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After a very hectic but successful port call, the vessel sailed from Hobart as scheduled at 1130 (local time) with 36 expeditioners aboard, headed for Mawson station.
The morning commenced for expeditioners at 0630 with baggage weigh-in, followed by a farewell to the families and friends before being taken aboard the Aurora Australis for shipboard briefings. Briefings covered safety aboard the vessel, emergency procedures, daily routines, the voyage plan and objectives, communal living and shipboard medical awareness. The expeditioners were then mustered on the flight deck and split into two groups for a familiarisation tour by the ship's officers. They tried on survival suits, climbed into the life boats, visited the bridge, familiarised themselves with the mess (cafeteria) and then settled into their cabins.
At 1000, the expeditoners and crew were cleared by Customs and the gangway was raised around 1100.
Preparations for some of the voyage's underway science activities have already commenced, with the deployment of the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) planned for 1600, and a weather balloon expected to be released from the ship's monkey deck (above the bridge) in support of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) project.
Over the next few days the voyage management team will commence planning for the ship's arrival at Mawson Station, scheduling briefings, reviewing Standard Operating Procedures for different activities and working with station counterparts to develop rosters.
For now, most expeditioners are enjoying the sunny conditions on the upper decks and ensuring that their cabins are properly secured for our transit across open ocean. The vessel has been tracking down the Eastern coast of Bruny Island and will likely remain insight of the Tasmanian mainland until after sunset this evening.
Cheers Mark & Fred
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.