Fun in the Falklands

 So here we are... running from the weather again... The forecast is 17meter seas and 70+ knot winds so it's a hurricane without the WARM... I'm calling it a snowicane or iceageddon... I'm not sure which but we just finished pulling in the gear to run to harbor.  As I sit typing Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" is playing in the background... A giant leap forward in the music of choice for this boat... it is usually bad elevator lounge tunes.  I swear "Girl from Impanema" played earlier.

Above was a neat shot looking into the foggy, cold morning. As we continued the recovery we found huge amounts of kelp stuck in various places on the equipment. Its amazing the tenacity of this stuff. Its tensile strength is massive here to the left it has two lead-ins stuck together just off the deck.  Those two cables should be 30 feet apart but are "tied" by a plant.

 Here are Julien and Ian having to cut off the kelp monster from the lead-in

 Here is what we deal with on a daily basis.  The weather here is "interesting"  Like the storms on Jupiter and Saturn, because of the lack of landmass south of Cape Horn, there is nothing to slow the winds or storms. In the winter, wind speeds can reach 200mph and there is a continuous cycle of storms (the same storms) on a approximate three day cycle.

 Recently the three day storms have changed from a terrible cold rain to a cycle of horizontal sleet and snow. If you can imagine, its interesting to see this, but really not pleasant at all to be out in.



Due to the amount of kelp we are dealing with and the occasional problem with the equipment in the water we have to go out in the work-boat, and although it doesnt happen often, because the seas are too rough, it does happen sometimes.

Because of the extremely cold temperatures we have to wear immersion suits (basically a diving dry suit) and its rather restrictive but fairly warm.

 Here is the ASIMA. During the next to last big storm we were in harbor along side the ASIMA so we got the rare photo of our friends... and in the background Bravo and the HMS York, (See Below) our new Falkland Protectorate ship. Shes a destroyer/sub hunter that got sent down after we reported a high frequency sonar signal in the water... Apparently according to MOD the Argentinians learned enough from the first conflict to go out and buy some submarines of their own.

Above is the HMS York, our new protectorate ship.

(Thanks to Penguin News, Stanley, Falklands for photo).

were pretty sure she could shoot down the whole Argentine Airforce and sink their subs without any help.

She is a little more intimidating than the HMS Clyde with the autoloading Seadart missile system and Phalanx Gun Platform.