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The Weather Gods finally decided that we had too much of a good
thing and put a halt to our record breaking progress. The katabatics
continued to blow all day yesterday and into the night. Wind speeds were
over the 40 knot mark at some points during the day. Mawson reported
gusts above 50 knots at times. This meant that undertaking a tricky
mooring operation in Horseshoe Harbour was off the table. With no place
to go but back out amongst the bergs, the ship continued its relentless
north-south track all day and night. Every fruit bun has a buttered
side, and this provided an ideal opportunity for those willing to take
their camera outside to get some close up shots of bergs. Having said
that they didn't stay outside for long, with the wind chill hovering
around the -7 mark. Another bonus of Captain Murray's iceberg cruise has
been the view of the western side of the Casey Range, another
achievement for V3.
I forgot to mention yesterday that Dave presented a great slideshow the
previous night on the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions
(ANARE) use of the tracked vehicles affectionately called 'Weasels'.
These beasts were the 'heavy lifters'/'draggers', of the early years of
Australia's pioneering Antarctic endeavours. Very appropriate at the
moment as the Weasels were used heavily in 1954 in the construction of
Mawson Station. Dave provided a great commentary, backed up with slides
of weasels in action and in compromising positions. Its a pity we don't
have any of these vehicles left in working order or on display somewhere
to celebrate our early years.
Keeping the focus firmly on the past, the 1954 documentary 'Blue Ice'
was flashed up last night in the recreation space to a packed house.
This documentary was all about the 1953/54 ANARE expedition to establish
Mawson, visit the Vestfold hills as well as resupply the stations at
Macquarie Island and Heard Island. The voyages that season were
undertaken by the Danish vessel Kista Dan, which covered over 12000
nautical miles during the season. Some of the past practices showed how
tough it was back in the day to get even the simplest thing done, we
have it easy these days in comparison! As an example the way they
undertook resupply at Macquaire Island in 1954 with expeditioners in
their normal work clobber up to their armpits in the cold surf,
wrestling massive rubber pontoons, laden with masses of cargo was
painful to watch! I'm glad we are a lot better equipped these days. It
was also interesting to see film of someone standing on the ice pack
whilst the Kista Dan broke ice not more than 20 metres in front of him.
We wondered what the Job Safety Analysis looked like on that one! Other
highlights included trying to help get the ship free of the ice with
crowbars and some of the rolling and pitching of the ship in the
Southern Ocean, puts our 'rough' crossing of the same stretch of water
in perspective. It was also good to see, in this world of constant
change, that the landscape shown in this film, nearly 60 years ago, is
exactly the same today, with only the immediate vicinity of the station
showing any sign of human impact. A great trip down memory lane.
This morning the iceberg observation tour continues, with our Greek
friends the Katabatics still keeping us company, with the wind speed
indicator still hovering around the 30-35 knot mark, with indications
that it is probably even stronger ashore. The forecast for today does
not look that conducive for mooring operations, but we will access
conditions again later on in the afternoon. This is pretty much the norm
in Antarctica, one minute you are in your shorts enjoying the sunshine
the next you are in a blizzard. The last week of great weather, lulled
us into a false sense of security and record breaking mode now we find
ourselves with the possibility of breaking the wrong records like:
longest time waiting to get into Mawson; most times past the same
iceberg; most photographed jade berg in history; most times a Voyage
Leader is asked 'When are we going in?'; most television series watched
on the one voyage; or shortest SITREP every written i.e. "Same as
yesterday". Anyway enough of the negativity, its only been 24hrs so far!
There was some conjecture espoused yesterday from various sources ashore
about the validity of our transit record. Common industry practice for
determination of arrival times in ports is when the ship enters port
limits, not when it ties up alongside or goes to anchor. In the case of
Mawson, I determined Port limits as a line of latitude passing through
the entrance to Horseshoe Harbour, which the ship passed at 2137 on the
night in question. The rules of shipping records are as follows: 1. The
Shipping Manager's decision is final in regards to shipping related
records. 2. All other queries refer rule 1. Enough said.
Dessert Report: Kyle entered the fray last night with a Lemon Meringue
pie, which was well received by all and sundry. At the outset, Kyle
mentioned that this was just a warm up and was not his best work as he
was a little out of practice. Bearing in mind that this was his first
foray onto the field of battle in a while it was a good all round
effort, but Ken still maintains the title of Dessert 'Ice Chef'. If the
Meringue was a sign of things to come when Kyle returns to form, look
out Ken!
All aboard doing well and coping with the frustration of Mawson being so
near yet so far.
Regards
Rob, Simon and George.
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.