The Australian Antarctic Division had decommissioned the trusty icebreaker, the Aurora Australis, and due to Covid as well as teething problems, the newly built Nuyina wasn’t ready in time for our voyage south. So the MPV Everest was chartered for the job. It’s not an icebreaker though, only ice strengthened meaning it can push aside ice, but can’t break through solid sheets of sea ice.
We departed Hobart at sunset on 10 February, cruising down the Derwent River with views from the ship’s lofty helipad. Even though we’d all spend two-weeks quarantining in a hotel prior to departure, we still had to wear masks, do daily temperature checks, and keep a reasonable distance while aboard the ship. The Everest is not really designed for having social gatherings anyway, as it does mostly deep sea work including saturation diving. We were lucky enough to get guided tours of the saturation diving set-up, complete with pressurised living quarters, pressurised lifeboat, and the diving bell itself, all operated by an elaborate computerised system to ensure the diver’s safety.
The voyage wasn’t too rough, with swells up to about 6 metres, but it was rather tedious for this landlubber and I spent quite a bit of time fairly sedentary - I watched a lot of movies but then there wasn’t much to do anyway! Going out on deck was nice but it got colder and colder as we got further south, and sometimes the wind was pretty ferocious so you wouldn’t last too long out there. It was a treat when we’d see whales and dolphins, and I helped out on some bird surveys conducted from the bridge which was interesting.
It took the Everest 13 days to get to Davis Station, arriving on 23rd February, where the Davis expeditioners changed over, and we spent about 2 weeks doing their resupply. I worked on a small boat helping with the refuelling - the big fuel line is run out over the water, anchored out and the diesel pumped ashore. Our job was to anchor it and keep an eye out for any leaks, and to push away ice and bergy-bits that floated into the hose. The rest of the cargo went ashore on barges. I was lucky enough to spend 8 hours at Davis Station in-between my two refuelling shifts. I had a tour around the station, enjoyed the comforts of the spacious and fairly new living quarters, and had some nice meals which was a pleasant change from the offerings aboard the ship. There were also elephant seals and Adele penguins to be entertained by.
