Simply known as Vessel. The term Vessel is used to describe not only the ship itself that brings cargo needed to sustain those who will remain for the winter months and ship out the waste from these summer months, but it is a term used to describe our environment during its entire stay here at McMurdo.
Things are different during "Vessel". For starters the US Navy sent down men and women as did the New Zealand Defense Force to offload the cargo. This not only adds to the population in considerable numbers but it also changes the dynamic of the population. The roads are busy with trucks creating not just traffic but dust, and a lot of it. The station also goes dry while Vessel is in port altering after dinner activities somewhat.
For me the ship is a grand visitor from the outside and is a wonderful reminder that there is an entire world out there, somewhere, far away from here.
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