Information
Comments
Last 24hrs - It was a very negative 24 hours onboard AIVIQ, but when all 50 crew are being COVID tested, negative is what you want. 50 PCR's were conducted and 50 returned a negative result. The risk period is far from over; however, we continue to move in the right direction. A big thanks to our dream team doctors Meg and Roland for a big effort yesterday.
While our two doctors were busy conducting PCR's, AIVIQ was quietly working in the background putting another 231 NM under her belt. AIVIQ certainly isn't the quickest vessel in the Southern Ocean, but what she lacks in speed she makes up for in comfort, reliability and consistency.
Over the last 24h we have seen a slight increase in wave height but for the most part the ship remains steady and we are maintaining good speed. The galley continues to produce amazing food and yesterday morning the crew were treated to waffles, french toast and blueberry muffins. With food this good, PT 1-2 times a day remains essential and the six flights of stairs between the mess and the bridge suddenly make sense.
The social calendar is slowly coming together and last night 18 of the 26 expeditioners competed for what seemed like sheep stations in the first of many trivia nights. Social rep Stu lead the activity and put together a fantastic set of Antarctic based questions. How would you fair in the Antarctic quiz?
Q1. Yes or no. Is Antarctica bigger than Australia?
Q2. What does ANARE stand for?
Q3. Who was the first to step foot on Antarctica?
Captain James cook (1773)
Bellingshausen (1821)
CAPT John Davies (1821)
Edgeworth Davis (1909)
Robert Falcon Scott (1912)
Answers will be in tomorrow's SITREP.
Operationally there has been no change as the team continue to plan for refuelling. The last two days have been focused on a step-by-step analysis of the refuelling process. While this is a time consuming and somewhat monotonous task, the process is an effective tool for understanding detailed requirements. The result of this process is a spreadsheet which clearly articulates the leader for each task, who is supporting and how, and finally a list of resources required.
The next 48h will see the spreadsheet refined while concurrently reviewing our incident and emergency response procedures.
Regards,
Cam and Trent
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.