The day started with more packing - our dive gear that had been drying overnight and needed to go on the helicopter with Dan, me, and Marty and Oly the "blasters." We are headed for New Harbor, a field camp on the opposite side of McMurdo Sound from Ross Island. We have two more study sites nearby, and will be based there for the next 2 weeks. It is nice to get out of "town" and into our own little world - there will just be the 6 of us working here.

	Leaving MacTown.

Our flight out was in a Bell 212 helicopter. Scotty, the pilot, was careful to ask if we needed to stay at low altitudes because of our diving (at high altitudes, decompression sickness can hit if your blood is still saturated with gases absorbed at depth). But we have been out of the water long enough that there is no extra risk to us flying.

Jonna and Jennifer geared up to fly.	The Bell 212 helicopter landing at New Harbor.

As we circled New Harbor camp we were a little surprised at the lack of stuff...where were our 2 snowmobiles and our 6-wheeler? Only 10 drums of fuel? Where were our tanks and compressor? Once we landed, a quick survey showed that many things were indeed, missing, and a few phone calls later we discovered that all our stuff was at Marble Point. Heavy, bulky or dangerous items are traversed across the Sound in ground vehicles instead of flown in helicopters. Out gear had been traversed to the main staging area at Marble Point, but the ice was too rough to bring it the rest of the way. Somehow, this fact had gotten lost in the logistic quagmire, and here we were with no propane to cook with, no vehicles, and no scuba tanks. The helo team scrambled, rearranged their schedules, and started bringing us gear. PHI, the helicopter contractor, showed their "can-do" style in getting us all set in short order. An A-Star was pressed into service along with the 212. There were so many flights taking off and landing it was hard to keep track of what had been brought and what still needed to come. Kevin, the helo tech, was kept very busy directing traffic and replacing the cargo nets and cables. Most of the gear was so big that it had to be sling-loaded under the helicopters - you can't fit a snowmobile inside a helo, so it swings on a cable underneath. They even brought the other four B 010 team members, Jennifer, Craig, Jonna and Jim, though fortunately they let them ride inside the helicopter.

Crammed in the helo.

Moving the propane tanks from where the helo set them down to where we need to hook them up to our stove..	One of our snowmobiles sling-loaded beneath the helo.

Then it was time to start setting up to blast our dive holes. The big drill rig that we use in McMurdo cannot get out here, so Marty and Oly, explosives experts, were here to blast us holes with dynamite. They drill a 5" hole through the ice, insert dynamite that looks like a string of oversized sausages, set up the fuses and detonators, and KABOOM! The first blast breaks through the ice. The second clears the large chunks. Then we let the slush refreeze for a day, cut a hole through the thin new ice with a chainsaw - and go diving!

	Setting up to blast.

	Fire in the hole!

Jonna and I spent the afternoon on the sea ice, marking sites to be blasted. It was beautiful walking over the ice surface - different colors and clarities with bubbles and rocks trapped in places - blue to white to so clear that it is unnerving to walk across, streams of air somehow trapped during freezing making you realize that the solid surface beneath your feet is a temporary thing. We have a different perspective on Mt. Erebus from here and huge icebergs loom in the middle distance. Behind us Taylor Valley runs up past the Commonwealth Glacier. It is marvelously quiet and peaceful, no back-up beepers, no heavy equipment. Suddenly, we appreciate so much more how big Antarctica is. In town, we are insular, protected; here we feel tiny in the vast whiteness. It is stunningly beautiful.

Stacy and Jonna marking sites on the sea ice.