An eventful weekend
November 13th, 2005Well, the last few days have been very busy. Despite it being a weekend! Good weather means lots of flying, and flying means work for me. On Saturday we sent two aircraft to Sky Blu, a remote base on the Antarctic Peninsula, where there is a natural ice runway we can land our larger Dash-7 aircraft on wheels. Sky Blu is basically a service station for aircraft, supplying fuel and acting as a depot for supplies heading further south. The Dash-7 got there and back without incident, but the Twin Otter (a much smaller aircraft) developed engine trouble and had to stay overnight. The crew of the Otter thus missed out on Saturday Night At Rothera, which is a big event in the base’s week – with a formal meal and (often) some form of entertainment afterwards. This week was scheduled to be a barbeque, yes, outside, but the 20 knot wind and blowing snow led to the traditional British Indoor Barbeque, ably grilled by our new Belgian chef, Riet. Following the meal we were treated to a rare gig from the Rothera wintering band, Tepid Stan, playing a fine selection of rock and indie cover tunes in the lively atmosphere of the sledge store. My room-mate, “Soup” Laidlaw, enjoyed his birthday hugely!
Tepid Stan, live
A busy night in the sledge store
This morning I had a late start, which was just as well. I’ve been flight following all afternoon, though, but I’m shortly heading off to the delights of the bar quiz. We’ll see how it goes…