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As Casey station bunkered down overnight to the tune of blowing snow and wind gusts over > 55kts, we on the ship passed the last 24 hours stooging back and forth on a roughly East / West tangent slightly to the North of Frazier Isl. on a white capped dark choppy sea. At the time of writing, the ship is manoeuvring into sight of station where our friends have spent their morning doing their best to clear the roads and make ready for a full day of resupply operations tomorrow – weather permitting.
Yes, weather permitting we can pick up where we left off, resuming a steady stream of cargo and expeditioners to station as our refuel team and their station counterparts continue their preparations to make ready for the station refuel operation – not an easy task given the weather they've encountered.
An unfortunate but not unprecedented string of bad weather days (weeks) in the Casey region has frustrated the station's capable efforts to dispatch and receive flights and field parties. Now as attention turns in equal part to the resupply of the station, all of us involved are very aware that weather is the single biggest variable dictating our progress. Our colleagues at the Bureau of Meteorology in Hobart and on the continent, in particular, those forecasters, observers and technicians presently at Casey are doing their best to provide regular forecasting and observations to inform the planning and scheduling of our resupply operations. With one eye constantly on the weather and an intention to seize every adequate window available to conduct operations, we remain very appreciative of their efforts and the complexities inherent in forecasting Antarctica.
This 24 hour period has also given us the chance to review some of our systems and procedures, catch up on some sleep and paperwork, peel some garlic and for those so inclined, break out the Christmas decorations.
Regards,
Voyage Management.
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.