September 30, 1975: Tuesday

Demon Rum gets me up very early to relieve my bladder. Proud of myself. Not too drunk. Didn’t even feel like getting out and running into a brick wall.

We have the snowtrack fixed early, load up, and go out to the drill site. 190 centimeters of ice and 400 feet of water. The chain saw breaks down and we can’t get any current measurements. Take sightings for a novel method of positioning.

They get 504 going and we rendezvous at New Harbour. A couple of growsers (things on the track) break and we stop to fix those. Then we push for home. Jim says it’s more than 100 miles, not the 70 we’d thought. It’s getting late when we get to the Dirty Ice. Penguins and seals all over and lots of open water. They spot a whale. (I didn’t see it.) We push on home. Very tired. Wind picks up just outside of town. A permanent bad weather area, I guess. We get to eat. Take a long, long shower (and boy, does that feel good). Sleep in a real bed, which Pete had strewn with his junk. Nine intrepid days, over.