01 June 2004

Joined: 23 Mar 2004 Posts: 87

June 1, 2004 Tuesday
8:30 PM Alaska time

I am writing this entry just as ice liberty is ending. Ice liberty is when the crew and the scientists are given down time to relax, enjoy life and spend some time off the ship. The Healy works 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so ice liberty is well deserved and a great morale booster.

Quite an organized system allowed people to safely move from the ship to an ice floe. About 3:30 PM a long, steep staircase called a brow was secured from the ship to the floe. After the brow was secured, a patrol was sent onto the ice floe to mark off the boundaries with orange cones and flags. They marked off an area approximately the length of the Healy (420 feet) and flagged the edges and cracks. A polar bear watch was set both on the ice and on the ship. When the safety precautions were in place, the bridge announced the beginning of ice liberty and everyone going to the ice stood in line to leave the ship. It was quite a sight watching person after person descend the brow as quickly as he/she could safely step.

The patrol is marking the boundaries all personnel must stay within during ice liberty.

The staircase from the ship to the ice floe is called a brow.

Not to be left out, I joined the brow line. This picture is shot from my place toward the front on the line. You can see the brow in the background.

It was truly a fun and exhausting time. At the start of liberty a group picture was taken with the Healy in the background. Afterwards people began playing soccer, football and Frisbee, throwing snowballs and wrestling in the snow.

Playing soccer during ice liberty.

The highlight of ice liberty was the polar bear plunge event. Many people lined up to jump into the minus one degree Celsius water. Again, the Healy crew made sure everyone was safe. A swim ladder was attached to the ice floe and lowered into the icy brine. A rescue diver (in a dry suit) stood by for any emergencies. The medical officer gave a safety briefing describing the cold-water effects and potential dangers associated with exposing the human body to such a sharp temperature change. Anyone still willing and wanting to plunge after the briefing waited his/her turn to put on a safety harness attached to ropes. One by one they ran and jumped into the icy water. They were immediately pulled to the swim ladder by the safety ropes and helped back onto the ice floe. Afterwards, they were handed their towels, helped into some warm clothes and sent back up the brow to shower and warm themselves.

The Healy during ice liberty. People are gathered toward the stern of the ship to watch the polar bear plunge. Picture taken by Ev Sherr.

MSTCS Glen Hendrickson has been on the Healy for six years. This was his first polar bear plunge.

To see photographs taken by Steve Roberts of UCAR/JOSS, click here.