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After an interesting time setting up the fuel line from the ship to the shore, the first drop of Special Antarctic Blend (SAB) began flowing towards the station a little after 1430. It quickly became apparent that the increase in the diameter of the hose had achieved its objective of increasing the flow rate, with the jury still out on the whether the flow rate was 40 or 45 thousand per hour! Being a doubling of the rate associated with the old hose. It was a good thing it did, as the weather started to deteriorate quiet rapidly over the next three hours. At one stage the ship was enveloped in a blizzard as a rapidly moving cold front passed over the island, turning it from a mottled greenly brown to white in a matter of minutes.
A halt to pumping was called at 1715 to ensure that the boat crews were not operating in the dark and before conditions worsened. In a little over two hours and 45 minutes approximately 110,000 litres of SAB was pumped ashore, guaranteeing that the lights on Macquarie Is will continue to burn until Voyage 4 can fully fill the island's tanks next April.
The ship proceeded to sea overnight and steamed up and down the eastern side of the island, which provided a certain degree of protection from the north westerly seas and swell. This gave all aboard the opportunity for a comfortable nights rest after a enormous effort during the day. A special thanks to all the Boat Operators, Refuelling teams, Station resupply team and the crew of the Aurora Australis for a sensational effort in trying conditions.
In the morning the ship proceeded to anchor in Buckles Bay and we attempted to commence cargo operations, but the weather again called a halt to play after only one load of cargo was delivered to and from the ship. We are currently back in a holding pattern on the east coast of the island facing further deteriorating wind, sea and swell conditions and hoping for another opportunity over the next two days to get some further work done.
Regards
Rob and Aaron.
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.