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This morning the weather is being kind to us with light NE'ly winds and practically no swell. We have just entered the pack ice 51nm from Syowa. The ice has been churned up by the combined action of the winds and swell of the past three days and progress through it is remarkably easy - at this stage. We intend to continue into the pack until we reach the fast ice edge where we will park up and await the possibility of helicopter operations later this afternoon. The news from Syowa yesterday wasn't that good, another blizzard had resulted in all personnel being confined to their accommodation for most of the day. Twenty years of collected observations had only recorded two blizzards at Syowa in January, we have had two in two days! Apparently the bad weather comes in 10-year cycles around here and it looks like this year is year ten. The team on the ground reported that the helicopters are in good shape and as at last night they had started the de-icing process with the aim of having them ready to go by this afternoon. The forecast is looking okay for the next 24-36 hours but beyond that the weather becomes marginal. So we have a limited window to rack, stack and pack. We expect to recover the JARE49 expeditioners this afternoon, with the remainder of the JARE50 summer party due back on board tomorrow with the last of the RTJVA. If the weather remotely looks like its starting to deteriorate we may have to recover them today. All aboard and ashore well and truly over the DVDs, books, sleep and gym and itching to get this job done. Regards, Rob, Aaron and Mick
Map
A map showing Australia and Antarctica. The map shows the journey of one voyage that has occured in the season, with each route highlighted in a distinct colour.