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The rest of yesterday was spent steaming up and down off the eastern side of Macquarie Island trying to keep both vessels shielded from the prevailing high winds and seas from the South West. The Janas continues to ride very well on the end of the tow line and its crew has continued to worked hard on repairing its main engine.
The news came this morning that they may have worked out a solution in consultation with the engine supplier. Spirits were lifted across both vessels but to no avail as our hopes were dashed when it failed to work once again.
Despite this we still had to recover our helicopters, which we managed to do this afternoon by coming right in close to the coast in Buckles Bay to offer more weather protection to the aircraft, and getting all three aboard within about an hour. As we were doing this, the Aurora's Fast Rescue Craft (FRC) proceeded across to the Janas to pick up its main engine head plate and some charts. The AA's engineering team will try and repair the plate as well as fabricate a new one for the Janas.
The plan is to send these parts back to the Janas as soon as possible to see if they can fix the problem. Plan 47b is to look at towing the vessel to a safe haven closer to home, which is a decision that will be made later on this afternoon in close consultation with all parties.
Despite all this, it was good to wrap up all our priority tasks at Macca and a big thanks to Trish and her team on the station for being excellent hosts and running a slick resupply operation. Unfortunately we have had to leave our LARC behind due to not being able to recover it due to the conditions.
All aboard remain in good spirits despite all the turmoil and the real disappointment of many of them not getting to step ashore at Macca.
You can stop reading here if you aren't interested in the dessert ramblings:
Last night saw the reappearance of one of the ship's specialities. We have been rewarded with a repeat performance of Golden Syrup Dumplings!
Again another stunning performance by the galley staff to prepare and present such a gastronomical delight. The dumplings had a hard but soft top that broke under a slight application of pressure revealing a soft and moist centre. The whole piece was accentuated by a superb golden syrup sauce that flowed in and around the dumplings. Truly breathtaking.......
Regards
Rob and Andy
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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.