Cruise Day 8 Damoy and Port Lockroy

by Ed · January 31, 2023

Greetings, everyone!

It is 11 Jan, 2023, and we wake to snow! Snow! In Antarctica? Didn’t anyone tell Mother Nature it is summertime here? Wink wink!

We sailed through heavy seas as we made our way north from Detaille Island last night. A fun fact is that we are in the 24-hour sun zone, so it doesn’t get dark at night! I watched the seas late into the night. In the morning we have slush buildup on the rails!

The ship anchors at Damoy Hut, and we get the “go” to proceed to the Mud Room. Our zodiac ride is snowy! This was a great day to have ski goggles!

It is only a 5-minute zodiac ride to the landing.

We land in front of the Argentinian Refuge Hut – used for emergency shelter – and the blue British Damoy Hut in the distance. We’ll actually take a hike to the Gentoo penguin rookery first, following the red flags to the right, then I’ll talk more about the Damoy Hut.

We have a long hike around the bay to the closest rookery. I miss the blue skies of yesterday, but the snow is lightly falling and there is very little wind, so this is still a pleasant morning!

On the way I noticed this bird sitting in the snow, relatively oblivious to our passing. I found our excursion team ornithologist and he informed me this is a South Polar Skua resting in the snow.

On the ridge a snowperson appears! We were always told to pick up nothing and leave no marks except footprints, so I’m puzzled at who created this? As we’re walking a fourth ball is stacked on top by someone who appears to be a passenger (red jacket).

We arrive at the closest rookery (the snowperson is standing behind me). These are Gentoos, and there are no chicks to be seen. The snowy weather has persisted long past normal, so eggs were either not laid, or were not viable this season. Even the skuas that normally consume the chicks in the eggs would not touch them. Seeing no chicks is very sad – we chose this cruise timeframe expecting to see lots of chicks! We are told this happens periodically, and the penguins still go through the motions of creating and maintaining the rock nests, and sitting on any eggs that are laid, even though they know the eggs will not produce chicks.

We turn to head back to the Damoy Hut. It’s the blue building to the right.

We have two gentlemen from Norway, Sven and Martin, on board with us. They are Artic restoration specialists and are traveling with us to come work on the Damoy Hut! They gave us a briefing on the Hut and the work they planned to do over the next few months.

The hut was built in 1975 as a support facility for an airstrip on the glacier above (to the left of this photo). When ships could not get in to surrounding waters to deliver supplies the ships would drop off passengers and cargo here. Aircraft equipped with skis – mostly Twin Otters – would pick up the supplies here and deliver them to the other locations. This hut was closed down in 2006 and is now open as a part of the United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT) as a museum. The building was originally painted orange. A refurbishment that occurred just before it closed resulted in it being painted blue, but the paint and the roof are in severe disrepair, and the UKAHT is having Sven and Martin come to perform repairs and return the building to the original orange color!

Let’s go inside!

Inside the door on the right is the kitchen area, split into two areas. It’s interesting looking at the products they had access to down here! Can you believe – Ovaltine? It’s amazing how small a cooktop they had to use. It looks like a kerosene-powered two burner stove.

Across from the kitchen is the dining area. We sign the guestbook on the table. Above each window is a shelf sagging under the weight of the books. I don’t know any of the titles.

I thought this office would be a radio room, but there isn’t a radio. But I am intrigued about the sign on the desk “THE ‘FIDOPOLY’ BOARD HAS BEEN REMOVED TO PORT LOCKROY FOR SAFEKEEPING. UKAHT”

The last room to see is the bunkroom. This is a pretty austere room with fifteen bunk spaces available (two more rows to the left of this picture). They now host storage lockers, snowshoes, a whale bone, and a couple of sleeping bags! I like the little shelf someone put over one of the bunks!

We have a lovely ride back to the ship! Even though it is an overcast day, the colors in the ice are spectacular!

During repositioning and lunch we receive a briefing from the lead of the Port Lockroy team, Lucy Bruzzone. She informs us there is a team of four people (including her) there during the operational months each year, and there are only four months, basically November through March. Anyone interested in serving here can apply online at ukaht.org. Wanna apply?

Port Lockroy was built in 1944 as a secret operation, Operation Tabarin, to establish a territorial claim on the area and support wireless communications – a.k.a. Morse code – for naval support. After World War II it was transferred to the Falkland Island Dependency Survey (FIDS) and became a scientific atmospheric research station, and operated until the early 1960s when those operations were moved to a more modern station. FIDS later gave way to the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) which now operates the stations here! But now we know where “Fidopoly” got its name!

We finally receive the word to gear up and head out for the afternoon excursion. We leave the warmth of the ship and head out for another 5-minute zodiac ride!

A few minutes later we approach the Port Lockroy Base A camp. The building you see on the right is the main facility called the Bransfield House. The building on the left is the boat house and was also the “shop” but I’m not sure if that meant the merchandise shop or the workshop. No explanation. Not in view, and never seen, is the Nissen Hut that provides the accommodations for the staff – it looks like a small quonset hut from other photos I’ve seen. Let’s look a little closer at the facilities we’re allowed to visit!

This is our Port Lockroy landing! Schalk is standing to meet us at the far right. You can see the staff waiting to help us – anyone not in a red jacket – I see thirteen in this image alone, including Schalk! This is the second-most-treacherous landing we have done so far! The rocks require some large steps that surprised a few folks. I love it – a nice challenge and workout! The walk up the rocks reminds me of the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland that I explored on our Not-Quite-A-World Cruise on Oceania last year!

From our rocky approach I failed to capture a decent photo of the front of the main Base A building, the Bransfield House – you see the end of the building to the left in the previous image. So I am borrowing the following image from the ukaht.org website. The long building on the right is the Bransfield House which is the main museum and store/post office. The smaller building in the foreground on the left is the Boat House and shop.

We pass a very obvious penguin highway! The footprints in the snow are cute!

Several penguins have made their home under or next to the main building! OK, here’s an interesting fact – penguins did not live on the island when Base A camp was built. They have recently moved in and taken over! OK, now it’s time to go inside!

Let’s start in the kitchen area. The kitchen here is much brighter with more workspace than previous sites!

The cook area is also much larger with a full standalone stove rather than a two-burner kerosene stove.

A cookbook is on display showing a recipe for seal meat that is flavored with beef to make it palatable. The note explains what a “FID’ is – a Falkand Islands Dependency Survey member. This explains the source for the “Fidopoly” game – Monopoly slanted toward life in the FIDS. Thankfully the Antarctic Treaty banned eating seals and penguins here!

The pantry is stocked with many meat products including pemmican and other minced meats for direct consumption or to flavor the seal and penguin dishes.

The Bransfield House has a photographic darkroom that hosts a safe, presumably for the secret documents associated with Operation Tabarin during World War II.

Like the previous sites, Port Lockroy has a very well supplied workshop!

I have resisted showing you the toilets at the previous sites, but I am inclined to display it here. At this point the blog becomes for adults only. The site is currently run by four women, but you need to remember the site was once operated solely by men. WARNING: some sensitive images follow!

The toilet, in keeping with navy history, is called the “Head” as the toilet on a sailing ship was forward at the head of the ship. If you look at the ukaht.org website you’ll see that even now the toilet in the actual staff housing in similar and has to be emptied daily.

On the wall in front of the head are two Playboy Playmate of the Month pin-ups!

Moving on, this room is the heart of the operations for Operation Tabarin! Radio communications were via Morse code operations. The telegraph key is to the right of the typewriter on the desk.

Next door is a room that hosts more advanced radio equipment!

At the far end of the building is the bunk room. There are eight bunks here, with much better storage for personal effects than we saw at the Damoy Hut this morning.

And similar to the head’s pin-ups, someone invested in adding artwork to the walls of the bunkroom. Here are a couple of the paintings that have survived.

There is a lounge with a bar, phonograph, and a table with…

…the Fidopoly board! This is the item missing this morning from the office at the Damoy Hut! If there are game pieces, cards, and play money that go with the board they are not present.

The bookcase here is much neater than the previous sites. There is quite the collection of Reader’s Digest on the second shelf!

This room is dedicated to the atmospheric research. The big machine in the center of the room is “The Beastie” used for ionospheric observations.

We stopped by the store to buy some postcards and t-shirts before heading out of the Bransfield House. The Boat House is surrounded by Gentoo penguins!

Near the Boat House is the remains of a boat, now home to more penguins!

We spend some time watching this industrious little guy. He eventually drops the stone, shakes his head, and walks away! We don’t know which nest he was planning to deliver that stone.

Another artifact from the operational days is this dog sled. This was once the premier mode of transportation!

As we are leaving to make our way back to the zodiac I see Sven and Martin talking to Lucy. You may recall Sven and Martin are going to restore the Damoy Hut. They disembark the ship today to live here.

Looking out to where the zodiac will pick us up I see something in the water. I ask Lucy if it is a leopard seal. She says, “Yes, that’s Bertha. She made this bay her home!” Back on the ship at the daily Recap briefing we are shown a video of Bertha harassing the kayakers, and actually biting the bottom of the kayak guide’s kayak! Bertha is huge compared to the size of the kayaks!