Antarctica; a wild bleak continent of incredible hardship and unparalleled beauty where tales of her hardy explorers are the stuff of legends.

Local man Aaron Jeffery, from Mount Maunganui has just returned from his own journey to Antarctica. Aaron isn't a scientist, an arctic explorer nor a mountaineer. He's a fisherman. With tales of frostbite, 200kg monster fish and getting stuck in an ice float though, Aaron Jeffery can tell a story with the best of him.
35 year old Aaron is a newcomer to fishing, having been a dry stock farmer for the majority of his life. A family tragedy saw him turn away from his farming background and he and his young family moved to Mount Maunganui to regroup and enjoy the famous Bay lifestyle. His new path became clear in after reading an issue of The Weekend Sun - Bay of Plenty Polytechnic's Certificate in Maritime & Fishing Technology Level 3 advertisement caught his eye, and as they say, the rest is history.
The six month practical programme saw Aaron learn all the basics of seamanship – from sea survival and desk safety, to seafood processing, fitness and mental well being. As part of the course, Aaron was placed on a number of vessels gaining vital work experience, before his big chance came to crew on Sealord's Arctic Chieftain.
'The programme was fantastic; we all learnt the basics and I know I wouldn't have survived on the boat without the skills that were taught on the programme. It's a really good eye opener about what you're getting yourself into. Scott (programme coordinator, Scott Hampton) was awesome.
It was great to have someone teaching who's been there and done it - and of course he organised my chance to crew on the Arctic Chieftain!”
The Antarctic Chieftain is an automated freezer long-liner. It fishes Antarctic toothfish (a close relative of the Patagonian toothfish) in the Ross Sea area (a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land), using hooks strung on long lines. The hooks are baited automatically but the fish are removed by hand. Some as large as 200kg!
Aaron signed on to the Chieftain as a deckhand on a 100 day voyage, departing New Zealand on 24th November. While his Polytech training and work experience helped him prepare for the trip, the isolation of his new job still came as a shock.
'Antarctica really was amazing - the wild life, seals, penguins, Minki whales, were out of this world – but I wasn't prepared for the sheer isolation and bleakness. Hauling on some of the bigger lines was tough, exhaustion levels were high. There were some days when the weather was just so bad we couldn't go on deck, the claustrophobia was killer.”
The crew slept four to a cabin, but the roster system of eight hours on and eight hours off ensured there were only two in the cabin at a time. While the cabins were comfortable, it was a pretty limited space to call home for three months. Adding to the pressure, Aaron's cabin allocation was right next to the engine room. His iPod became an essential item if he was to get any sleep at all. 'It's really weird being back on land – it's so quiet I still can't sleep!”
Preparing the fish for the US market is pretty intensive work.

Once the fish have been hauled in and literally thrown down in to the hold, they are beheaded and a five or six inch collar cut off each one, and stowed into 12kg boxes. The main trunk of the fish is blast frozen and placed in the boat's massive freezers.
Working down in the hold in the -30 degree conditions was not easy, and it is no surprise that Aaron got frostbite on his big toe and two fingers. Not realising the gravity of the situation, the frostbite was not reported until some time had passed. Lucky to escape gangrene, Aaron will be a little more forthcoming in the future as he wryly points out his mangled toe.
'An unexpected bonus of the trip was that I lost heaps of weight. I've always been quite a big guy, but I lost 18kg in three months. My mates keep asking me if I've been doing Body for Life or something! This is the fittest I've been in years – loving it!”
The weight loss was despite the three cooked meals a day available to the crew – with food on offer such as rack of lamb for dinner and a cooked breakfast with the works, there was no shortage of nourishing food. 'The only thing I really missed was fresh fruit and vegetables. I started to fantasise about lettuce, ham and tomato sandwiches!”
Another highlight of the trip was the opportunity to play on the ice. Donning a regulation Survival Suit, the boys took to the ice for an impromptu game of rugby. The survival suits work in two ways – firstly the human body is insulated from the cold Antarctic water by the suit. The suit also acts as a flotation device allowing a person to float so they don't have to expend valuable energy swimming. When asked if anyone would like to go for a swim, Aaron literally jumped at the chance. Joked Aaron, 'when else would you get the opportunity to swim in Antarctica?”
Best of all, Aaron was pleased to return home with money in the bank and the promise of more to come. 'The work is hard, don't get me wrong, but the pay packet makes it all worthwhile - where else could I earn this much money, give my family all the things they deserve and do a job I love?!”
After spending several weeks at home catching up on family time, Aaron's heading back to sea and can't wait to get his hours up and move on up the career ladder. 'I'll be back to the Polytech for sure; that's the great part. When I'm home from sea I can further my career through study locally, they have a great range of maritime programmes.” For more information, check out www.boppoly.co.nz.