June 2, 2000, pm

End of the Cruise

Arrival

Rainbow, lake and mountains for inclusion with final web entry.

Last of the e-mail.

Around 9 pm last night those who had not gone ashore earlier watched as the final few feet separating the ship from the pier closed, officially ending our voyage. It was a cold rainy night in town with new snow falling on the hills south and west of the city.

This morning, pallets of equipment and samples were off loaded and on-load of cargo for the next cruise began.

The afternoon was spent exploring the area around Punta Arenas. After renting cars we drove to a lake in the mountains south of Punta Arenas. The park was closed for the season but the caretaker allowed us to stay for 1/2 an hour enjoying the beautiful scenery and having a quick picnic lunch of bread & cheese. Two unexpected bonuses were the appearance of a Chilean fox and a wonderful rainbow over the lake.

Chilean fox

I hope you have enjoyed sailing along with us on this Antarctic adventure. It truly was an adventure. The Captain, Chief Mate and Ice Pilot each told me that this trip into the Weddell Sea was the heaviest ice the Nathaniel B. Palmer has ever been in, some up to 3 meters thick.

From this end I would like to thank the operational crew of the RVIB Nathaniel B. Palmer (Edison Chouest Offshore), the Raytheon science support staff and all members of the scientific party for their support. Thanks also to Sharon Rippey, Director of Media Relations at Hamilton College for her work in seeing that these notes and images were integrated into the web site.

Cheers,

Dave

tewksbda@nbp.polar.org

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