841-M | LK Hoare to MCM | |||||||
In der Hoffnung, dass das Wetter bei euch seeehr bald besser wird, grüßt dich von ganzem Herzen aus Boulder, wo es ab morgen Abend auch wieder schneien soll, Deine Mama
Wir nehmen an, dass du nun bei Bonny Lake bist und zu beschäftigt um einen Eintrag zu machen. Habe heute mit Gisela telefoniert und sie richtet viele Grüße aus.