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This morning, a contingent of 14 expeditioners who have been with us since our departure in Hobart sat patiently waiting in the E-Deck library for a 'Go / No-Go' message from station. For almost a week these expeditioners had patiently bided their time on the ship, waiting for weather windows to align that would accommodate their flights to Davis via Basler aircraft. Now, after several flight cancellations, the weather was turning in their favour. With cabins cleaned, final preparations completed and the barge standing by to transport them, all that was left was to wait.
'Good to go' came the message from station. Excited for the next leg of their journey, the expeditioners were escorted through to the staging area next to the bunker exit, where they donned life-jackets, adjusted survival wear and turned their personalised tag on the ship's muster board to account for their disembarkation, all under the proficient guidance of bunker door crew. A final handshake and off they went, into the ship's bunker and one by one down the rope ladder onto the deck of the barge to be expertly ferried to shore by our watercraft operators.
Our attentions turn back to cargo operations; now with the additional component of 'RTA' or 'Return To Australia' cargo being back loaded to the ship from station.
In the late morning, another team of watercraft operators could be seen gliding around the stilled waters of the harbour supporting our resident composer Gordon's audio recordings of the ship's surroundings.
This afternoon we keep a watchful eye for winds this evening that may well see us once again stooging off the coast. In the meantime ship and station are making good use of the present calm. Cargo operations continue unabated as the newly arrived helicopters conduct local familiarisation flights.
And speaking of flights - just after a lunch a happy sight; that of a Basler aircraft taking to the sky to the South East. They are on their way.
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.