The Ross Island Yacht Club

The burgee of the Ross Island Yacht Club, Antarctica (RIYCA).
It stars Shackleton's ship (which actually was nowhere near here), and a skua in the upper left corner.

Current Conditions: Con3.  Temp -15°F (wind chill -46°F).  Overcast.
Population: ≈ 800

Recreation at McMurdo is more limited than what we are used to in Northern California, particularly during this time of year when outdoor recreation is restricted due to the cold.  We planned to climb Observation Hill yesterday but the wind blew us back to the dorm, to the comforts of watching Fox News on AFN (gulp).

But there are quite a number of activities.  About two weeks ago, we were invited to attend a meeting of the Ross Island Yacht Club, Antarctica. The club is supposed to be comprised of people who have some yachting interests and, indeed, it seems a good number people leave Antarctica and spend the next months on sailboats harbored in the Marshall Islands before returning to the ice. I'm not sure how my name got on the email chain since my experience boating involves smashing our motorboat on the rocks three years ago, watching it go up in flames with me inside it two years ago, and this last year, simply getting stuck with a dead boat in the middle of the lake with all of Dean's family aboard in the blazing sun.  Although I had the insight to finally put the marina on speed dial, Jeffrey, my brother, is nipping my "yachting fetish" in the bud by selling the boat to the nearest sucker.

RIYCA, now 20 years old, is among the most venerable clubs at McMurdo.  It has its own burgee (a yacht's flag) that is highly sought after around the world since it comes from the only yacht club without a single boat.  Ever.  I would have bought one for our motor boat in NH but, now that that's gone, I'm thinking it will look delightful on our canoe. 

RIYCA's commodore is a bearded, nudist, late-middle-aged, yoga instructor named Deany who has the dubious distinction of getting naked outdoors at the south Pole and placing the images on the internet.  This public ballsiness did not win him any friends at the NSF since they want Congress to continue funding their mission down here.   Deany got a tongue lashing.  Many prudes at McMurdo are still appalled that he wasn't fired.  Personally, I think they should have given him a medal.  

At the first meeting, we just talked about ourselves and our experiences boating.  As usual, I was blown away but the experiences of all the attendees.  I feel like I've never been anywhere compared to this crew.  Next week, we'll have a guest speaker who will talk about his two months working on the research ship/ice breaker, the Nathaniel B. Palmer.

There is also a motorcycle club--the Frozen Few--here pictured at the South Pole.  They have about 40 members  at McMurdo and a second chapter Scott Base.  But no motorcycle.  They have been approved as an official club by some motorcycle federation in the US.  At the Southern Lounge (seedy bar #2) where we went to relax after our move, they assured me that if they did bring a motorcycle to the ice, they would be sent home by the NSF immediately.  Maybe we should get Deany to ride it in the nude?

The flying club has yet to call a meeting (Dean, get on it!)

Other indoor activities?  A ping pong competition, a cribbage tournament (my first match is tonight), Stitch and Bitch, weekly karaoke, and a weekly trivia competition.  And last night, we had the added pleasure of speaking directly to the space station.  Jessica Meir, one of the space-walking astronauts, is a penguin-tattooed, former Antarctic research assistant. So the 700 of us here got a "private" tour of the space station and then a great view of the sun rising as it passed over Europe with a US Antarctic Polar program patch stuck on the dome window.