Cold

I see the weather link I added right at the start of the blog (yr.no) predicts the weather as a little too extreme.  At the moment the average temperature is around -15 degrees.  The biggest factors in how cold it gets is wind and the height of the sun.  The padded jackets and dungarees together with the "pampoen skoen" (pumpkin shoes - orange multi layered shoes),  one or two layers, proper gloves and headgear make this climate very livable.  My feet for instance has only felt cold once or twice.  When you, for instance, need to untie a knot and you take your gloves of in windy conditions your finger tips become painful in a matter of seconds also your nose tip if not covered can become painful. Your rate of work also affects your comfort levels so we generally don't go into stormy weather to stand around.


Apart from the chill factor associated with wind the winds can also get strong enough to blow you off your feet.  As our base is on the edge of a 200 m cliff you don't want to loose your footing for too long.  In strong winds being a little over-weight is recommended.  The rule of thumb for the minimum weight for a certain wind speed is the wind speed in knots plus 10.  (I.e. for 50 knot conditions you need to weight 60 kg).  During the last storm that delayed the ship's departure we had gusts of up to around 70 knots.


Also bear in mind that we are at the end of our summer so I might revisit this page in a few months.