03: Port Call

The next morning was suuuuch a wintery wonderland for our walking-tour around town...

Keep in mind, though, it is a comfortable 32 degrees outside during all of this. Sure, people have some winter coats and hats on, but it's probably just one layer. Many folks are in light jackets. It's totally doable, y'all!

The inside spaces are also incredibly comfortable and cozy and truly lived in in a beautiful way. The many layers of systems are really dialed in, and I started to see all the ways in which my living situation in Portland is very much like a microcosm of Palmer. Or maybe it's the other way around?! I was immediately enamored by the whole thing, excited to be part of it.

And I just could not get over how fluffy everything was feeling! 🥹

And it definitely still gets dark at night.

Our first full day at Palmer flew by, and it was just the beginning of what they refer to in the boating biz as port call. Put simply: it's the time during which a vessel is docked, the lines are set, the gangway is down, people and cargo are coming and going, and a variety of other boating operations are ongoing until the vessel leaves. In our case, the port call ended up being 10 days.

For the first 5 days, we woke up each morning in our bunks on the boat, ate breakfast on the boat, and then made our way across the gangway for the work day. We'd go back to the boat for lunch and dinner, and then again to sleep. We were still free to hang out in the galley/bar or use the gym on station, but we still lived on the vessel.

Then moving day came around and we all did a big switcheroo! The incoming summer crew (that's us!) moved out of our rooms on the boat and into new rooms on station, and the outgoing winter crew (that's them!) moved out of their rooms on station and into new rooms on the boat.

Things were a bit in limbo, but both crews worked together as one big team for the duration of the port call. We did a fuel transfer from the vessel to the station (about 50,000 gallons), we worked directly with our counterparts for winter-to-summer knowledge pass-downs, we unloaded gear and supplies from the ship while trash and other out-going materials were loaded on, we did a big frozen food transfer/inventory from freezer containers on the boat to freezer containers on station, and we started to wrap our brains around all the inner workings of this wacky place.

The view from my bedroom window! 🤩🥰

Sunsets were still popping off!

And then the time came to release the lines and wave goodbye!

The summer season had officially begun at Palmer Station! We were a solid crew of 29, and it was time to really settle in and figure this place out. It's up to all of us now!