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Ahoy All,
A very merry and happy Christmas to all from the Antarctic pack ice! Since the last sitrep we have spent a night and a day breaking through the band of pack ice which stands between us and Casey Station. We are now in full ice breaker mode, frequently having to use the ship as a battering ram to break through the narrow cracks or leads between ice floes. It goes like this – we run on in a lead for a little while, the ship picks up speed, and then we steer into a narrowing gap. The ship then rides up in the gap and comes to a stop. The officer of the watch then backs off and we charge at it – each time we usually make about a third of a ship length, the ship lurches, heels and then returns to an even keel as we slide off the floes. Sometimes she vibrates as the engines work hard to force our way through. All of this takes a lot of time – since 9 AM this morning we have made about 10 nautical miles (18km). The good news is that we only have 11 or 12 nm to go to the southern edge of the pack and then according to our satellite images we will be in clear water all the way to the station.
One upside of the slow progress is that the wildlife watchers have had plenty of time to watch the passing parade. So far today we have seen the usual array of penguins (Emperor and Adelie) and seals (crabeater and Antarctic) and several species of petrels, in particular Snow and Wilson’s Storm petrels. Well done petrel heads!
As for ETA at the station, based on current progress we should be there in time to commence work tomorrow morning.
Until tomorrow,
Regards Chris, Leanne, and the V2 Team
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.