Right now, it is 8°F, but the wind chill is -10°F. So, pretty much anything is fair game for freezing. Ice drills freeze. Batteries for the ATV. Science equipment. Fingers too, if you're not careful. It's colder than we expected, so we've had to be problem solvers. We've had to be resilent. Here are some examples:
We had an open hole through the ice, and our sampling equipment went down into the lake just fine. But when we pulled our equipment out of the hole, the equipment was covered with water that immediately froze. So we set up a Scott tent over the drill hole to protect the equipment from the wind and cold that was rendering it useless.
We drilled a hole yesterday, but about 2.5 meters through the ice, the drill got stuck. Really stuck. We broke 2 different tools trying to wrestle the drill out of the ice. Eventually, we decided to melt the drill out with the Hotsy (melter). It's not an ideal solution because of the amount of fuel required by the Hotsy, but it got the drill out of the lake, so that was a win.
Our Jamesway hut wasn't staying warm enough for our liking, so we got an additional portable heater sent to us that required a propane tank. So, we actually drilled a hole in the side of the shelter for the fuel hose to run. Can you imagine drilling a hole in the side of your home?!
Sometimes its just a matter of putting our heads together to figure it all out.
Date
Location
Lake Bonney
Expedition
Weather Summary
Partly cloudy, breezy
Temperature
5°F
Wind Chill
-14°F
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