Jacobs fast-access drill

The drill head of Jakobs fast-access drill. Drill head diameter is 2 cm.

This morning Jakob had the first successful drilling with the fast-access drill. The drill penetrated about 1m into the ice below the casing. As the chips produced are unexpectedly small the drilling was stopped, but another attempt of drilling will be made tonight when temperatures have dropped. Today's experience was an important prove of concept based on which the method can be optimized.

Packing went on all day in the drill tent. The drill, the drill tower, the winch, and many other items were packed and stored on the cargo line. Soon it should be possible to take down the drill tent.

The ‘drill tent’ generator stopped during the night and several times during the day. As it was not clear why it stopped, it was simply turned off now the drilling is over. Lately there were some strange drops in voltage when the drill was pulling hard, so the generator may need some maintenance.

During the warmest hour of the day the skiway was groomed with a sledge full of drums behind the skidoo. The hope is that we will have colder temperatures during night that will harden the surface. With those warm temperatures it may be difficult for the Basler airplane to take off with high payload.

Weather: Summer has arrived to Renland even more than yesterday. For the first time this year the temperature went above melting point for a few hours. Very nice weather for outdoor work, and not very much polar gear is needed. Temperatures -7°C to +1°C, wind 0-5 m/s from W and later N.

All tents are melting their way into the soft warm snow in the summer heat. Here Lizzie is working on moving the medical tent.

It time to pack down camp. Jan, Trevor, and Andrea at the Scooter transporting boxes to the cargo line. Steff is packing tools in the drill tent.

Renland FL, Anders