Day 15 - May 20 2006

As JP put it, today things became more complicated. At about 3 pm, our main diesel generator failed. just before we were all to pitch in and fix a fancy Saturday night meal, a formal affair to which we would wear ties. Our attempts to repair both the primary and backup diesel generators ran until midnight without success. After our umpteenth time trying to start the generator with the good alternator, we returned to the weatherport feeling rather glum. Meanwhile JP had fixed a hot meal of pasta and ham which tasted great, but the Saturday night dinner with ties and wine would have to wait for another day. People tried their best to be upbeat with a little dark humor and by keeping busy eating dinner, but as we tried to keep warm inside and the wind howled outside, the tension was palpable. Our field season was in danger of going down the drain. There was talk of trying to get the Danish air force to do a fly over and drop a generator by parachute.


Using a heat gun inside the weatherport to melt snow blown into the diesel generator in preparation for tear down and troubleshooting. From left to right: Sverrir, Bruce and JP.