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The ship is sailing in calmer seas today as we approach the sea ice edge. Whales have been sighted by ship's crew, as have a scattering of icebergs.
Today expeditioners and crew attended operational briefings on ship to station refuelling and illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing vessels (as yet not a feature of this voyage). The ship's crew continue to undertake 'winterisation' procedures, to safeguard equipment and systems on the ship against damage from the cold.
Meal times remain a thorough highlight of the day. Exercise routines maintained amongst a disciplined few. On the monitors in the well-appointed cabins, the 24/7 cycle of films continues its inexorable run as does the 4 cup coffee plunger sitting atop the meeting table in the voyage management workspace. There, our comms tech Brett maintains a stoically composed vigil against a procession of IT challenges, zen like a Japanese rock garden beside a thoroughfare of briefings, banter and ... folk music. Recriminations over a spilt coffee cup have subsided after the latest version of a cargo discharge plan took on a bespoke, 'buried treasure map like appearance.'
With favourable conditions we anticipate reaching station somewhere between tomorrow morning (17th) and the 18th. Having negotiated around a series of weather fronts, the major determinant now for our arrival time remains the condition of the sea ice ahead of us. Despite timely and high quality sea ice imagery and interpretation c/o of the Bureau of Meteorology, it remains difficult to predict how it may impede our progress. With present conditions, there's the prospect of navigating through a fairly sparse corridor of sea ice and into the polynya (open expanse of water) off station but, as always, time will tell.
Regards,
James, Jenn & Andy
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.