Burton Island (AGB 1) - Naval Cruise Book

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vii iv It will take the SeaBees about three weeks to set up the buildings, but long before that the radio has to be operating. In the mean- time, they will live in tents. uIt is much more comfortable in a tent than in the Sno-Cat, says Picciotto. i'We use a Coleman stove, and I had my shirt off. He was on the same traverse last year, this is his sixth time in the Antarctic. In 1958 he wintered-over at Belgium's Roi Baudouin base, about where the four-year traverse will wind up in 1969, and made the first exploration ofthe interior. One group of his party got lost in the Belgica Mountains and was rescued by Russian DC-3s. Warmth appeals to Horton, since he was born in Maine. He speaks nostalgically of Torremolinos where he spent two weeks while stationed in French Morocco, and he hopes to work his way back to Spain or Italy. Volunteers for Deep Freeze, whenever possible, are given preference in their next assignment. The short- est way to the Mediterranean may be by way of the South Pole. Horton says the radio he will take to Plateau is a KWM-2A, basically the same as the one in the ham shack. A few minutes ago, I was three-way with Byrd and Illinois. Byrd dropped out, but Illinois was loud and clearf, Plateau makes everyone un- easy, simply because they donit know whatthey will find out there. Horton prefers action to uncertainty, and he concentrates on his At left, top: Club 90 at the South Pole, named for the degree of latitude. Movies are shown here every night, and parties are held on Saturday or to celebrate a pro- motion. At one of these affairs, Madeira, the sled dog, grabbed the cook's hat and disappeared under a bench to chew on it. Stew refused to get angry: I gotta keep in good with that dog -in case that plane don't come back. Bottom: A resident at Pole reaches up to remove a panel in the galley so that he can empty a can placed there to catch the drip. This building leaks from the weight of the snow and is one of two scheduled to be replaced in Deep Freeze '67. Below: Stew, the cook. Bobby .loe Davis prepares an unlimited supply of good food for the men at the Pole, and his wisecracks keep them from feeling sorryfor them- selves. He belongs to Antarctic Support Activities, which does the housekeeping on the Continent. Aircraft have replaced the slow tractors that hauled supplies overland, but it takes a large ground force to maintain the planes, and ASA to maintain the ground force. '1' -aI 'f ' ., .J-H-V , P' ' Q 'if w

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cg- gg:-y+7g---l T-442: 'M 5,5-li-TIF'TLT:::L-1 - P-Lil-414241 ,-II1 1 W' 'gr '-5:4---'---.-...-......,. -,. ,. -,. -- -.v..-,-.-.. -,. - .,. . . - '- ---.--..-.. ..-.- .. .ZTlTl1:TL1T:2T':'-'-+--L e'V...L .-......LTL1i7 ---s-....JT. '2Lx.' 77 v-- .-.- rL.:T11:rLT1T-7'rv-.-.-.-.-.v.-.-.-.-.-...- ..- Bernie Pope in the corpenter's shop wintered-over of the Pole. It is so worm below the ice thot he works in his undershirt. The tonk stores the fresh wafer thot comes from the snow-melter. equipment, which is subject to his control. He believes the genera- tor that powers the radio may give trouble in the thin air. 4'I'm going to haveto getitup here and really adjust those carburetorsf' uThe biggest increase in altitude is between sea-level and the Pole, Picciotto points out to Horton. HThere is only 10 percent between here and Plateau. So you just have to take it easy. They will meet at the same point on an endless sheet of ice. His experience is greater than Horton's, but the radio may save his life. This accounts for the intuitive respect between the USARPS and the Navy. The 'chouse mouse for today, the man assigned to clean up, is Ambalada, a swarthy electrician's mate who is in charge of the generator room. At the moment he is washing dishes, but he spent a week recently in the nuclear power plant at McMurdo. Munoz comes in with the other two Argentine pilots. They put themselves out to be charming, since they.feel they have stretched the Navy ts hospitality - from three days to three weeks. Picciotto, I