Welcome to Palmer Station

We left Chile March 23 and were rock-a-bye-babied across the Drake Passage to arrive on March 28. We immediately started the process of orientation with facility tours, safety presentations, and environmental awareness training. The station was at capacity, so most of us new arrivals actually spent the week living on the boat. We switched off at the end of the week with the folks headed north.

The Palmer Station is made up of 2 “large” buildings, BioLab and GWR, several smaller buildings (TerraLab, the boathouse, and carpenter shop), and various types of storage buildings. These are all connected by a curved gravel driveway around the perimeter of the buildings and a series of boardwalks in between the buildings. Palmer’s beauty isn’t easily captured in photographs, but in person she sparkles with life. I am living in the coastal village I’ve always dreamed of.

BioLab is the building you see up front. The first floor houses the wet labs and the large aquarium room, the second floor has the galley and offices, and the third floor has dorm style bedrooms. My office and my current room are in BioLab, but I may still be moving around a bit as the station’s population changes with each ship’s arrival/departure.  GWR (Garage, Warehouse, and Recreation) is the building behind that. The Garage and Warehouse, along with the medical clinic and a small store are on the first floor and the lounge, bar, exercise room, and slightly larger dorm rooms are up on the second floor.  TerraLab is the building you see up on top of the hill. It is the center for the collection of geological, meteorological, and atmospheric data. The Carp Shop is in between Bio and GWR, and you can see the Boathouse up front.

In front of the station we have Hero Inlet and Arthur Harbor. The station is equipped with Zodiacs, and our scientists visit the surrounding islands and waters to collect samples and observe the wildlife. We also have a mighty big “backyard”. The backyard is actually acres of wobbly rocks between Arthur Harbor and the glacier. We can pitch a tent out there anytime we’d like and they’ve even built a little hut for the windier nights. I’ve seen a couple of penguins near the water back there, and I’ve practically tripped over lounging fur seals that choose to come up far into the rocky area. There is a small slice of non-crevassed glacier on which we are allowed to walk, and we can hike to a high point with a wonderful view of the surrounding mountains and islands.

In my few weeks here I’ve gotten familiar with the station and its surroundings and I’m looking forward to letting you know all about our activities here. In the meantime, check out my photo page on picasa (https://picasaweb.google.com/sailmaia).