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Yesterday our battle with the ice continued until the wee hours of the morning. It was a hard fought battle but we made progress, all be it slowly, so I'm claiming the AA won on points!
This morning in the pre-dawn light we were able to watch the pressure in the ice ease, which resulted in puddles and leads forming in front of us. We have been able to slowly follow these leads today. There is still a fair amount of ice in between these leads so the hard work continues in regards to breaking ice. From what we can see on our satellite imagery, we should be able to find a lead that will take us to the edge of the fast ice off Mawson
- which is where we plan on conducting the fly off operation from.
Team Met have been spot on with their forecast today and we have seen the clouds clear throughout the day and we now have fine and sunny conditions with light winds. We will soon launch and Ice Reconnaissance flight with one of our helicopters. This flight will literally be a straight vertical lift off form the heli deck up to a height that will allow our Chief Mate an opportunity to have a very good view of the conditions we face in the distance, and then they will come straight back down and land on the deck.
By doing this we can be looking up to 20-30nm ahead of us, instead of 7-10.
If we need to, and conditions remain suitable, we may launch a second ice reconnaissance flight later in the day, which if it occurs will be with two helicopters so we can have a good look around the area. This would enable us to have good information on ice conditions for our evening ahead.
It was pleasing to hear that Voyage 5 departed Hobart for Macquarie Island today. We wish them a safe and smooth passage and hope the resupply and personnel change over goes well.
Cheers,
Deepy and Brett
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.