It has been a long time coming. It’s time this tale was told. No holding back. The facts must come out. Warning though, this tale is quite shocking. Readers beware.
There are many tales about Antarctica. Most full of adventure, amazing scenery, comradery and good spirit. But one tale, that has never been told, is of pain, misery and apprehension. Most don’t like talking about it and nobody is warned before heading south. It’s time to spill the beans.
A phenomenon not unknown to most, occurs at such an enhanced level in Antarctica, that many an expeditioner have been left bewildered and frightened. Moving about becomes a game of chance. Every step generates a potential of pain. Opening doors comes with apprehension.
“What is this curiosity? What can bring so much fear?”, I hear you ask!
Well. It is mighty and it is powerful…
It is the spectacle known as….
STATIC ELECTRICITY!!!!!!
Static electricity is not uncommon. For most of us mere mortals in the normal world, we play with it on a winter’s day. When we pull off a woollen jumper our hair stands on end. We hear sparkly crackles and laugh about it. It’s amusing! But for us poor hapless expeditioners, who live in the driest place in the world, it is not fun.
Antarctica’s extreme lack of humidity and constant wind moving large volumes of ice crystals past our buildings creates the perfect storm. Static electricity builds up to insane levels down here. An environment so highly charged. Waiting, like a predator, to discharge into its next victim.
We don’t get entertaining little sparkly tickles down here. We get highly energised bolts that wake the dead. It’s painful and it’s something we relentlessly deal with daily.
Door handles are the most common. Every time you grab a handle to open a door…. ZAP! There are an awful lot of doors around here to navigate, so you get zapped a lot. Not unusual to get several hefty hits as you travel from one end of the Red Shed to the other. The longer the walk between doors, the bigger the zap that waits! It’s exhausting!
One of our illustrious carpenters once told me he got zapped through a paint brush painting a cornice in one of the bedrooms. That wasn’t even metal, and he was standing on a timber step. How’s that for super charged. Static down here can transcend all kinds of matter. I wonder if Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki can explain that!
The sparkies once found them selves chasing a phantom voltage for half a day. They literally had both ends of the cable disconnected, scratching their heads while the multi-meter was still reading 70 volts to earth. What the hell is that all about? Very scary!
The most unfortunate of stories came to life around the wash up sink in the mess. The stainless-steel bench quite often gave you a wake-up boot as you put your dishes into the soapy water. This time though our unsuspecting mechanic stood a little close. The bench height comes to just below the waistline. Let’s just say the zap in the trouser department made him jump back and exclaim a high pitch squeak. Poor fellow. He’s not been the same since.
Well, there is not much you can do about this conundrum.
“Best you don’t wear rubber soled shoes”, they say.
“Keep dissipating the charge by touching things often” is said as sage advice.
“Lots of smaller zaps are better than one big cracker!”, we say to try and mitigate our fear.
I guess all I can say is, “Antarctica, will certainly open your eyes.”
Best of luck present and future Antarctic wanderers. Be careful what you touch!
Dicky
Mawson Carpenter
