Packages Have Arrived! We are on our way.

Posted on January 11, 2011 by Whitney King

January 11, 2010. 22:00 local time.

Instruments have Arrived

After five days of waiting, our packages have finally arrived from Santiago. Because several of the containers were too heavy the local airlines would not fly them to Punta Arenas. Instead, they were transported by truck over the Andes Mountains, into Argentina, and then south to the southern tip of Chile. The packages arrive just in time.  The Chilean government has eliminated the fuel subsidies for this area of the country, and the residents in Punta Arenas are going to start a general strike on Wednesday. Once the strike starts nothings will move until the strike is resolved.   Our dock space is also in high demand by cruise boats going to Antarctica.   As we were leaving two cruise ships were coming into the dock to offload passengers. Continue reading →

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Rubbing Magellan’s Toe: Getting to know our Port of Departure, Punta Arenas

Posted on January 9, 2011 by Angela Warner

January 9, 2011, 16:30 local

Punta Arenas is located in the Strait of Magellan in southern Chile, and is well advertised locally as one of the southernmost cities in the world. An old peeling and weathered McDonalds poster at the pier closest to the Melville boasts—Punta Arenas, “Home of the Southernmost McDonalds.” Many passengers on our flight from Santiago named Antarctica as their ultimate destination—some for the purpose of recreation and others for research. This is certainly the farthest south I have ever been, and I’m enjoying the experience of getting to know a new city.

We arrived here in Punta Arenas on Thursday evening after 24 hours of travel, and our plan is to depart on Continue reading →

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Hello from 53 Degrees South – The Most Austral City in the World

Posted on January 9, 2011 by Whitney King

Sunday, 1/9/2011, 16:00 Local

After three flights and 16 hours in the air I have arrived safely in Punta Arenas Chile. Before I left Maine I used the “Where is the Melville” link on the blog to locate the ship at the main dock in Punta Arenas. I don’t speak Spanish so I printed a Google map of my route from the airport to the ship to give to my cab driver. The cabbie looked at map, knew exactly where I wanted to go and headed southwest for the 20-minute drive to the “ship”. I knew something was wrong as we drove into town and saw the Melville lying ½ mile of the dock at anchor. As I pointed to the ship the cab driver laughed, and gestured that it was going to be a long swim.   Check out the video of the port by clicking on the image below: Continue reading →

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